Alpha Sigma Phi was born at Yale University on December 6, 1845. Three young men (the principal founder was just 17), all freshmen, met and laid down the basic principles of a society that today counts its membership in the thousands.  

Horace Spangler Weiser of York, Pennsylvania Louis Manigault and Stephen Ormsby Rhea had met at St. Paul's Preparatory School near Flushing, Long Island where both were members of the same literary society and were preparing themselves for admission to Yale University. Manuigault was the son of Charles I. Manigault, a wealthy South Carolinian rice planter who traced his ancestry to a Huguenot refugee who fled from Louis XIV's persecution and came to America in 1691. Stephen Ormsby Rhea was the son of John Rhea, am important cotton planter of Louisiana who helped open the disputed territory of West Florida and made it a part of the U.S. and state of Louisiana.

 The third young man who met with the two Southerners on that memorable December 6 was Horace Spangler Weiser of York, Pennsylvania. he was a descendant of Conrad Weiser, also a refugee from Europe who became famous in the French and Indian Wars, representing several colonies in treaty negotiations with the Indians.

Horace prepared himself for admission to Yale by attending a private school in New Haven in 1844-45. Early in his freshman year he met Ormsby Rhea who introduced him to Louis Manigault. Manigault and Rhea were members of Yale's Calliopean Literary Society, and Weiser was a member of the Lininian Literary Society. Louis Manigault was very much interested in the class society system at Yale and noted the class fraternities provided experience for their members and prepared them for competition in literary contests. the sophomore class there had only one society, Kappa Sigma Theta, which displayed an attitude of superiority toward non-fraternity men even though they were fellow classmates.

Manigault revealed to his friend Rhea a plan for founding another sophomore society, a competitor for Kappa Sigma Theta. Rhea agreed and, with Manigault's consent, enlisted Weiser and the three became the founders of Alpha Sigma Phi.

 
Louis Manigault

Their first official meeting was held in Manigault's room on Chapel Street on December 6, 1845. Between then and June 28, 1846, when the first pledge class was announced, the constitution and ritual were written and the fraternity pin was designed. The first pledge class--of 14 members--was initiated on June 24, 1846.

After the birth of Alpha Sigma Phi, an intense rivalry began between Alpha Sigma Phi and Kappa Sigma Theta. The rivalry between the two expressed itself in their publications, Kappa Sigma Theta's "The Yale Banger" and Alpha Sigma Phi's "The Yale Tomahawk." The bitter rivalry between papers continued until 1852 when the editors of The Tomahawk were expelled after of a violation of faculty orders to cease publication. However, the rivalry between the organizations continued until 1858 when Kappa Sigma Theta was suppressed by the faculty.

Soon, the first charter was granted to Amherst College (now the University of Massachusetts) as Beta Chapter but only lasted about six months when the parent chapter requested that the chapter dissolve and return the constitution. However, there are issues surrounding the chapter designation as Beta. A fragmentary document in the Yale library suggests that Beta was chartered in 1850 at Harvard but lived a very short life due to a wave of Puritanism. The chapter at Harvard was revived in 1911 as Beta Chapter but only survived about 20 years when the charter was withdrawn due to the anti-fraternity environment at Harvard. When Amherst was restored in 1854 it was designated as Delta Chapter. However, when Marietta chapter was chartered in 1860 it too was given the Delta designation. The parent chapter was well aware of this as well.

When the Civil War swept the United States almost every member of Delta at Marietta enlisted in the Union Army. Three of the brothers gave their lives for the Union cause. Two of them, former HSP's William B. Whittlesey, George B. Turner, fell on the battle fields of Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain. They willed their personal possessions and their sworder to the chapter which still treasures those mementoes.
The Charter granted to Marietta

The Manuscript Volume, written in Manigault's own hand, contains the history of the founding of Alpha Sigma Phi and letters between Manigault, Rhea, and Weiser and other members of Alpha Sigma Phi and Delta Beta Xi. Manigault prepared the volume in 1869.

During the Civil War the mother chapter (Alpha) was rent by internal dissension and then actually disappeared. Because less attention was being paid to the sophomore class societies, some Alpha Sigma Phi members pledged to Delta Kappa Epsilon, a junior class society and attempted to turn the control of Alpha Sigma Phi over to Delta Kappa Epsilon. However the attempt was thwarted by the members of Alpha Sigma Phi who were pledged to the other two junior class societies. A conflict ensued and to end the disorder Alpha Sigma Phi was suppressed by the faculty. However, the traditions of Alpha Sigma Phi were carried on by two new sophomore class societies, Delta Beta Xi and Phi Theta Psi. Louis Manigault sought to renew his loyalty and friendship with his brothers of Alpha Sigma Phi and considered Delta Beta Xi as the true descendant upon corresponding with Rhea and Weiser. They were not aware at the time, however, that Delta chapter at Marietta still existed as Alpha Sigma Phi.

With the inactivation of Delta Beta Xi at Yale, Alpha Sigma Phi was kept alive only at Marietta by Delta. In the fall of 1906 the Yale Masonic Club was organized. Four friends agreed in a conversation over a card game that an organization was needed at Yale that did not represent a single class, but rather was an all-class society. The four friends were Robert L. Ervin, Benjamin F Crenshaw, Arthur S. Ely, and Edwin M. Waterbury. Other members soon joined the group in their mission, the first of which were Fredrick H. Waldron and Wayne Montgomery Musgrave. Ervin knew some of the alumni brother of Delta in Marietta and asked them to send the first letter to Delta. On March 27, 1907 Ely, Crenshaw, Musgrave, Waldron, and Waterbury traveled to Marietta and were initiated into Alpha Sigma Phi. Upon returning to New Haven they initiated the other friends they had recruited into the new Alpha chapter at Yale.

Many of the old Alpha members returned to New Haven upon hearing the news of the new Alpha chapter and helped acquire the first piece of fraternity real estate, the "Tomb", a windowless two story building. No non-member was allowed entrance and no member could speak of the interior of the building. They were even expected to remain silent while passing by the exterior of the building.

A new national organization was formed at an Alpha Sigma Phi conference in Marietta in 1907 and by the end of 1908 there were three new chapters: Zeta at Ohio State, Eta at the University of Illinois, and Theta at the University of Michigan. In 1910 another convention was held with the members of the former chapters at Yale, Amherst, and Ohio Wesleyan and a delegation from the Yale Delta Beta Xi fraternity. All of these pledged to anew their loyalty to a restored Alpha Sigma Phi. 
 

Alpha Sigma Phi survived World War I fairly easily and even took on many new members during those years. In the post-war era Alpha Sigma Phi expanded at the rate of one chapter per year. In 1939 Phi Pi Phi merged with Alpha Sigma Phi due to the ravages of the Great Depression leaving the fraternity with only five of its original twenty-one chapters. World War II hit Alpha Sigma Phi hard and many chapters were forced to close. Many Alpha Sig brothers also lost their lives at the bombing of Pearl Harbor, in the Pacific, in Europe, and northern Africa.  On September 6, 1946, Alpha Kappa Pi merged with Alpha Sigma Phi. Alpha Kappa Pi had never had a national office but was still a strong fraternity. During the war they had lost many chapters and they realized the need for a more stable national organization but didn't feel they could provide it for themselves. In 1965 five more chapters were gained as well when Alpha Gamma Upsilon merged as well.

The 1980's found a younger generation of leaders taking the reins of the fraternity. And, in keeping with one of its oldest traditions--that of being a fraternity run by undergraduates--the leadership and the undergraduates began chartering new directions. At the same time, there developed across the country an awareness of the long-standing values of fraternity living. Students saw in fraternities an opportunity to personalize an impersonal campus; they saw an opportunity to learn and grow through the intimate structure of fraternity and to express their concerns for each other and the community through the purposes of fraternity.

New growth has resulted for Alpha Sigma Phi. And she continues, through her members, to seek new directions, new achievements and to continue to pass down the timeless values, purposes, and objectives that were first stated that winter in 1845.
Alpha Chapter at Yale, 1907, after the
chapter was re-established

"To think that all our college labor in the arduous task of founding a Society has not proved vain but on the contrary, that Alpha Sigma Phi still stands with her glorious and mystical insignia untarnished. I pray God she may yet survive to transmit to future generations her renown"--Louis Manigault

Symbols

The Badge of Alpha Sigma Phi is almost exactly the same design as that created by Louis Manigault in 1845. (The original Badge was, however, flat and non-dimensional.) It is the only fraternity badge that is rectangular with right-angle corners. The Badge of Alpha Sigma Phi may never be modified in size or jeweled in any way. Every member of Alpha Sigma Phi wears exactly the same badge. Inscribed on the back of each member's Badge is inscribed the Brother's name, initiation date, chapter name (in Greek letters) and chapter founding date.

The Badge is worn over the heart on shirt, sweater or vest; never on lapel or jacket. A chapter guard pin may be added as well as officer insignia on the chain of the guard. No Brother ever allows any person not a member of the Fraternity to wear his Badge, except for the wife or fiancee of a brother. It is a tradition that the Badge of the Fraternity is willed at death to the Fraternity and returned to its archives.

Each chapter has a special President's pin that is a replica of the original badge and resembles the Delta Beta Xi key. A few chapters treasure an actual Badge used during the early days at Yale, gifts of the brothers who wore them as students. The President's badge is passed on within the Chapter from President to President, and remains the property of the chapter.

The Pledge Pin of Alpha Sigma Phi was originally the brother badge of Alpha Kappa Pi, which consolidated with Alpha Sigma Phi in 1946. It is worn over the heart. The Pledge Pin is the property of the Chapter and is entrusted to the New Member in accordance to the instructions given to him. The symbolism of the Pledge Pin is explained in the Pledging Ritual.

The Pledge Pin is the only insignia of the Fraternity that a new member may use prior to initiation; nor is a New Member permitted to wear jewelry with the Fraternity insignia on it or any item with the Fraternity's coat of arms. A new member may wear clothing with the three Greek letters of the Fraternity.

The coat of arms of Alpha Sigma Phi consists of a crest, a wreath, a shield, and a ribbon. The crest is a Phoenix, the mythical bird that arises again from its own ashes, in gold with upraised wings. The wreath, or twist, is made of six segments, alternating white and black. The shield is quartered, the dexter chief (as you face the shield, the upper left quadrant) and sinister base (lower right quadrant) are fields d'argent (of silver) crossed with a black bend dexter with three mullets (stars) d'or (of gold) spaced at proper intervals. The sinister chief (as you face the shield, the upper right quadrant) is a field d'or supporting a open book, the pages supporting a pen and inscribed with five hieroglyphics. The dexter base (lower left quadrant) is a field d'or containing a Greek column minus capital, an ancient lamp burning at its base and leaning against its opposite side, a wreath of laurel. Beneath the shield upon the ribbon d'or are inscribed the year of the Fraternity's founding, 1845, and the open motto, in Latin, of the Fraternity: "Causa Latet Vis Est Notissima," meaning "The cause is hidden, (but) the results (are) well- known." The symbolism of the coat of arms is revealed in the initiation ritual.

The Flag of the Fraternity consists of two equalized, vertical bars, the one next to the staff cardinal (red), the other stone (gray). From the lower corner, next to the staff, a white bar, one-fourth the width of the Flag, extends diagonally across to the upper end of the Flag and has three equally spaced cardinal stars upon the bar. The Greek letters of the Fraternity, in cardinal, appear in the lower right corner of the stone bar. Some chapters add their Greek-letter designations, in stone, to the upper left corner of the cardinal bar.

The Fraternity Seal is circular, with the shield as it appears on the Badge. The shield is surrounded by a double circle between which the open motto of the Fraternity, "Causa Latet Vis Est Notissima," is written. The motto translated means "The cause is hidden, the results well known." On a scroll connecting or crossing the circles under the lower apex appears the year of our founding. The Oak Wreath Seal was first used in the fall of 1846 in The Yale Banner. This seal later appeared in The Yale Tomahawk, on Alpha Sigma Phi stationery, songbooks and other items until 1864, when the Greek letters Alpha Sigma Phi were replaced by Delta Beta Xi until its suspension by Yale in 1875. The Delta Beta Xi Key, special key, is a replica of the Delta Beta Xi badge worn by Alpha Chapter at Yale from 1864 to 1875, recognizes outstanding service to the Fraternity. It is worn only by Brothers who are recipients of the award of Delta Beta Xi. No more than ten Brothers each year by the Grand Council, based on nominations by Chapters.

The symbol of Alpha Sigma Phi is the mythological bird, the phoenix. It represents our fraternity, whose existence has been threatend many times, but like the phoenix, continues to rise and rise again. The phoenix is found wrapped in our fraternity flag symbolizing our pledge of allegence to Alpha Sigma Phi. The design varies from chapter to chapter.