St. Anthony Hall - History and Chapters

History and Chapters

In 1847, after the organization's 'Alpha' Chapter was founded on January 17 at Columbia University, a 'Beta' Chapter at New York University was also founded, but by 1853 had been 'united' with the Alpha. By 1879, Columbia College's Record listed the NYU founders alongside its own Columbia students.

The current undergraduate chapters of St. Anthony Hall, according to its website, are the following:

• Alpha: Columbia University, New York, New York
• Delta: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Epsilon: Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut
• Iota: Rochester, New York
• Theta: Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
• Kappa: Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
• Xi: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Phi: University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi
• Sigma: Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
• Upsilon: University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
• Tau: MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts

At some universities, the Order of St. Anthony maintains a chapter house colloquially referred to as "The Hall" or "St. A's", although at MIT, the society is known as "The Number Six Club" in reference to that chapter's original founding and residence at No. 6 Louisburg Square in Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood. According to its national website, St. Anthony Hall originally began as a "fraternity dedicated to the love of education and the well-being of its members." Chapters were founded throughout the Northeast, and extended into the South during the mid-19th century. During the Civil War, formal contact ended between Northern and Southern chapters, though contact was restored between remaining and refounded chapters after the War.

The Order's history states that "many members wore their badges into battle, serving with distinction on both sides, and were often reunited in both pleasant and antagonistic situations throughout the war".

• See the Baird's Manual excerpt below for a near-contemporary account of the disposition of the chapters following the Civil War.
• Archive photo of Civil War officer killed at Gettysburg, who signed his portrait "Yours in Delta Psi".

Because their patron, Anthony of Egypt is often depicted with his Tau Cross, the symbol has been used to embellish the architecture of some St. A's chapter houses. St. Anthony also became a swineherd, hence Hall members sentimentally regard the pig, one of the Saint's 'attributes', as an informal mascot. However the fraternity has never had any religious affiliation; the inspiration provided by this ascetic saint (and his pig) is solely thematic.

As a hermit and founder of monasticism, Anthony is identified with the "book of nature" and not writing. St. Anthony was the focus of a Roman Catholic Hospital Order which flourished from the 13th to 18th centuries and was responsible for treating the effects of ergot poisoning or St. Anthony's Fire. Today's Alpha chapter is decorated with prints of "The Temptation of St. Anthony" as well as the mythic symbol the "Owl of Minerva".