Alpha Gamma

Alpha Gamma was an American collegiate fraternity. It was founded at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1867. The fraternity expanded to include 21 chapter, which all closed in the 1880s.

History

Alpha Gamma was founded at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1867. It was a secret society. Its founders were L. Black, C. N. Campbell, W. G. Campbell, A. B. Goodbar, M. S. Matheny, and W. T. Nixon. In December 1869, a bill was passed by the Tennessee Legislature to incorporate Alpha Gamma Fraternity.
The fraternity referred to its chapters as lodges. Because of the secret nature of the fraternity and bans against secret societies at the time, many of its lodges operated sub rosa. Many chapters met under the guise of being a literary society, going to the extreme of creating a bogus constitution for a literary society. Of its 21 chapters; twelve of these are known. Prominent chapters were located at Cumberland University, Mercersburg College, Southwestern Presbyterian University, Trinity College (Duke), Greek organizations at [Washington & Jefferson College|Washington & Jefferson College], and the West Virginia University.
In August 1875, Alpha Gamma held a national convention in Clarksville, Tennessee. Delegates attended from Mercerburg College, Southwestern Presbyterian University, the University of Alabama, and Washington & Jefferson College. A local newspaper reported that attendance was smaller than usual. The chapter at Mercersburg College held a reunion on July 13, 1888.
The fraternity eventually disbanded, with Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities indicating that this occurred in the 1880s. Many chapter closed because of local anti-fraternity laws and policies, including the Trinity College and West Virginia University chapters. Several chapters, including those at Washington & Jefferson College, Southwestern Presbyterian University, became chapters of Alpha Tau Omega. Some members of the chapter a Southwestern Presbyterian University, split off to form the Stewart Literary Society. The Washington and Lee chapter joined Chi Phi. These chapter withdrawals occurred over several years, with no specific merger process. The fraternity had approximately 350 members.

Symbols

The Alpha Gamma badge consisted of a golden shield with a globe that was encircled by a pendant with the Greek letters ΑΓ. At its top were six stars that represent the fraternity's six founders.

Chapters

Known chapters of Alpha Gamma include the following, with inactive chapters and institutions in italics. The fraternity appears to have reassigned chapter names as its roster was updated; the chapter that housed its headquarters was called Alpha chapter.

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status
Alpha	– 18xx ?	Cumberland University	Lebanon, Tennessee	Inactive
Beta	18xx ? – March 12, 1882	Washington & Jefferson College	Washington, Pennsylvania	Withdrew
Gamma	18xx ?–18xx ?	Trinity College	Durham, North Carolina	Inactive
Delta	18xx ?–18xx ?	Mercersburg College	Mercersburg, Pennsylvania	Inactive
	186x ? – February 19, 1872	Washington and Lee University	Lexington, Virginia	Withdrew
Epsilon	1878 – April 10, 1881	Southwestern Presbyterian University	Clarksville, Tennessee	Withdrew
Zeta	18xx ?–18xx ?	West Virginia University	Morgantown, West Virginia	Inactive
Eta ?	1872–18xx ?	University of Tennessee	Knoxville, Tennessee	Inactive
Theta	1875 – October 24, 1885	University of Alabama	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	Withdrew
Kappa		East Tennessee State University	Johnson City, Tennessee	Inactive
Nu			Savannah, Georgia	Inactive
Xi			Decatur, Alabama	Inactive