History
Casque and Gauntlet was founded in March 1886 by students at Dartmouth College. [1] [4] Albert J. Thomas had the idea of creating a senior society like those at Yale University and recruited Fordyce P. Cleaves and Wilder D. Quint. [5] From those three, other potential members were recruited. [5] The founders decided to was to limit the society's membership or annual delegation to nineteen seniors. [5] The first delegation and founding fathers of Casque and Gauntlet were: [3]
- Henry Osgood Aiken
- Samuel Colcord Bartlett Jr.
- William Lincoln Blossom
- William Parkinson Buckley
- Charles Lincoln Carpenter
- Fordyce Perkins Cleaves
- Henry Otis Cushman
- Fred Alonzo Fernald
- George Waldron Glass
- Albert Emerson Hadlock
- Fred Arthur Howland
- George Ellsworth Johnson
- Sydney Edwin Junkins
- Wilder Dwight Quint
- Harry Wyatt Ranlett
- Jesse Belmont Rogers
- James Clifford Simpson
- Albert James Thomas
- Fred Welsey Wentworth
Cleaves, Thomas, and especially Quint were inspired Alfred Lord Tennyson's "Idylls of the King" and the other members agreed on this concept. [5] [6] [7] They selected the organization's name to represent "truth, fidelity, and loyalty to each other". [5] Its president was called Arthur, The Pendragon, after King Arthur, and the members took the names of the various Knights of the Round Table. [6] [7] Its ritual was written by Quint, with the Holy Grail as "the focal point of their fraternal life". [6] Wentworth designed the society's pin. [6] The group also develops its emblem, the profile of a knights helmet or casque with a glove or gauntlet. [5] Its alumni association began publishing a newsletter and directories in the 1890s. [7]
Initially, the group lacked a regular meeting place. [5] At one point, they had four rooms above Cobb's Store but also used a cemetery and a barn on Stump Lane. [5] [7] C&G moved into a house at 1 South Main Street in the fall of 1894. [8] [4] [9] The society dubbed their new residence "the Castle on the Corner". [9]
Originally, membership in C&G ended upon graduation. [10] In 1895, an Alumni Association was incorporated in Boston. [10] Initially, the main activity of the association was organizing an annual dinner for alumni. [10] However, the Alumni Association purchased the Castle in 1901. [9] [7] The house was transferred to the newly formed Trustees of Casque and Gauntlet in 1904. [7]
A group adopted a new constitution and by-laws in 1923 and its collegiate group and Alumni Association merged into a single organization called The Casque and Gauntlet, giving all of its initiates a lifetime membership. [8] [7] [10] In 1924, C&G published a songbook and began publishing its Bulletin. [8] [7] During World War II, the society stopped its activities and leased the house to the university. [8] The university gave the Castle back to the society in July 1946. [11] However, C&G struggled to rebuild its membership after the war and was financially depleted. [11]
Once Dartmouth allowed female students C&G was criticized as a single-sex organization, especially after it voted to remain all-male in 1977-78. [12] [11] The 1979 delegation also voted to admit women after the encouragement of the university's board of trustees. [11] Its first female King Arthur was elected in 1986. [11]
House
C&G moved into a house at 1 South Main Street in the fall of 1894. [8] [4] [9] The society dubbed their new residence "the Castle on the Corner". [9] The house was built in 1823 by Dr. Samuel Alden who lived there until he died in 1842; Joseph Emerson lived there until 1888 when it became a boarding house for students owned by Susan Brown. [9] The Castle was rented from Brown under a long-term lease. [9] [7]
The Alumni Association purchased the Castle in 1901. [9] [7] The alumni launched a campaign in 1911 to raise funds to improve the house, including selling stock to alumni. [7] In 1915, the society installed a rear addition designed by architect Fred Wesley Wentworth, a founding member.
In August 2020, the society leased its house at 1 South Main Street to the college as graduate student housing for three years. [16] This was done because its use as an undergraduate residence was no longer financially sustainable. [16] In January 2024, C&G sold its former chapter house to the Dartmouth and also donated $2.5 million of the proceeds to the college. [17]
Membership
Members of C&G nominate and select tappees as a group. Tapping takes place at a time the College coordinates with the other senior societies, usually around Winter Carnival. In the 1950s, the society discontinued its practice of blackballing, instead relying on a system of prospects receiving a 75% vote to be tapped. [11] It also experimented with allowing each member to select their own replacement. [11] Following coeducation at Dartmouth in 1972, the class of 1979 delegation voted unanimously to nominate women for membership. [11] Members are selected based on achievement, character, and service to Dartmouth. [7]
C&G is co-ed. [1] The first six women members of C&G joined the class of 1980 delegation. [8]
While C&G's membership is not secret, some elements of the society are kept secret, as one might expect from a sorority or fraternity. Society meetings, held — like all Dartmouth senior societies — on Monday nights, are closed; the initiation ceremony and other details are also kept secret.
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