The Chapter History of the Sigma Alpha Rho Fraternity of America

The Chapter History of the Sigma Alpha Rho Fraternity of America On a certain night, in the late months of the year 1917 (actually November 18, 1917) , a group of boys gathered in a synagogue on Larchwood Avenue, near 60th Street, in Philadelphia. Amidst the buzz of voices, a rapping on the table was heard, and President Jules Feinstein called the meeting of the Soathical Club to order. The Soathical Club was an organization that had been established the previous Spring by a group of Jewish students in the West Philadelphia High School for the purpose of banding them together socially. The name was derived from a combination of the words social and athletic, and among the activities was included a baseball team. The usual procedure at the meeting revealed nothing of phenomenal importance. But with the oncoming of new business there was born a fraternity. Ponderous Bill Braude arose and in his sincere voice pleaded that the Club be formed into a fraternity, primarily for the advancement of Jewish student interests in the West Philadelphia High School. No visible hand of God stretched out from the sky that night; no strange whispers were carried by the winds; no spiritual bell was heard ringing,; but in the fertile soil of that group the seed of The Sigma Alpha Rho Fraternity was planted, nourished by eleven valiant hearts. The seed had been embedded deeply within the hearts of the boys. Through voicing of unfriendly criticism, internal strife and racial prejudices, the young seed neither wavered, faltered nor was it hindered in its becoming a noble tree with wide spreading branches; and still the tree of the fraternity grows with many more branches and in spirit. The metamorphosis the Soathical Club underwent, its regeneration into the Phi Chapter of Sigma Alpha Rho Fraternity, its radical effect upon the members, was nothing short of miraculous. Combined with a fraternal spirit never tasted before, a ritual was drawn up; truly an inspired work, a glorious work, one which stimulated the very essence of the significance of brotherhood. One of the first matters adopted by the new Fraternity was the selection of a pin, an emblem which would certify our brotherhood and be a symbol of all it might stand for in the future. Brother Alexander Meisel was entrusted with this work, and after much deliberation and forethought he presented to the group the design which we now wear as our emblem. At that time, the pin did not have the ritualistic significance which it possesses today, those being refinements added by the scholastic and ritualistic experts who came later. Yet, its name stood out - The Gleaming Eye . The second matter of importance considered by the new Fraternity was the selection of their colors , Royal Purple and White . These colors were chosen for the exact significance that they portray today, and so perhaps they represent the original rites of this Fraternity. Jules Feinstein was elected as President of the Fraternity, still a one chapter organization. Louis Marios was elected as Vice President, Nathan Goldman became Secretary, Benjamin Landau assumed the role of Treasurer, and Harry Katz took the position of Financial Secretary. In the Spring of 1918, the first affair ever given under the auspices of the Sigma Alpha Rho Fraternity was held. At that affair, a number of new men were introduced, some of them such as Jerry Abramson and John Borska, brothers who were to exercise a powerful influence on the development of Sigma Alpha Rho. By the Fall of the year, Jerry Abramson had progressed to the extent of making himself the foremost member of the group, and he was selected as President to succeed Jules Feinstein. Under his capable leadership the Sigma Alpha Rho Fraternity forged rapidly ahead. The former insignificant "Club" had matured into a fraternity that was dominated by the beauty of its ideals. It began to taste the sweets of prestige, of an honored name, of victories, of exerting a potent force in the activities of the West Philadelphia High School. Through its many years of existence this group accomplished many things of social and fraternal merit. It was only natural that some outlet be sought for this exuberance of spirit that pervaded the one "chaptered" fraternity. Thus, it was decided that an expansion by the establishment of chapters in other high schools would serve as a great factor in letting other Jewish youth taste the spirit of the first born of the Sigma Alpha Rho Fraternity. And with this action there was formed the basis of the National Organizers Department, the precursor to the Supreme Board of Chancellors. June 10, 1921, marked the momentous occasion of taking in the second chapter within the fold of the Sigma Alpha Rho Fraternity. In preparation for this expansion the fraternal and ritual minded members of the group had for months been polishing , revamping, and rewriting the rituals and rites of Sigma Alpha Rho, until finally it assumed the proportions and composition that we have today. Thus the Sigma Chapter was introduced, and with a designation as a Sigma Chapter came the appellation of the Phi Chapter to the original body, and the Sigma Alpha Rho became an institution rather than a group. On the evening of June 10, on the Roof Garden of the Lorraine Hotel, ten members of the Central High School of Philadelphia were solemnly ushered in and formally constituted as The Sigma Chapter, under the newly revised rituals. A banquet followed the ceremony and the speeches that were delivered hummed with the spirit of fraternalism, good fellowship and the will to do; the new men were instilled witha n enthusiasm that up tho this day has never been dimmed; a spirit that has not faltered; and a loyalty to their fraternity that has been revealed year after year after year by deeds. One by one as the flower of Sigma Alpha Rho burst into bloom, every high school in Philadelphia was being drawn into the bounds of the fraternity. Nor was this great spirit of fraternalism to be a spark momentarily set off and extinguished quickly. Reaching out in a broad fan-like swoop, the Fraternity drew into its fold successively chapters in Camden, Wilmington, New York and Pittsburgh. It could be truly said that we were now "going places." But with this expansion came a problem which was vital - the need of a central governing body was recognized; a body which would serve as a connecting link for all chapters no matter how widely they were distributed. An Executive Council was created to handle the day to day problems of the organization in September 1921. This Council at first consisted of but eight members, four from the Phi Chapter and four from the Sigma Chapter. Brothers Rosenthal, Abramson, Segal and Herman representing Phi and Horowitz, Good, Buten and Hoffman, members of Sigma. This Council set up the first plans for the conduct of the National Organization, and today our complex system of constitution and by-laws still hearkens back to the original fundamental laid down by those eight men. It was they who selected the name Supreme Exalted Ruler for our presiding officers. They likewise named the other national officers, and at their first meeting made the following elections: Supreme Exlalted Ruler, Leon S. Rosenthal ; Mortal Exalted Ruler, Walter Greenspan Horowitz; Supreme Exchequer, Alexander David Segal; Supreme Scribe, Philip Joseph Heiman. These men were the first national officers of our Fraternity. This Council served as the bond which wove the different Philadelphia chapters into a much stronger association and relationship. In the beginning, composed of only four delegates from each chapter, the Council possessed very limited powers and as a result its duties were not many. For the next few years the Council accomplished a fine piece of work in all its undertakings. With the advent of distant Chapters such as Newark and Pittsburgh, it became necessary to form a governing council which would include their representation. Obviously the Executive Council had served its purpose, and so, on January 20, 1924, the Supreme Exalted Ruler dissolved the Executive Council, and a few moments later called into session the National Executive Council representing every Chapter in the Fraternity. New elections were held and Leon S. Rosenthal was again elected as Supreme Exalted Ruler. A new Constitution, which was drawn p by the Constitutional Revision Committee under Brother Rosenthal's leadership, was formally approved by the delegates in session and adopted as the new constitution of Sigma Alpha Rho. In the Convention that subsequently followed as yearly events, meetings of the National Executive Council became more and more complex. Delegates from every chapter were given the opportunity of expressing themselves and introducing resolutions. Discussions of policy and methods grew more and ore heated; the meetings indeed took on the air of the United States Senate. Such baptism of verbal fire served in revealing potentialities of new leadership and in bringing brothers into closer mental as well as social contact with each other. When the 1926 Convention rolled around, certain notable changes were made in the National Organization. Amendments to the Constitution provided for a new governing body, one with greater power and resources. To create this important unit, the cream of the Fraternity was selected. The Supreme Exalted Ruler, the Supreme Mortal Ruler, the Exalted Mortal Ruler, the Supreme Exchequer, the Supreme Scribe, and the preceding Supreme Exalted Ruler plus three Chancellors, elected annual by the National Executive Council in session which was itself composed of chapter delegates, were to compose this auspicious body. This group was to be known officially as the Supreme Board of Chancellors.

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