The History of Pi Kappa Alpha

473 Pages Indexed. September 1961 Fifteenth Printing. Maroon boards with gilt lettering and seal on spine. Just a hint of age-tanning at the very top of some pages. Barely noticeable. Otherwise a solid very good book with near flawless pages. A fraternity history is a cross-section not only of a phase of American college life but as well of American life in its various ramifications. It is a sidelight on the problems of education, on social development in general, and on the ebb and flow of the nation's economic tides. While Pi Kappa Alpha may not have been a pioneer fraternity in the fullest sense of the word, it was such in a large measure and is among the oldest of the national fraternities. Those who are familiar with the history of the fraternity system know that there have been three rather well-defined periods in its history: first, a period of secrecy and of opposition on the part of college authorities; second, a period of toleration on the part of the authorities and a more open avowal of fraternity existence and membership; and third, the chapter house period, or the period of publicity, with its varying degrees of public antagonism or approval. Pi Kappa Alpha was founded in the first of these periods and has experienced the vicissitudes of fortune that have accompanied all three of them. Several sketches of Pi Kappa History have previously been written. They include those by the late eminent ecclesiastics, Doctor Theron H. Rice and Dean Robert K. Massie; and two of particular note, one by Lloyd R. Byrne in his Manual of Pi Kappa Alpha.…