History of Gamma Delta Psi
The history of Gamma Psi Fraternity International cannot be written without telling the history of our founding Fraternity, Gamma Delta Psi Fraternity International, our high school affiliate. The following is a shorten version of their history contained within the pages of the Gamma Delta Psi Education Manual:
Gamma Delta Psi Fraternity was founded on April 13, 1879 at James Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Connecticut, by Walter Rowling Dann #1c, Arthur Henry Jackson #2c, Wylie Brantly Jones #3c, and Alexander Jay Wurts #4c for the purpose of “bringing together a body of kindred spirits for the mutual benefit and social enjoyment of its Brothers.”
According to our records, Omega Eta Tau is the oldest high school fraternity in the US, having been organized in 1859. Alpha Zeta was founded in 1869, as were Sigma Psi and Pi Phi. In 1879 Gamma Delta Psi was founded; therefore standing eighth in the list of the oldest high school fraternities and classed among the “Fathers of Secondary School Fraternities”.
The growth of Gamma Delta Psi throughout the United States was slow but sure. As idea of high school level fraternities spread, and many more Chapters were added, located in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Thirty nine chapters had been chartered from 1879 to 1925, but due to anti-fraternity legislation, World War I, and the 1918 flu pandemic Gamma Delta Psi was forced to stop her expansion program, and one by one the Chapters slipped into obscurity. These early years were the test and proof of our Fraternity; for they showed that the principles were fundamentally sound and good.
Growth in the 1930’s and 1940’s struggled as the world dealt with The Great Depression, World War II, and the Korean Conflict. Chapters continued to exist in Niagara Falls NY, Port Huron and Detroit MI, Washington DC, and New Haven. Gamma Delta Psi expanded the Fraternity into the college level at the University of Detroit with the founding of Alpha Tau Chapter in 1950.
As members of the Inter-Fraternity Congress, a group founded to benefit high school fraternities, Gamma Delta Psi was given contact information in 1954 about high school students in the Toronto, Ontario area interested in joining a recognized fraternity. The Alpha Phi Chapter of Mimico, Ontario would be our first Canadian chapter, one of 28 chapters stretching around the “Golden Horseshoe” of Lake Ontario from Toronto to Fort Erie. In 1956, IFC information again was responsible for a group from Hopewell, Virginia to be chartered as Beta Alpha Chapter, which would lead to over 13 mostly Tri-City area Virginia chapters accepted into the Grand Crescent. A college affiliate, Gamma Psi Fraternity, would be recognized in 1969, with chapters also located in Virginia and Ontario.
The last third of the century brought new pressures on Gamma Delta Psi, and all secret societies. The Vietnam war, the drug culture, part-time jobs, and year-round club sports all removed vital time that would previously be spent with the local chapter. By 1995, our fraternity no longer had any functioning chapters or governing body. The Board of Trustees would struggle to maintain the Trust Fund and what few connections to alumni that had survived a period of great apathy.
A rebirth of the organization started in 2008 with a Conclave of interested Brothers in Williamsport PA followed by alumni celebrations to commemorate Gamma Delta Psi’s 130th Anniversary in Petersburg and Toronto in 2009.
You can find out more information about Gamma Delta Psi at the following link: https://gammadeltapsi.org