The Making of Kappa Psi
est. 1879
Society Kappa Psi
est. 1879
The professional fraternity which is known today as the Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity, Inc., was founded on May 30, 1879, at the Russell Military Institute, a family institute for boys in New Haven, Connecticut. Its founder was F. Harvey Smith and it was known as “Society Kappa Psi.” A second chapter was established at the Cheshire Military Academy, located at Cheshire, Connecticut, on November 30, 1879. These two chapters were no longer in existence when a third chapter was formed at Hillhouse Academy in New Haven, Connecticut, on October 7, 1894. Hillhouse was withdrawn on June 30, 1895.
Although Kappa Psi was conceived as a local prep school fraternity, the idea of a national organization developed in the minds of several members as these three chapters had been organized, Russell, Cheshire, Hillhouse. On December 10, 1895, alumni members of the three chapters organized a temporary, nonaffiliated Greek letter chapter which they named Alpha Chapter. F. Harvey Smith was elected as Grand “A” and Preston W. Eldridge, Jr., was elected as Grand “O.” There are few records of the early meetings and other activities of Alpha Chapter as it existed during the period 1895-1898.
Kappa Psi Fraternity
1898-1924
Kappa Psi Fraternity was organized initially with two collegiate chapters, Delta Chapter in the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland and Gamma Chapter in the School of Pharmacy at the New York College of Pharmacy. Delta was organized by William F. Clark, and Gamma was organized by Alfred and William Kaehrle, all three former members of Hillhouse Chapter. The two chapters were installed by F. Harvey Smith and Preston W. Eldridge, Jr., representing Alpha Chapter, on November 18 and 20, respectively. On June 15, 1903, Kappa Psi was incorporated as a national fraternity and for many years thereafter it existed as a joint medical-pharmaceutical fraternity with chapters being chartered in both medical and pharmacy schools and colleges.
On November 17, 1917, the Delta Omicron Alpha Medical Fraternity, which was founded at Tulane University in 1904, merged with Kappa Psi. On January 26, 1918, the Phi Delta Medical Fraternity, which was founded at Long Island Hospital College in 1901, was merged with Kappa Psi.
Some early highlights included the first meeting of the Grand Chapter (now GCC) in New York City on March 31, 1900, and the first province assembly in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 6, 1914. The first edition of The Agora was published in 1902, The Mask in 1904, and the first constitution in 1906. In 1905 scarlet and gray were adopted as the Fraternity’s colors; the Coat of Arms was adopted in 1916 and the first insignia in 1918; and the Grand Council Scholarship Key was introduced in 1917.
Kappa Psi Fraternity terminated with the separation of the two professional groups, medicine and pharmacy, at the 1924 Grand Council Convention. It was agreed the reorganization would become effective on January 15, 1925. At the time of the reorganization there were 32 active medical collegiate chapters, 27 active pharmacy collegiate chapters, and five active medical-pharmacy chapters.
The separation of the two groups was not a simple matter, although the rather limited records of the 1924 Convention would seem to indicate that such was the case. Regardless of the problems experienced during the 26 years the union had existed, it must be acknowledged that the two professions created in Kappa Psi an outstanding professional fraternity.
The pharmacy group retained the Greek letters “Kappa” and “Psi” and the new organization was designated as Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity. The medical organization became Theta Kappa Psi Medical Fraternity. The pharmacy group retained the offices of Grand Regent and Grand Vice Regent and the name of the journal, The Mask.
Kappa Psi Fraternity
1925-present
Although the Fraternity would hold only one Grand Council Convention between 1925 and 1941, the Fraternity continued its growth as a pharmaceutical fraternity under the leadership of Preston W. Eldridge, Jr., who was neither a physician nor a pharmacist, A. Richard Bliss, Jr., who served as Editor of The Mask from 1910 until 1941, and W. Bruce Philip, who served as the pharmaceutical Fraternity’s first Grand Regent and Grand Counselor. By the time the next Grand Council Convention was held in 1928 the Fraternity had grown into an organization of 35 collegiate chapters.
The 1930s were the Depression years, a period of serious economic deterioration which created many problems for fraternities. Only three collegiate chapters were chartered between 1932 and 1940. Dr. Heber W. Youngken, Jr., who served as Grand Regent from 1937 until 1941, was a significant leader throughout the Depression era.
World War II had a far greater impact on fraternities than World War I. At the close of the war there were only about 28 chapters listed as active and most of these had but a few members and depleted treasuries. Under the able leadership of Frank H. Eby and Ray S. Kelley the Fraternity survived the war years and experienced its most rapid growth period in history. By 1953 the total of active chapters was 45 including most of the former chapters which had been reactivated along with a number of new chapters.
Since the mid-1950s Kappa Psi has settled into its maturity phase, a maturity marked with stability and controlled refinement of its operation. By the mid-1960s there were 54 collegiate active chapters and 21 active graduate chapters. From 1980 to 1997 the number of active collegiate chapters and graduate chapters remained relatively constant at 60 and 35. Since that time there has been an increase to 82 and 59 respectively.
Highlights leading up to the Centennial in 1979 included the introduction of the scholarship honors certificates in 1958, the education loan fund in 1965, the national scholarship tray award in 1967, and the admission of female Brothers in 1977.
The second 100 years has seen the Fraternity computerize its Central Office and continue to broaden its services. The Kappa Psi Foundation was created in 1992. The Fraternity continues to grow in size with over 80,000 initiates. Over 25 percent of these members were initiated in the last 25 years. This is a great force which represents every important segment of the profession and includes many of the most distinguished names in the annals of American pharmacy.
The Agora
official directory
The Agora was first published in 1902 by editor, Preston W. Eldridge, and was planned
to be printed yearly. However, this never came to pass and The Agora has been printed
intermittently since 1907.
A complete history of The Agora prior to 1998 can be found in The History of Kappa Psi
Pharmaceutical Fraternity by Brother Dewey Garner,Grand Historian Emeritus.
From "The History of Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity: Our Beginnings Revisited"
Since 1988, when the Eleventh Edition of The Agora was published, three editions of The Agora have been published and released to the Fraternity.
In 1997, the Twelfth Edition of The Agora was published as a hard cover three-hundred-seventy page book, six by nine inches in size. It was not stated that this was the twelfth edition; rather it was called the Nineteen Ninety Seven Edition. The document was published by the Bernard C. Harris Publishing Company, Inc. in White Plains, New York and was current through the Summer of 1997. It contained the names of over fourteen thousand members which were listed alphabetically with a biographical sketch, alphabetically by chapters, geographically by city and state, alphabetically by area of pharmacy practice and alphabetically by email address.
In the biographical section the members name was followed by the chapter code and initiation year; degrees and names of institutions attended; title, employer name, address, and telephone number; spouse’s name; and children’s names. In the chapter section members are listed under their chapters (in Greek alphabetical order) and school names. In the geographical section members are listed under their residence addresses in the following order: state, U.S. military, U.S. possessions and territories, and outside the U.S. Following each name are chapter code and area of pharmacy practice code. In the pharmacy practice section members are listed under their areas of pharmacy practice which appear in alphabetical order. In the email section, members’ names are listed followed by chapter, and email address. Whenever possible, female brothers were alphabetized by their maiden names. When a member had taken a married name, it followed the birth name but was not used for the purpose of alphabetization. In addition to membership, The Agora, contained a welcome from the Grand Regent, a message from the Executive Director, the history of Kappa Psi, the A. Richard Bliss, Jr.—Citation of Appreciation Award Recipients, the objectives of Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity, Inc., Fraternity Officers with dates of services, a record of the Grand Council Conventions, and a list of chapter codes and area of pharmacy practice codes. In 2005, the Thirteenth Edition of The Agora was published as a hard cover four-hundred-sixteen page book, six by nine inches in size. It was not stated that this was the thirteenth edition; rather it was called the Two Thousand Five Edition. The document was published by Harris Publishing Company, Incorporated in Chesapeake, Virginia and was current through the Fall of 2004. It contained the names of over fifteen thousand members which were listed alphabetically with a biographical sketch, alphabetically by chapters, geographically by city and state, and alphabetically by area of pharmacy practice. In the biographical section the members name was followed by the chapter code and initiation year; degrees and names of institutions attended; title, employer name, address, and telephone number; spouse’s name; children’s names; and email address. In the chapter section members are listed under their chapters (in Greek alphabetical order) and school names. In the geographical section members are listed under their residence addresses in the following order: state, U.S. military, U.S. possessions and territories, and outside the U.S. Following each name are chapter code and area of pharmacy practice code. In the pharmacy practice section members are listed under their areas of pharmacy practice which appear in alphabetical order. Whenever possible, female brothers were alphabetized by their maiden names. When a member had taken a married name, it followed the birth name but was not used for the purpose of alphabetization. In addition to membership, The Agora, contained a welcome from the Grand Regent, a message from the Executive Director, the history of Kappa Psi, the A. Richard Bliss, Jr.—Citation of Appreciation Award Recipients, the objectives of Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity, Inc., Fraternity Officers with dates of services, a record of the Grand Council Conventions, and a list of chapter codes and area of pharmacy practice codes.
In 2010, the Fourteenth Edition of The Agora was published as a hard cover four-hundred-eighty-one page book, six by nine inches in size. It was not stated that this was thirteenth edition; rather it was called the Two Thousand Ten Edition. The document was published by Harris Connect, LLC in Chesapeake, Virginia and was current through the Fall of 2010. It contained the names of over thirty nine thousand members which were listed alphabetically by chapters, geographically by city and state, and alphabetically by area of pharmacy practice. In the chapter section members are listed under their chapters (in Greek alphabetical order) and school names. In the geographical section members are listed under their residence addresses in the following order: state, U.S. military, U.S. possessions and territories, and outside the U.S. Following each name are chapter code and area of pharmacy practice code. In the pharmacy practice section members are listed under their areas of pharmacy practice which appear in alphabetical order. Whenever possible, female brothers were alphabetized by their maiden names. When a member had taken a married name, it followed the birth name but was not used for the purpose of alphabetization. In addition to membership, The Agora, contained a welcome from the Grand Regent, a message from the Executive Director, the history of Kappa Psi, the A. Richard Bliss, Jr.—Citation of Appreciation Award Recipients, the objectives of Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity, Inc., Fraternity Officers with dates of services, a record of the Grand Council Conventions, and a list of chapter codes, area of pharmacy practice codes, and degree codes.
Province Histories
Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity realigned the Provinces effective August 1, 2012. After a period of growth with a 69% increase in the total number of Chapters, the Executive Committee decided it was time to increase the number of Provinces in Kappa Psi.
The international organization of Provinces as listed on the Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity webpage as of June 2011 was as follows:
PROVINCE I
Originally Established: March 6, 1914 as the North Atlantic Province
Chapters in: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New
Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont
PROVINCE II
Originally Established: June 3, 1917 as the Middle Atlantic Province
Chapters in: Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia
PROVINCE III
Originally Established: June 3, 1917 as the Middle Atlantic Province
Chapters in: Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and
Washington, D.C.
PROVINCE IV
Originally Established: March 5, 1917 as the South Atlantic Province
Chapters in: Alabama, Georgia, Florida and the Bahamas
PROVINCE V
Originally Established: January 19, 1918 as the Delta Omicron Alpha Province
Chapters in: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Western New York, Ohio and Wisconsin
PROVINCE VII
Originally Established: March 5, 1917 as the South Atlantic Province
Chapters in: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas
PROVINCE VIII
Originally Established: February 1, 1938 as Provinces X an XI
Chapters in: Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota
PROVINCE IX
Originally Established: November 27, 1920 as the Pacific Province
Chapters in: Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah
PROVINCE X
Originally Established: February 6, 1929 as the Northwest Province
Chapters in: Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming