To learn more about this collection please see the finding aid link found above, and/or visit the College and Lutheran Church Archives to use these primary sources.
Phi Alpha. Collection of the Phi Alpha Fraternity, 1907-1957. GACA Collection 130. 1 Hollinger box.
ABSTRACT:
The Phi Alpha collection primarily contains materials created during the organization’s early years when the group was known as the Philolexian Society and Philolexian Assembly. Materials include correspondence, minutes, financial records, programs, and the debating fraternity’s song. Documents from the Phi Alphas include programs. Members were known as the Philolexians and later as either the Phi Alphs or Alphs at Gustavus Adolphus College. The organization evolved from a debating society into a Greek fraternity during 1927.
The Phi Alpha fraternity formed as the Philolexian Society. Philolexians held their first meeting as a recognized organization on 11 February 1908. Only males were allowed to join this debating society. This title was used from 1908 into 1914. Then, it became the Philolexian Assembly from 1914 until 1927. Members changed the name to Phi Alpha on 12 November 1927. According to the student paper, the decision to become Phi Alpha occurred after a lengthy and weighty discussion. The fraternity remained active as of spring 2009.
