Manuscript Society is a senior society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. It is reputedly the arts and letters society at Yale.
History Founded in 1951, Manuscript was Yale's seventh "landed" senior society - that is, its alumni trust owns the society's meeting place or "tomb". The Manuscript Society was one of the first senior societies to offer membership to rising females at Yale College.
Each delegation is selected by consensus among Manuscript alumni, trustees, delegates, and significant others, unlike other Yale societies where undergraduate members more freely select, recruit, and initiate their society's next delegation."Tombs & Taps" section of online Magazine , retrieved 2010
The Wrexham Foundation is the society's alumni arm. Since 1956, the foundation has underwritten the Wrexam Prize, a scholarship in the humanities for the senior who writes the best essay in the field of the humanities.
Manuscript briefly played host to the 1991-92 classes of Skull and Bones, who were temporarily locked out of their tomb by alumni who objected to its undergraduates' decision to offer membership to women. From its beginning the society also retained close connections with the campus literary society Chi Delta Theta, which formed in 1821.Yale Extracurricular and Social Organizations publication, retrieved 26 March 2012Havemeyer, Loomis (January 1961). Yale's Extracurricular & Social Organizations, 1780-1960. Yale University. via EilScholar, accessed 21 Aug 2021.
Manuscript Society is part of a four-society "Consortium" with the Aurelian Honor Society, Book and Snake, and Berzelius.
Traditions The society holds the number 344 to be sacred. It supposedly holds Enlightenment ideals, and the sun and sunflowers are both important symbols to members.Havemeyer, Loomis. (1960). "Go to your room"; a story of undergraduate societies and fraternities at Yale. New Haven: Yale.
The society holds an annual gathering in its tomb on Halloween. Its members also invite guests to events featuring notable alumni.
Chapter house Designed by King-lui Wu, Manuscript's white granite tomb was built in 1952. The tomb is mid-century modern, unusual amid other societies' elaborate mid-to-late-19th century buildings. It featured a circular intaglio mural in white-glazed brick that was designed by Josef Albers. The circle, which is only visible in direct sunlight, symbolizes the bond connecting the members.
It appears from the outside to have only one level, yet conceals several subterranean floors and a courtyard. The tomb holds a collection of notable modern and contemporary art. The Yale University Art Gallery is said to have temporarily stored pieces there. Wu said that he designed the building "for privacy, not for secrecy.""Ingenious Use of a Narrow Site". Architectural Record, November 1965. Dan Kiley designed the landscaping which includes a Japanese water garden.
Popular culture Manuscript is described in the novel Joe College by Tom Perrotta as "basically the cool people's version of a secret society".
Leigh Bardugo’s dark academia fantasy novel Ninth House features an occult version of the society that specializes in mirror magic, illusions, and glamouring.
Notable members
NameClassNotabilityReferencesJosef AlbersHonoraryArtistJen Banbury1989Playwright, author, and journalistAlan Bernheimer1970PoetNoah Bookbinder1995Professor of law at George Washington UniversityListing in the George Washington Univ. Law School Directory , retrieved 26 March 2012Maia Brewton1998Child actress and lawyerRichard H. Brodhead19689th President of Duke UniversityCleanth BrooksHonoraryLiterary criticMatthew Bruccoli1953 F. Scott Fitzgerald scholar David Calleo1955Intellectual historian, political economist at Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University Anderson Cooper1989 Journalist and news anchor with CNNWenzel, R. Economic Policy Journal. "Doing a background check on CNN" (26 December 2011), retrieved on 26 March 2012Robert A. DahlHonoraryProfessor of political science at Yale UniversityEli Whitney Debevoise II1974U.S. Director of the World BankCharles Derber1965Professor of sociology and social criticJuan Negrín Fetter1967Director of Wixarika Research CenterBiographical Sketch of Juan Negrin, retrieved 22 March 2012Robert Fiore1964Film producer and directorJodie Foster1985Director and Academy Award winning actressHenry Geldzahler1957Art historian and curatorTamar Gendler1987Professor, chair of the Yale University department of philosophyDavid Gergen1963Presidential advisor and political commentatorRobert Glick1962Director of the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and ResearchCyrus HamlinHonoraryLiterary critic and longtime Yale professorE. D. Hirsch, Jr.HonoraryLiterary critic and proponent of cultural literacyH. John Heinz III1960U.S. SenatorCheryl Henson1984Puppeteer and president of the Jim Henson FoundationRodger Kamenetz1970Professor and certified dream therapistZoe Kazan2005Actor and playwrightByron Kim1983Minimalist artistAnthony Lapham1958General Counsel of the CIA from 1976–1979 and Chair of the American RiversBrooke Lyons2003ActorJane Maienschein1972Director of the Center for Biology and Society, at Arizona State UniversityRichard Maltby, Jr.1959Tony Award-winning directorPatrick McCaugheyHonoraryFormer director of the Yale Center for British ArtVed MehtaHonoraryAuthor and advocate for the blindTed Morgan1954 Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist Wallace NotesteinHonorarySterling Professor of English History at YaleSoni Oyekan1970Chemical engineer and inventorMichael Pertschuk1954Consumer advocate, author and former government official Scott Peterson1988Author and journalistJames Prosek1997Author and naturalistHodara, S. The New York Times, "Interpreting a Blueprint for Birds". (Arts and Entertainment, 01/13/2008), retrieved 26 March 2012Dale Purves1960Neuroscientist, director of Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders at DukeRichard Rhodes1959Pulitzer Prize-winning author Duncan RobinsonHonoraryMaster of Magdalene College and Director of the Fitzwilliam MuseumRichard SelzerHonorarySurgeon, author, and professor of surgery at YaleWilliam Kelly SimpsonHonoraryArt historian and head of college of Timothy Dwight CollegeSteven SmithHonoraryPolitical scientist and head of college of Branford CollegePaul Steiger1964Editor-in-Chief of ProPublica, former managing editor of the Wall Street JournalRobert StorrHonoraryCurator, critic, painter, and writer.Robert Farris ThompsonHonoraryArt historian and master of Timothy Dwight CollegeRosanna Warren1976 Poet and scholar Elisabeth Waterston1999ActorElisabeth Waterston bio , retrieved 26 March 2012Stephen F. Williams1958 Senior Circuit Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia CircuitJonathan Zittrain1991 Professor of Internet Law at Harvard UniversityKarl Zinsmeister1981 Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council under George W. Bush
See also Collegiate secret societies in North America
References
Sources Robbins, Alexandra. Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power. (Back Bay Books: 2003).
External links Drawing of the Manuscript Society House, Yale University Library