Sigma Kappa Epsilon records, 1928-1943 (bulk 1939-1942)
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Scope and content: Four volumes and one folder containing records from 1928-1943 of the Nashville, Tenn. high school fraternity, Sigma Kappa Epsilon, also known as SKE. Records primarily contain basic administrative information about the fraternity's operations, such as the constitution, lists of officers and members, initiation procedures, partial minutes, and partial treasurer's records. Portions of the records also include information about social events, such as dinners and dances. The bulk of the materials date from 1939-1942, and for this time period, appear to be predominently concerned with the club at East High School.

The earliest volume begins in 1928, and is designated on the flyleaf as the "Book of the Grand Master and Grand Recorder." It contains information about the founding of the fraternity by Philip Chandler Moore; charter rules; the constitution; the fraternity colors, song, oath, and meaning; lists of officers from the first through fourteenth years of the fraternity; alumni rules; both final and formal initiation information, and a list of members beginning with the sixth initiate in 1928 and running through the 92nd member in 1938. The remainder of this volume is blank.

The second volume is noted as belonging to Felix E. Fly Jr., and begins in 1939. It likewise contains the same type of information as in the preceding volume, although it include additional lists of officers for the fraternity's fifteenth and sixteenth years. At the back of the book is a list of members who joined the Armed Forces during World War II, listing their name, their branch of service, and the year of their enlistment, ranging from 1940-1943. The bulk of the book is blank.

A third bound volume begins in 1940 and goes through 1942, and contains meeting minutes. Towards the back of the book is a membership list, lists of dinner and dance attendees (including girls attending as the boys' dates). The bulk of this volume is blank.

A fourth volume is a small looseleaf notebook, stamped "Alpha Chapter," which appears to be a treasurer's book from circa 1940, with member's names and dues.

The foldercontains loose items pertaining to such matters as discipline, parental complaints, worksheets and scrap paper containing various notes, and photocopies of a few newsclippings.

Cite as: Sigma Kappa Epsilon Records, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library

Nashville Public Library does not have intellectual property rights to these materials.

James Carter;,Gift;,2000.,Acc. RT-371.

Alpha Chapter of Sigma Kappa Epsilon, a high school fraternity, was established on April 22, 1928, in Nashville, Tenn., with Philip Chandler Moore as its first president. He was a student at Hume-Fogg High School. The fraternity expanded in the early 1930s to include members from Isaac Litton High School and East High School, though it is unclear if each school had their own chapter, or if boys from all three schools came together to meet as one. In any case, they had frequent meetings and social events. The organization was formally disbanded on May 23, 1943, due to World War II, and was never revived.

In English

Ed Maxey, one of the last vice presidents of the fraternity, had kept these records for many years. Upon his death, his widow gave them to James Carter, another member of the fraternity. In the fall of 2000, these items were donated to the Nashville Room on behalf of James Carter, by Amelia W. Edwards. She had used these items in writing her book about high school fraternities, entitled: The Dating Game (vol. 2).

Much of the information contained in these records has been reproduced or transcribed and appears in: Edwards, Amelia W. "The Dating Game" (vol. 2)

Catalog;,2014;,Linda Barnickel.

No further accruals are expected.