The brothers of the Tacoma Alumni Chapter and the Upsilon Upsilon Chapter at University of Washington played an important role in the installation of and initiation of the first brothers of Delta Phi Chapter at University of Puget Sound over the weekend of February 4 – 5, 1950.
To celebrate the momentous occasion, the Alumni Chapter organized and hosted a banquet for nearly 300 guests in the Fellowship Hall of the Tacoma Masonic Temple.
Banquet Program
Banquet Gallery
A collage of photographs taken at the Installation Banquet appeared in the May 1950 issue of the Magazine of Sigma Chi. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
Donald I. Plummer (Upsilon Upsilon, Washington 1920), center, tells his Sig sons, Don Jr. (Upsilon Upsilon, Washington 1945) and Bill (Delta Phi, Puget Sound 1951), how his chapter operated in his day at the Delta Phi Chapter Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
Installation banquet luminaries listen to W. Edward Wilson Jr. (Upsilon Upsilon, Washington 1931), president of the Tacoma Alumni Chapter, seated right, speak during the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. Front: Past Grand Praetor Henry O. Foss and Executive Secretary J. Russell Easton. Back: Toastmaster George H. Boldt; Edward Lane, member of Delta Kappa Phi local and president of the College of Puget Sound Interfraternity Council; Donald A. Meyer, president of the Seattle Alumni Chapter; and Puget Sound President R. Franklin Thompson. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
Toastmaster George H. Boldt listens as College of Puget Sound President R. Franklin Thompson speaks at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
Six of the men who worked hardest to help bring a Sigma Chi chapter to the College of Puget Sound admire the charter on February 4, 1950. Seated: Tacoma Alumni Chapter President Ed Wilson; Richard G. Wilson (Upsilon Upsilon, Washington); and John Blair, Delta Phi Chapter Advisor. Standing: Upsilon Upsilon, Washington, Sigs Fred S. Merritt Jr., Roger A. Lasswell and John C. Huston. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
Installation officers gather on the dais for a photograph at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. Front row: George Boldt; Sam C. Bullock, executive director of the Sigma Chi Fraternity; Fred Merritt; and Merrill E. Prichard, editor of the Magazine of Sigma Chi. Back row: Russ Easton; Don Meyer; Past Grand Praetor Henry O. Foss; Grand Praetor James J. “Jim” Overlock; and Field Secretary James L. Young. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
Grand Praetor James J. “Jim” Overlock tells Upsilon Upsilon Chapter Consul Fred J. Merritt Jr., “All the worrying was for naught,” at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
“To bring new luster to the White Cross,” is the goal Sam C. Bullock, executive director of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, set for the Delta Phi Chapter at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
Nearly 300 guests attend the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950, in the Fellowship Hall of the Tacoma Masonic Temple. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
Past Grand Consul Sam C. Bullock, executive director of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and chief installing officer, passes the long-awaited charter to Consul Frank H. Taylor Jr. at the installation banquet. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
Toastmaster George H. Boldt reads aloud telegrams of congratulations to the new chapter at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
An unidentified Sig and Executive Secretary J. Russell Easton listen to Past Grand Praetor Henry O. Foss speak at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
Executive Director Sam C. Bullock and Dr. J. Dwayne Reitz (Beta Tau, Colorado State 1930) converse at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
“She’s the Sweetheart of Sigma Chi,” sing Jack Babbit, College of Puget Sound senior; John Espy Jr. (Beta Iota, Oregon 1938); Sam C. Bullock, executive director; and Ralph G. Stowe (Beta Delta, Montana 1924). (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
Edgar B. MacLeod (Beta Rho, Montana State, and Alpha Epsilon, Nebraska 1926), John C. Chapman (Upsilon Upsilon, Washington 1925) and L. S. Jordan (Upsilon Upsilon, Washington 1929) sing while Oliver Malm (Beta Delta, Montana 1928) plays the Hammond organ, provided as a courtesy by Sherman Clay & Co., at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
Sigs sing while Oliver Malm (Beta Delta, Montana 1928) plays the Hammond organ, provided as a courtesy by Sherman Clay & Co., at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
“We’re all behind you, Frank,” says John T. Steward (Gamma Eta, Idaho 1935), chairman of the installation committee, to Consul Frank H. Taylor Jr. at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
Key men in the effort to pay off the Delta Phi Chapter mortgage huddle at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950: Clifford M. Langhorne (Upsilon Upsilon, Washington 1924), Past Grand Praetor Henry O. Foss, Harold T. Foss (Delta Phi, Puget Sound 1924), charter member of Sigma Mu Chi local; Archie F. Blair (Beta Delta, Montana 1925); and Consul Frank H. Taylor Jr. (Delta Phi, Puget Sound 1950). (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
John C. Chapman (Upsilon Upsilon, Washington 1925) says, “We expect big things from your new chapter,” to his initiate son John T. “Tim” Chapman (Delta Phi, Puget Sound 1952). (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
Twenty-six Sigma Mu Chi local alumni, 23 of whom appear in the photo, return to become Sigma Chis on February 4, 1950. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
The first group of undergraduate initiates sit for their photograph. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)
The second group of undergraduate initiates sit for their photograph. (Sigma Chi Fraternity Archives)