Kuklos Adelphon
Template:Short description Template:Infobox fraternity Kuklos Adelphon (also known as Kappa Alpha or ΚΑ) was an American social fraternity founded at the University of North Carolina in 1812. It was also known as old Kappa Alpha, K.A., Circle of Brothers, and the Alpha Society.<ref name="Baird's Manual Online">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} The main archive URL is The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage.</ref><ref name=":0">Boyd, Leroy Stafford. The original Kappa Alpha, p. 1. (Reprinted from Banta's Greek exchange, v. 7, no. 4, September 1919). via Hathi Trust.</ref> The organization expanded throughout the Southern United States, not only on college campuses but also in cities where alumni settled. The society began to decline during the 1850s and disappeared after the Civil War.<ref>Allen W Trelease White terror; the Ku Klux Klan conspiracy and Southern Reconstruction New York, Harper & Row 1971 p.4</ref>
History
Kuklos Adelphon was established at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1812.<ref name="Baird's Manual Online" /><ref name=":0" /> Its founders were four members of Phi Beta Kappa.<ref name=":5">Shepard, Francis W., ed. (1927). Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities (11th ed.). Menasha, Wisconsin: George Banta Publishing Company. p. 535-536. via Google Books.</ref> As a result, its rituals, secrets, and constitution were similar to Phi Beta Kappa.<ref name=":5" />
Kuklos Adelphon expanded throughout the Southern United States, not only on college campuses but also in cities where alumni settled. It did not have a centralized operation and allowed each chapter to amend its constitution and ritual as desired by its members.<ref name=":1">Boyd, Leroy Stafford. The Original Kappa Alpha, p. 2. (Reprinted from Banta's Greek exchange, v. 7, no. 4, September 1919). via Hathi Trust.</ref>
In the spring of 1855, secessionist politics caused a rift at the University of Alabama.<ref name=":2">Boyd, Leroy Stafford. The Original Kappa Alpha, p. 3. (Reprinted from Banta's Greek exchange, v. 7, no. 4, September 1919). via Hathi Trust.</ref> The minority unionist faction of the chapter disclosed the secrets of the order which were published by another fraternity, leading to the chapter's dissolution.<ref name=":2" />
The Alpha chapter of Kuklos Adelphon dissolved in 1855 but was revived in 1858 as Kappa Alpha.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5" />
In 1858, the chapter at the University of South Carolina led a reorganization of the order and it was reconstituted as Phi Mu Omicron ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) but this order did not outlast the Civil War.<ref name=":0" /> The last Kappa Alpha chapter proper, that at the University of North Carolina, dissolved in 1866.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />
Symbols and traditions
The fraternity's name is derived from Ancient Greek Κύκλος Ἀδελφών, meaning "Circle of Brothers." Its motto was {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} or "Nothing can I prefer, when sane, to a companionable friend", which is a quote from the poet Horace.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Its badge was a diamond with a circle in its center.<ref name=":3">Boyd, Leroy Stafford. The Original Kappa Alpha, p. 3. (Reprinted from Banta's Greek exchange, v. 7, no. 5, September 1919). via Hathi Trust.</ref><ref name=":4">Boyd, Leroy Stafford. The Original Kappa Alpha, p.11. (Reprinted from Banta's Greek exchange, v. 7, no. 5, September 1919). via Hathi Trust.</ref> There was a capital letter A inside the circle and the phrase Κύκλος Ἀδελφών around the outside of the circle.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> The initials of the fraternity's Latin motto, NECSJA, were on the right leg of the letter A, while an image of clasping hands was on the crossbar of the letter A.<ref name=":4" /> The badge was supposed to be worn suspended from a blue ribbon from the member's right lapel.<ref name=":4" /> The constitution specified that the badge was to be silver; however, examples in other metals are also found.<ref name=":4" /> Variations (pictured here) include the circle and letter A in black enamel on a white enamel background, or a diamond frame with a circle frame.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":4" />
The fraternity's seal was an equilateral triangle, with the Greek letters ΚΑ below and an open eye above.<ref name=":4" />
Chapters
Chapters of the society were called circles.<ref name=":5" /> If chapters were named in order of the Greek alphabet, there were 21 collegiate chapters established.<ref name=":5" /> However, the order in which the chapters were chartered is unknown.<ref name=":5" /> Following is a list of Kuklos Adelphon or Kappa Alpha chapters that were active in 1855.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" />
Controversies
John Lester, a founder of the Ku Klux Klan, claimed that the Klan's initiation ritual was based on a popular collegiate fraternal order, and it has been speculated by Allen Trelease that "Kuklos Adelphon almost certainly provided the model" for the early Klan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In disagreement, Albert Stevens in his Cyclopaedia of Fraternities (1907), a more contemporary reference document to the date for the founding, declares the Klan took portions from the initiation ceremony of the Sons of Malta and leaves absent the name "Kuklos Adelphon."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Notable members
- John C. Bush, mayor of Mobile, Alabama<ref name=":5" />
- Wiliam Wallace Duncan, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South<ref name=":5" />
- Robert Kennon Hargrove, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South<ref name=":5" />
- William M. Lowe, U.S. House of Representatives<ref name=":5" />
- John Mason Martin, U.S. House of Representatives<ref name=":5" />
- James K. Polk, President of the United States<ref name=":5" />
- Thomas R. Stockdale, justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi and U.S. House of Representatives<ref name=":5" />
- William H. Whitsitt, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary<ref name=":5" />