 William and Susan Tate correspondence regarding Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi
Collection DescriptionHistorical NoteWilliam Tate was born in Calhoun, Georgia on Spetember 21, 1903 and raised on a farm in Farimount. His father, Philip May Tate, established the marble industry in Pickens County, and was also the first president of the Calhoun National Bank. His mother, Edna Ferguson Tate, managed the farm at Fairmount following her husband's death and served as president of the Fairmount Bank and principal of the local high school. As an undergraduate at the University of Georgia Tate was a champion miler, two-miler, and cross-country runner. He was prevented by illness from running against Paavo Nurmi, the peerless Finnish distance runner who had won gold medals in the '24 Olympics, in the Wanamaker Mile at New York's Millrose Athletic Club. In 1932 Tate married the granddaughter of Chancellor David Barrow, Susan Frances Barrow, and returned to the University of Georgia as Dean of Freshmen and Assistant Professor in English. During his long UGA career Tate served as Dean of Students and Assistant to the President before being named Dean of Men in 1946, a post he held for twenty-five years. Susan Frances Tate was born in Athens, Georgia on November 23, 1908 and married William Tate on June 15, 1932. educated at Lucy Cobb Institute and the University of Georgia, she received an A.B. in 1930 and a M.A. in 1938. Mrs. Tate was employed by the UGA Libraries from 1954 through 1969 as first a library assistant and then as the Assistant Special Collections Librarian with the Hargrett Rare Books and Manuscripts Library. She and Dean Tate had two children: Benjamin Barrow Tate and William Jefferson Tate. The first Phi Beta Kappa chapter in the state of Georgia was founded at UGA in 1914. Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest and most prestigious undergraduate honors organization in America. Only 270 colleges and universities have a chapter. University of Georgia Points of Pride http://www.uga.edu/profile/pride.html (Retrieved June 23, 2009) The honor society of Phi Kappa Phi traces its origin to the University of Maine, 1897. Early in that year, a small group of seniors headed by Marcus L. Urann proposed that a society be formed to elect the ten highest-ranking seniors to an honor group. Following discussion with A. W. Harris, president of the University, and several interested professors, the Society of Lambda Sigma Eta was born. In 1899, the name of the group was changed to the Morrill Society, in honor of the senator who sponsored the act which created land-grant colleges. In 1900, the society expanded to other campuses and adopted the name Phi Kappa Phi. Chapter 32 of the University of Georgia was installed on December 1, 1923. The caliber of leadership and the value of Phi Kappa Phi's membership to the University of Georgia is evident in the list of the charter members, among whom, seven of the 42 original initiates are remembered through the buildings which bear their names: Chancellor David C. Barrow, Treasurer T. W. Reed, Dean C. M. Snelling, Professor R. L. McWhorter, President Andrew M. Soule, Professor W. O. Payne, and Miss Mary Creswell. University of Georgia - Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society http://www.uga.edu/phikappaphi/about.html (Retrieved June 23, 2009) Scope and ContentThe collection consists of correspondence regarding Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi. Administrative InformationPreferred CitationWilliam and Susan Tate correspondence regarding Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi, ms2858, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries. Related Materials and SubjectsSubject TermsRelated Collections in this RepositoryRelated collections in this repository: William Tate family papers, ms2034, Edna Ferguson Tate family papers, ms568, and Tate family papers, ms2016. | ||||||||||||||||||||