Mace and Chain
| Mace and Chain | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 1956 Yale University |
| Type | Senior society |
| Affiliation | Independent |
| Status | Active |
| Scope | Local |
| Chapters | 1 |
| Members | 300+ lifetime |
| Headquarters | Trumbull Street New Haven, Connecticut United States |
Mace and Chain is a senior society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. It was originally established in 1956 and, after going defunct in 1970, was reestablished in 1993. The society has a house or "tomb" on Trumbull Street.
History
[edit]Yale University junior Thornton Marshall founded Mace and Chain in 1956 after he failed to receive an invitation to join a secret student society.[1][2][3] Yale professor Robert Penn Warren gave Marshall advice on structuring the society as "something which is a little closer to reality and that can exist in the sunlight".[1][2] Thus, Marshall's goal was to create a senior society that would more representative of the campus community.[3]
Marshall recruited six friends to join his new society.[1] The group met in an apartment on Wall Street and rotated the society's leadership every week.[1] Mace and Chain went inactive in the 1960s when it lost its apartment lease, reportedly due to a lack of money.[1][3]
Mace and Chain reformed, then went dormant again in 1970.[4] In 1993, Mace and Chain was revived by alumni members Tom Haines and William "Biff" Folberth.[1][2] The first class of the reformed society included five male and five female seniors.[1] Although sometimes called as a secret society, the reformed Mace and Chain's membership is listed annually in campus publications.[5]
Mace and Chain is considered part of the “ancient eight consortium”, a name given to the eight most selective senior societies at Yale, also including Berzelius Society, Book and Snake, Elihu Club, St. Elmo’s Society, Scroll and Key, Skull and Bones, and Wolf’s Head Society.[6] In 2007, the society had more than 300 alumni.[1]
Symbols
[edit]The Mace and Chain emblem resulted from its founding members' discussions about chivalry.[1]
Tomb
[edit]Mace and Chain is considered a "landed" society because it owns its meeting place or "tomb".[7] When it was reestablished in 1993, the society initially occupied a condominium provided by alumni.[1] In 2001, the alumni gave the society an historic house on Trumbull Street in downtown New Haven.[1] Its tomb is a late Colonial and early-Victorian style house that was in built in 1823 with salvage from Benedict Arnold's home.[8]
Notable members
[edit]- Tatiana Schlossberg, journalist and author[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Ron, Schachter (July 2007). "Light & Verity: The Youngest Secret Society". Yale Alumni Magazine. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ^ a b c Garza, Joe (2023-05-06). "Yale Has More Secret Societies Than You Realize. Here's The History". Grunge. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
- ^ a b c Schenkel, Ben (March 30, 2012). "Tapping in to Yale's secret societies". UWire. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
- ^ Richards, David Alan (2017-09-05). Skulls and Keys: The Hidden History of Yale's Secret Societies. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-68177-581-4.
- ^ a b "Secret Societies". Rumpus. Yale University: 5. May 2012. Retrieved May 7, 2025 – via issuu.
- ^ "Tap secrets of Yale societies". Yale Daily News. 2002-04-12. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
- ^ "Yale's secret social fabric". Yale Daily News. 2008-12-05. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
- ^ "Yale | History". Plexuss. Retrieved 2023-07-04.