The records of Delta Sigma Delta provide an interesting view into the organization of a professional fraternity, and into the activities and personalities of those individuals drawn to such a social organization. Because it is such a visual collection, with many photographs, scrapbooks, and artefactual items, the Delta Sigma Delta collection provides a varied source of information about the affairs of a distinguished professional fraternity.
The Delta Sigma Delta collection includes both the records of the fraternity as well as related materials collected over the years by fraternity historian, Dr. Frank O. Clifford, and as such, there is a wide diversity of materials spanning more than a century of activity, 1882 to 1992.
The records of Delta Sigma Delta, at the request of the fraternity, are divided between those records stored archivally and other materials on display in the Delta Sigma Delta Room of the library. This finding aid will describe both sets of records with indications where they might be found.
Delta Sigma Delta, the first dental fraternity, was founded on November 15, 1882 at the University of Michigan by Charles Howard and a group of six other dental students. The seven founding members of the fraternity were Charles W. Howard, Louis J. Mitchell, Clarence J. Hand, Ezra L. Kern, Louis Manning James, Lyndall L. Davis, and Francis E. Cassidy, who were followed into membership soon after by three additional students, Charles P. Weinrich, Donald D. Magill, and William Cleland. Delta Sigma Delta, the name selected by transposing the last two letters of the dental degree, D.D.S., began recording minutes in January of 1883.
On February 23, 1884, a Supreme Chapter consisting of the graduating seniors was created. Within the hierarchy of the organization, the fraternity is governed by the Supreme Chapter. Undergraduate chapter members, of which there are many throughout the country, are still in dental school, but upon graduation, they may be accepted on merit into the Supreme Chapter. Graduate chapters, or auxiliaries, are divisions of the Supreme Chapter, organized regionally. Delta Sigma Delta also operates many Graduate Chapters throughout the world, including New Zealand and Australia. From its founding, Delta Sigma Delta was intended to be a social fraternity open to both dental students and to dentists in practice.
The idea for a historical library/museum began in 1926, primarily through the efforts of Dr. Frank O. Clifford. When it was determined that it was not practical to house the museum at the Alpha Chapter House in Ann Arbor, fraternity members began looking for another site. Not until 1972 did the historical materials collected over the years by Dr. Clifford finally find a permanent home at the Bentley Historical Library.
