Abstract

Important Information for Users of the Collection

Historical Note

The first meeting of the forerunner of Alpha Gamma Rho, Alpha Theta Chapter, was held in November 1924 when seven students met at the Agricultural Experiment Station to establish an agricultural fraternity at the University of Maryland. The original purposes of the group were to strive for excellence in scholarship and fellowship, as well as to further the interest of agriculture. At first, their petitions for recognition as a fraternity to both the Inter-Fraternity Council and the University Senate were turned down, but in May 1925 the University Senate approved a request for the students to form the A.G. Club. This club was then reorganized and approved as a local fraternity under the name Alpha Gamma in November 1926, and incorporated the following February. In the spring of 1927, a committee was established to find a home for the fraternity, and by the fall, a six room house, located at 7507 Princeton Avenue, had been rented. That November a petition for charter membership was presented at the National Convention of Alpha Gamma Rho, a national agricultural fraternity with whom Alpha Gamma sought to affiliate. Upon approval of this petition, Alpha Gamma was granted a charter as the Alpha Theta Chapter of the Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity in November 1927 and the chapter was officially recognized by the University's Inter-Fraternity Council in November 1928. The Alpha Gamma Rho Alumni Association of the Alpha Theta Chapter was organized in May 1929. With its help, the fraternity had a new house built at 7511 Princeton Street, and moved into it in December, 1930.

By 1940, the chapter had grown enough to help successfully sponsor the National Convention of Alpha Gamma Rho, which was held in Washington, D.C. World War II took its toll on the chapter as members were drafted, and the chapter house was eventually rented out to a sorority until after the war when the house was returned to AGR. Soon after, the chapter membership increased beyond its pre-war levels, and in 1958, Arthur B. Hamilton, one of the charter members of the Alpha Theta Chapter, was elected national Grand President of the Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity.

Despite the turmoil of the 1960's, Alpha Theta continued striving for excellence in scholarship, and for many years had the highest fraternity scholastic grade point average of any fraternity on campus. Individual members have also been outstanding college athletes and the chapter has enjoyed consistent success in raising money for charity. Nationwide recognition of two Alpha Theta members occurred during a campus protest in 1971. Vietnam protestors had lowered the American flag in front of the North Administration Building, trampled it, and then raised it upside down. Brothers Charlie Blocher and Dave Simpson, despite jeering from the demonstrators, took it down and raised it right side up. This occurrence received national attention and the two members were even invited to the White House to be thanked personally by President Nixon.

Some remodeling of the interior of the AGR house occurred during the years 1968 to 1970 and the interior of the AGR house underwent a major renovation in 1989, costing approximately a quarter of a million dollars.

The chapter remains active today in agricultural and campus concerns.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The records of the Alpha Theta Chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho date from 1924 to 1989. They consist of financial records, correspondence, minutes, reports, publications, and budgets. Intermingled in the records are files documenting organizations which precede or are related to AGR; they include the Alpha Gamma Fraternity and the A.G. Club of the University of Maryland, the Alpha Gamma Rho Alumni Association and the Board of Trustees of the Alpha Gamma Rho Alumni Association.

Among other topics, the collection contains information on the creation of the Alpha Theta chapter and its predecessor organizations, its success in bringing the national AGR convention to Washington, D.C., in 1940, correspondence showing the effects of World War II on the fraternity and its members, and documentation on the expansion and additions to the AGR house.

Custodial History and Acquisition Information

The records of Alpha Gamma Rho, Alpha Theta Chapter, were donated to the University of Maryland College Park Libraries by Arthur B. Hamilton in 1965. Mr. Hamilton donated additional materials in 1989.

Processing Information

Arrangement of Collection

This collection is organized as two series:

• Series 1: Organization
• Series 2: Financial Records

Detailed Description of the Collection

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