Heritage
Installation Banquet
To celebrate the installation of the Delta Phi Chapter at the College of Puget Sound, an installation banquet was held the evening of February 4, 1950. Nearly 300 guests attended the event which was held in the Fellowship Hall of the Tacoma Masonic Temple. The story about the installation in the Magazine of Sigma Chi describes the event “got off to a rousing start and the tempo never lagged.”
The Gallery
All images are from the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity; most were published with the article “John S. McMillin’s Dream” in The Magazine of Sigma Chi, vol. 6, no. 2, pg. 34 – 39.
Donald I. Plummer (Upsilon Upsilon, Washington 1920), center, tells his Sig sons, Don Jr. (Upsilon Upsilon, Washington 1945) and Bill (Delta Phi, Puget Sound 1951), how his chapter operated in his day at the Delta Phi Chapter Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
Installation banquet luminaries listen to W. Edward Wilson Jr. (Upsilon Upsilon, Washington 1931), president of the Tacoma Alumni Chapter, seated right, speak during the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. Front: Past Grand Praetor Henry O. Foss and Executive Secretary J. Russell Easton. Back: Toastmaster George H. Boldt; Edward Lane, member of Delta Kappa Phi local and president of the College of Puget Sound Interfraternity Council; Donald A. Meyer, president of the Seattle Alumni Chapter; and Puget Sound President R. Franklin Thompson. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
Toastmaster George H. Boldt listens as College of Puget Sound President R. Franklin Thompson speaks at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
Six of the men who worked hardest to help bring a Sigma Chi chapter to the College of Puget Sound admire the charter on February 4, 1950. Seated: Tacoma Alumni Chapter President Ed Wilson; Richard G. Wilson (Upsilon Upsilon, Washington); and John Blair, Delta Phi Chapter Advisor. Standing: Upsilon Upsilon, Washington, Sigs Fred S. Merritt Jr., Roger A. Lasswell and John C. Huston. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
Installation officers gather on the dais for a photograph at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. Front row: George Boldt; Sam C. Bullock, executive director of the Sigma Chi Fraternity; Fred Merritt; and Merrill E. Prichard, editor of the Magazine of Sigma Chi. Back row: Russ Easton; Don Meyer; Past Grand Praetor Henry O. Foss; Grand Praetor James J. “Jim” Overlock; and Field Secretary James L. Young. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
Executive Director Sam C. Bullock and Dr. J. Dwayne Reitz (Beta Tau, Colorado State 1930) converse at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
Grand Praetor James J. “Jim” Overlock tells Upsilon Upsilon Chapter Consul Fred J. Merritt Jr., “All the worrying was for naught,” at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
“To bring new luster to the White Cross,” is the goal Sam C. Bullock, executive director of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, set for the Delta Phi Chapter at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
An unidentified Sig and Executive Secretary J. Russell Easton listen to Past Grand Praetor Henry O. Foss give a speech at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
Nearly 300 guests attended the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950, in the Fellowship Hall of the Tacoma Masonic Temple. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
Past Grand Consul Sam C. Bullock, executive director of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and chief installing officer, passes the long-awaited charter to Consul Frank H. Taylor Jr. at the installation banquet. (Sigma Chi Fraternity)
“She’s the Sweetheart of Sigma Chi,” sing Jack Babbit, College of Puget Sound senior; John Espy Jr. (Beta Iota, Oregon 1938); Sam C. Bullock, executive director; and Ralph G. Stowe (Beta Delta, Montana 1924). (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
Edgar B. MacLeod (Beta Rho, Montana State, and Alpha Epsilon, Nebraska 1926), John C. Chapman (Upsilon Upsilon, Washington 1925) and L. S. Jordan (Upsilon Upsilon, Washington 1929) sing while Oliver Malm (Beta Delta, Montana 1928) plays the Hammond organ at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
Sigs sing at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
Sigs sing while Oliver Malm (Beta Delta, Montana 1928) plays the Hammond organ at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
Toastmaster George H. Boldt reads aloud telegrams of congratulations to the new chapter at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
“We’re all behind you, Frank,” says John T. Steward (Gamma Eta, Idaho 1935), chairman of the installation committee, to Consul Frank H. Taylor Jr. at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
Key men in the effort to pay off the Delta Phi Chapter mortgage huddle at the Installation Banquet on February 4, 1950: Clifford M. Langhorne (Upsilon Upsilon, Washington 1924), Past Grand Praetor Henry O. Foss, Harold T. Foss (Delta Phi, Puget Sound 1924), charter member of Sigma Mu Chi local; Archie F. Blair (Beta Delta, Montana 1925); and Consul Frank H. Taylor Jr. (Delta Phi, Puget Sound 1950). (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
John C. Chapman (Upsilon Upsilon, Washington 1925) says, “We expect big things from your new chapter,” to his initiate son John T. “Tim” Chapman (Delta Phi, Puget Sound 1952). (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
Twenty-six Sigma Mu Chi local alumni, 23 of whom appear in the photo, return to become Sigma Chis on February 4, 1950. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
The first group of undergraduate initiates sit for their photograph. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
The second group of undergraduate initiates sit for their photograph. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.)
The Program
A program was provided to guests at the Installation Banquet to commemorate the event. Printed within were the names of brothers involved with the installation, the schedule for the evening and the names of the brothers who were initiated in to the Fraternity over the weekend.
The cover of the Installation Banquet program. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, IF3573310101.)
The names of the installing officers and the Tacoma Alumni Chapter Installation Committee members as printed in the Installation Banquet program. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, IF3573310101.)
The schedule for the Installation Banquet as printed in the program. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, IF3573310101.)
The list of charter, alumni and first initiation class members of the Delta Phi Chapter as printed in the Installation Banquet program. (From the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, IF3573310101.)
the Photographer
Robert B. “Bob” Richards was born in Tacoma, Washington, and graduated in 1936 from the College of Puget Sound where he was a Sigma Mu Chi local member. After graduation, Richards became one of the Pacific Northwest’s top photographers. On February 4, 1950, he and 25 other Sigma Mu Chi local alumni became Sigma Chis when the Delta Phi Chapter was installed.
The Richards Studio, also known as Richards Commercial Photo Service, was the foremost commercial photographic studio in Tacoma, Washington for over 35 years between 1949 and 1974. The studio’s photographers documented the Tacoma community’s weddings, funerals, parades, business growth, school activities, and more.
Images produced by the Richards Studio can be found in the Tacoma Public Library’s photograph collection in physical and digital formats.
The Tacoma Masonic Temple
The Masonic Temple, which has stood for over 90 years at 47 St Helens Avenue, is a Tacoma landmark. Groundbreaking for the Greek-styled with Egyptian-detail structure, designed by architect A.J. Russell, occurred on January 16, 1926. Construction lasted for nearly two years when the building was formally dedicated on December 1, 1927. The building has hosted countless events, including the Installation Banquet, investitures and other chapter events.
