Brothers in Unity explained

Brothers in Unity
Coat Of Arms:Brothers in Unity Seal.png
Motto:Latin: E parvis oriuntur magna
(From small things come great things)
Founded:–187x ?; revived 2021
Birthplace:Yale University
Affiliation:Independent
Type:Senior secret society
Status:Active
Scope:Local
Emphasis:Public and military service
Chapters:1
Members:120
Nickname:Brothers
Free Label:Full Name
Free:The Society of Brothers in Unity
City:New Haven
State:Connecticut
Country:United States

Brothers in Unity (formally, the Society of Brothers in Unity) is an undergraduate literary and debating society at Yale University.[1] Founded in 1768 as a literary and debating society that encompassed nearly half the student body at its 19th-century peak, the group disbanded in the late 1870s after donating its collection of books to help form Yale's central library.[2] [3] [4]

It was revived in 2021 as a secret society by members of the senior class and alumni.[5] [6]

History

First incarnation

The Society of Brothers in Unity at Yale College was founded in 1768 by 21 members of the Yale classes of 1768, 1769, 1770, and 1771. The society was founded chiefly to reduce class separation among literary societies; at the time, Yale freshmen were not "received" into any society, and junior society members were forced into the servitude of seniors "under dread of the severest penalties".

David Humphreys, a freshman of the class of 1771, persuaded two members of the senior class, three junior class members, two sophomores, and 14 freshmen to support the establishment of a new society.[7] Its founding members were:[8] The group picked Stanley as its first president.

The notion of including freshmen was challenged by two or three existing literary groups that waged "an incessant war" against the new society, as described in Brothers in Unity's 1841 catalog of members. But within a year, Brothers became fully independent, its popularity influencing other societies to reconsider their exclusion of first-year students. The Yale College freshman class of 1771 ultimately yielded 15 members to the new group, while the older Linonian Society accepted four—the first recorded time in which underclassmen were publicly accepted into a Yale society. It is speculated that this struggle launched the Brothers' century-long rivalry with Linonia.

Through at least 1841, the society is said to have followed the template of other debating societies, although operating under "Masonic secrecy," according to 19th-century Yale historian Ebenezer Baldwin.[9] Baldwin wrote that the group, in conjunction with Linonia and the Calliopean Society, discussed scientific questions and gravitated towards literary pursuits. This is substantiated by the Brothers' public documentation, which says the society sought "lofty places in science, literature, and oratory" fields, as well as general "intellectual improvement." It also produced plays, including contemporary British dramas and works by its members.[10]

By the beginning of the 19th century, most Yale College students joined either the Brothers or Linonia.[11] "While the official curriculum remained extraordinarily rigid, the student body built a rich extra-curriculum through the literary societies that allowed them to explore subjects that would normally have no place in the college," wrote Elizabeth James in 2015. "Research papers, debates, and literary exercises gave vitality to intellectual life within the college. The societies provided a place where student voices and opinions could be heard, and their questions or thoughts about the world around them interrogated by their classmates." These societies helped pave Yale's way toward a broader European model of education.

Both groups held expansive literary collections, which they used to compete against each other. Between 1780 and 1841, the Brothers claimed to own more volumes than Linonia, although these assertions are disputed. Despite their rivalry, the two societies described each other as "ornaments" of Yale and "generous rivals."[12] [13] When Yale built its first central library in 1846, Linonia and Brothers in Unity accepted the library's invitation to house their collections in the new building. For several decades, the collections were maintained separately, each with a librarian, staff, catalogs, and building entrance. However, the society declined during the Civil War and against the competition of newer secret societies such as Skull and Bones. Linonia and Brothers proposed donating their collections to Yale in 1860, and this was finally done in 1872. These donations are commemorated in the Linonia and Brothers Room of Yale's Sterling Memorial Library. The reading room contains the Linonia and Brothers (L&B) collection, a travel collection, a collection devoted to medieval history, and books recently added to Sterling’s collections.

Brothers in Unity disbanded after the library donation; various sources say this happened in 1871, 1872, or 1878.

Second incarnation (2021-present)

In 2021, 21 Yale undergraduates revived the defunct society in a different form. While the original Brothers had a relatively open admissions policy and a large membership, its new incarnation follows the model of Yale's restrictive and smaller senior secret societies.

The new group says it seeks members with professional experience in, or simply passion for, certain types of public service, including the U.S. armed forces, U.S. Congress, the U.S. foreign service, and U.S. intelligence community; and, in "exceptional circumstances", people who demonstrate business leadership or entrepreneurship.[14]

The society is funded by the 1768 Foundation Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity administered by alumni.[15]

Symbols and traditions

Internally, members call the society the Brotherhood. In 1768 or 1769, the Brothers adopted the motto Latin: E parvis oriuntur magna, meaning "From small things come great things". Its values are chivalry, openness, and selflessness.

Activities

Brothers in Unity holds debates and invites speakers to discuss contemporary entrepreneurship, foreign policy, literature, and politics. In 2021, it hosted a lecture named for Morrison Waite, the seventh chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, who helped strike down the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The Brothers also award the David Humphreys Prize for a valedictory oration.

In 2022, the Brothers donated photographs and documents concerning its revival to the Yale University Library's Manuscript and Archives collection.[16]

Membership

Membership in Brother in Unity admits 10 new members each spring. A current Yale professor acts as an ex-officio member to advise the society. As of October 2023, it had 120 alumni and current members.

Members of the group between 1768 and 1841 include 26 Yale valedictorians, several Supreme Court justices, one Chief Justice, six governors, 13 Senators, 45 Congressional representatives, a Secretary of the Navy, a Secretary of the Treasury, a Postmaster General, 14 presidents of colleges and universities, two U.S. Attorneys General, and a U.S. Vice President.[17] By 1841, a total of 2,828 students had belonged to the group.

Notable members

NameClass YearNotablityReferences
George Edmund Badger1816U.S. Secretary of the Navy, U.S. Senator
Henry Baldwin1797Supreme Court justice and U.S. Representative
Leonard Bacon1820Abolitionist and congregational preacher
1778Ambassador to France, drafted the Treaty of Tripoli
John Brown of Pittsfield1771Revolutionary War officer, a state legislator, and a Berkshire County judge
John M. Clayton181518th U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Senator
Moses Cleaveland1777Founded Cleveland, Ohio; Brigadier General of Connecticut militia
Mason Fitch Cogswell1780Surgeon, pioneer of French sign language in the United States
Carroll Cutler1854President of the Case Western Reserve University[18]
John Davis1812Governor of Massachusetts, U.S. senator and Representative
1827Founded the University of California, Mayor of Oakland, California
William Edmond1778politician
1787U.S. Senator
John Elliott1794U.S. Senator from Georgia.
William Ely1787U.S. Representative from Massachusetts
Jeremiah Evarts1802Missionary, reformer, and activist for the rights of Native Americans
Stephen Clark Foster1840Mayor of Los Angeles.
James Gadsden1806Adjutant General of the U.S. Army
1778U.S. Representative from New York
Thomas R. Gold1786U.S. Representative
Chauncey Goodrich1776U.S. Senator, 8th lieutenant governor of Connecticut
Gideon Granger1787U.S. Postmaster General
Richard Henry Green1857First African American to graduate from Yale[19]
Ray Greene1784U.S. Senator and Attorney General
Thomas H. Hubbard1799U.S. Representative
William Hull1772General in the War of 1812, Governor of Michigan
David Humphreys1771American Revolutionary War colonel, Ambassador to Portugal
James Lanman1788U.S. Senator from Connecticut, Secretary of State of New York. U.S. Representative
Henry Meigs1799U.S. Senator from New York
Samuel Morse1810Inventor of Morse code
Thomas J. Oakley1801U.S. Representative from New York, Attorney General for New York.
Peter Buell Porter179112th U.S. Secretary of War
Israel Smith1781Governor of Vermont, senator, and U.S. representative
Benjamin Silliman1796chemist, first to distill petroleum, and a founder of the American Journal of Science
John William Sterling1864Founder of Shearling & Sterling
William Strong1828Supreme Court justice
Alphonso Taft1833U.S. Secretary of War, U.S. Attorney General, founder of Skull and Bones
1773Spymaster and leader of the Culper Ring, Continental Army captain, U.S. representative
Thomas Thacher1872lawyer
1778U.S. senator
Morrison Waite1837Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
Noah Webster1778founding father, author of Merriam-Webster dictionary
Yung Wing1854First Chinese student to graduate from an American university, businessman
Oliver Wolcott Jr.1778U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and 24th governor of Connecticut
William Channing Woodbridge1812Geographer and educational reformer
Chauncey Langdon1787United States Representative from Vermont (1815-1817
Theodore Dwight Woolsey1820President of Yale College, author, and academic

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Home . 2023-07-08 . Brothers in Unity . en . 2023-05-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230530073404/https://www.brothersinunity.org/home . live .
  2. James . Elizabeth . 2015-05-01 . The True University: Yale's Library from 1843 to 1931 . MSSA Kaplan Prize for Yale History . 2022-10-27 . 2022-10-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221027201634/https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/mssa_yale_history/5/ . live .
  3. Web site: Yale University Library Research Guides: Yale History Timeline: 1870 - 1879 . 2022-10-27 . Yale Library . en . 2022-10-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221027194556/https://guides.library.yale.edu/c.php?g=296074&p=1976336 . live .
  4. Web site: Havemayer . Loomis . January 1961 . Yale's Extracurricular and Social Organizations 1780-1960 . 28 November 2021 . Eli Scholar's Page . Yale University . 26 October 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211026034957/https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=yale_history_pubs . live .
  5. Web site: 2021-11-28 . About . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20211128044747/https://www.brothersinunity.org/about . November 28, 2021 . 2022-11-01 . Brothers in Unity.
  6. Web site: Linonian and Brothers in Unity: The Societies that Built Yale University’s Library . Connecticut History.Org . CT State Government . 12 October 2023 . 2 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231102070041/https://connecticuthistory.org/linonian-and-brothers-in-unity-the-societies-that-built-yale-universitys-library/ . live .
  7. Book: Robinson, W.E. . A Catalogue of the Members of the Society of Brothers in Unity, Yale College, 1841 . 1841 . Hitchcock & Stafford . New Haven, Connecticut . 1–6 . Preface . 4 June 2015.
  8. Web site: History . 2023-07-06 . Brothers in Unity . en . 2023-05-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230530073404/https://www.brothersinunity.org/home . live .
  9. Book: Ebenezer Baldwin . History of Yale College: From Its Foundation, A.D. 1700, to the Year 1838 . 1841 . B. and W. Noyes . 235–236 . English . Internet Archive.
  10. Web site: Tsourapas . Gerasimos . April 2004 . The History of the Yale Dramatic Association, 1900-1980s . 2023-07-06 . Yale Dramatic Association . 2023-07-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230707162009/https://yaledramat.org/history/ . live .
  11. Web site: March 2021 . An Irrepressible Urge to Join . 2022-11-01 . Yale Alumni Magazine . 2022-10-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221028184957/http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/01_03/groups.html . live .
  12. The Linonian Society Library of Yale College: The First Years, 1768—1790
  13. Kathy M. Umbricht Straka The Yale University Library Gazette, Vol. 54, No. 4 (April 1980), pp. 183-192
  14. Web site: 2021 . Membership . https://web.archive.org/web/20211128044739/https://www.brothersinunity.org/membership . 2021-11-28 . 2022-10-27 . Brothers in Unity.
  15. Web site: October 31, 2022 . 1768 Foundation . October 31, 2022 . Guidestar . November 1, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221101022618/https://www.guidestar.org/profile/88-3838423 . live .
  16. Web site: Series Accession 2023-A-0011: Brothers in Unity photographs, 2021-2022 . November 1, 2022 . Yale University Library . November 2, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221102003827/https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/12/archival_objects/3498298 . live .
  17. News: 1841-12-10 . Brothers In Unity, Yale College . 2 . Hartford Courant . Hartford, Connecticut . 2023-07-06 . Newspapers.com . 2023-07-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230707220121/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-brothers-in-unity-yale/127714461/ . live .
  18. News: 1894-01-26 . Death of Dr. Carroll Cutler . 2 . The Morning Journal-Courier . New Haven, Connecticut . 2023-07-06 . Newspapers.com . 2023-07-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230707163001/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-journal-courier-death-of-dr/127714425/ . live .
  19. Web site: Bass . Carole . Branch . Mark Alden . February 28, 2014 . Yale College's first black grad: it's not who you think . 2023-07-06 . Yale Alumni Magazine . en . 2023-07-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230707162136/https://yalealumnimagazine.org/blog_posts/1719-yale-college-s-first-black-grad-it-s-not-who-you-think . live .