Early history of Freemasonry

The first fraternity in North America to incorporate most of the elements of modern fraternities was Phi Beta Kappa, founded at the College of William and Mary in 1775.

The founding of Phi Beta Kappa followed the earlier establishment of two other secret student societies that had existed at that campus as early as 1750.

In 1779 Phi Beta Kappa expanded to include chapters at Harvard and Yale. By the early 19th century, the organization transformed itself into a scholastic honor society and abandoned secrecy.

In 1825, Kappa Alpha Society, the oldest extant fraternity to retain its social characteristic, was established at Union College.

In 1827, Sigma Phi and Delta Phi were also founded at the same institution,[4] creating the Union Triad. The further birthing of Psi Upsilon (1833), Chi Psi (1841) and Theta Delta Chi (1847) collectively established Union College as the Mother of Fraternities.

It should also be noted that the social fraternity Chi Phi, although officially formed in 1854, traces its roots to 1824, and oldest.org considers it the oldest social fraternity.

Fraternities represented the intersection between dining clubs, literary societies and secret initiatory orders such as Freemasonry.

Their early growth was widely opposed by university administrators, though the increasing influence of fraternity alumni, as well as several high-profile court cases, succeeded in largely muting opposition by the 1880s.

The first fraternity meeting hall, or lodge, seems to have been that of the Alpha Epsilon chapter of Chi Psi at the University of Michigan in 1845, leading to a tradition in that fraternity to name its buildings "lodges".

As fraternity membership was punishable by expulsion at many colleges at this time, the house was located deep in the woods.

The first residential chapter home, built by a fraternity, is believed to have been Alpha Delta Phi's chapter at Cornell, with groundbreaking dated to 1878.

Alpha Tau Omega became the first fraternity to own a residential house in the South when, in 1880, its chapter at the University of the South acquired one.

Chapters of many fraternities followed suit, purchasing and less often, building them with support of alumni. Phi Sigma Kappa's chapter home at Cornell, completed in 1902, is the oldest such house still occupied by its fraternal builders

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What is a Secret Society

A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed from non-members.

The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla warfare insurgencies, that hide their activities and memberships but maintain a public presence.

The exact qualifications for labeling a group as a secret society are disputed, but definitions generally rely on the degree to which the organization insists on secrecy, and might involve the retention and transmission of secret knowledge, the denial about membership or knowledge of the group, the creation of personal bonds between members of the organization, and the use of secret rites or rituals which solidify members of the group.

Anthropologically and historically, secret societies have been deeply interlinked with the concept of the Männerbund, the all-male "warrior-band" or "warrior-society" of pre-modern cultures.

A purported "family tree of secret societies" has been proposed, although it may not be comprehensive.

Alan Axelrod, author of the International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders, defines a secret society as an organization that: is exclusive claims to own special secrets shows a strong inclination to favor its members. David V. Barrett, author of Secret Societies:

From the Ancient and Arcane to the Modern and Clandestine, has used alternative terms to define what qualifies a secret society.

He defined it as any group that possesses the following characteristics: It has "carefully graded and progressed teachings". Teachings are "available only to selected individuals". Teachings lead to "hidden (and 'unique') truths".

Truths bring "personal benefits beyond the reach and even the understanding of the uninitiated." Barrett goes on to say that "a further characteristic common to most of them is the practice of rituals which non-members are not permitted to observe, or even to know the existence of."

Barrett's definition would rule out many organizations called secret societies; graded teaching is usually not part of the American college fraternities, the Carbonari, or the 19th century Know Nothings.

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Opus Dei - Secret Society

The Opus Dei is a secret society of the Catholic church founded by Spanish priest Josemaría Escrivá in 1928

The name "Opus Dei", is Latin for "Work of God" guided by The Way, a collection of 999 maxims

The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei was given Catholic Church approval in 1950 by Pope Pius XII

The current leader of the Opus Dei is Fernando Ocáriz who was elected 23 January 2017

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Secret Society - Bohemian Club

The Bohemian Club was founded in 1872, it operates from the City Club in San Francisco & Sonoma County

The club members include local & global artists, musicians, politicians & businessmen. Every year the club hosts a two-week-long (three weekends) camp at the Bohemian Grove
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Secret Society - Bilderberg Group

The Bilderberg Group is a secret society formed by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands in 1954 it hosts an annual private conference of 120-150 world leaders

Meetings are organized by a steering committee with two members from each of approximately 18 nations
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