Owl Club (Harvard)

The clubhouse

The Owl Club is a men's only final club at Harvard College, founded in 1896. It ought not be confused with the homonymous Owl Club, a defunct society in South Africa.^[1]

Early history

Owl Club was founded in 1896 by Reginald Mansfield Johnson, Malcolm Scollay Greenough, Jr., Frazier Curtis, Preston Player, Charles Clifford Payson, Austen Fox Riggs, and Dudley Hall Bradlee, Jr. It originally went under the name Αvλòζχαι’‘Εχπωμα (meaning the Pipe and Mug), or Alpha Epsilon.

In 1901, land on the corner of Holyoke Street and Holyoke Place was purchased. In 1905, architect James Purdon of Purdon and Little drew up plans for the Georgian clubhouse. June 24 of that year the cornerstone of the present clubhouse was laid. The new building was formally opened on March 24, 1906, the tenth anniversary of the Club.

In 1916, it was voted officially to change the name from “Phi Delta Psi Club” to “Owl Club”. The club had become informally known as Owl as an abbreviation of its Greek name, Αvλòζχαι’‘Εχπωμα.

Notable members

• Edward B. Cole ' 02 — United States Marine Corps Major, expert on machine guns, casualty at the Battle of Belleau Wood^[2]
• Harry Elkins Widener '07 — Benefactor and namesake, Widener Library of Harvard University; casualty on the wreck of the RMS Titanic ocean liner.^[3]
• Bobby Jones, '24 — Amateur golfer and winner of the Grand Slam in 1930; Founder of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament.^[4]
• Robert G. Stone, Jr., '45 — Former Chairman of the Harvard Corporation.^[5]
• J. William Middendorf, III, '47 — U.S. Secretary of the Navy under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford from 1974 to 1977; U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands and Organization of American States.^[6]
• Edward M. Kennedy, '54 - '56—U.S. Senator from Massachusetts.^[7]
• Charles Veley, '87 — World's most-traveled man.^[8]
• David Forst, '98 — Oakland Athletics Assistant General Manager.^[9]

Notes

1. W. E. Ranby, The Owl Club , Cape, 1952
2. Howe, Mark Anthony De Wolfe (1922). Memoirs of the Harvard Dead in the War Against Germany, Vol 3. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
3. "Widener's Wish Fulfilled". The New York Times. 4 October 1912.
4. Curt Sampson (2005). The Slam: Bobby Jones and the Price of Glory. Harvard University Press.
5. "Robert G. Stone Jr. '45-'47, Who Led Panel That Picked Summers as Chief, Dies at Age 83", The Harvard Crimson, Thursday, April 20, 2006
6. Student Council of Harvard College (1915). Harvard University Register, vol 42.
7. "Sorry Clubbie", The Harvard Crimson, Wednesday, May 26, 1965
8. "Charles Veley". Retrieved 8 May 2011.
9. "Oakland Athletics Executive Bios". Retrieved 8 May 2011.

References

• Owl Club of Harvard College, Membership Directory, 1998, Puritan Press, New Hampshire

Further reading

• Burggraf, Charles H., The Owl club; a comedy drama in three acts, satirizing secret societies, Albany, OR: Smiley, printer, 1900.
• Owl Club of Harvard College: founded in 1896, Crimson Printing Co., 1966

Coordinates: 42°22′17″N 71°07′07″W / 42.3715°N 71.1187°W