The society owns and manages Deer Island, an island retreat on the St. In the late 1990s, New Hampshire landscape architects Saucier and Flynn designed the wrought iron fence that surrounds a portion of the complex. Pinnell also discusses the Tomb's esthetic place in relation to its neighbors, including the Yale University Art Gallery. Pinnell speculates that the re-use of the Davis towers in 1911 suggests Davis's role in the original building and, conversely, Austin was responsible for the architecturally similar brownstone Egyptian Revival Grove Street Cemetery gates, built in 1845. Architectural historian Patrick Pinnell includes an in-depth discussion of the dispute over the identity of the original architect in his 1999 Yale campus history. The architect was possibly Alexander Jackson Davis or Henry Austin. The Skull and Bones Hall is otherwise known as the 'Tomb'.Ī 2009 view of the tomb from across High Street One legend is that the numbers in the society's emblem ('322') represent 'founded in '32, 2nd corps', referring to a first Corps in an unknown German university. Documents in the Tomb have purportedly been found dated to 'Anno-Demostheni.' Members measure time of day according to a clock 5 minutes out of sync with normal time, the latter is called 'barbarian time.' In 322 BC, the Lamian War ended with the death of Demosthenes and Athenians were made to dissolve their government and establish a plutocratic system in its stead, whereby only those possessing 2,000 drachmas or more could remain citizens.

A letter between early society members in Yale's archives suggests that 322 is a reference to the year 322 BCE and that members measure dates from this year instead of from the common era. The number '322' appears in Skull and Bones' insignia and is widely reported to be significant as the year of Greek orator Demosthenes' death. Skull and Bones 'taps' those that it views as campus leaders and other notable figures for its membership. Since the society's inclusion of women in the early 1990s, Skull and Bones selects fifteen men and women of the junior class to join the society. Skull and Bones selects new members among students every spring as part of Yale University's 'Tap Day', and has done so since 1879. The first extended description of Skull and Bones, published in 1871 by Lyman Bagg in his book Four Years at Yale, noted that 'the mystery now attending its existence forms the one great enigma which college gossip never tires of discussing.' Brooks Mather Kelley attributed the interest in Yale senior societies to the fact that underclassmen members of then freshman, sophomore, and junior class societies returned to campus the following years and could share information about society rituals, while graduating seniors were, with their knowledge of such, at least a step removed from campus life. The association was founded by Russell and Daniel Coit Gilman, a Skull and Bones member. The society's assets are managed by its alumni organization, the Russell Trust Association, incorporated in 1856 and named after the Bones' co-founder. Alternative names for Skull and Bones are The Order, Order 322 and The Brotherhood of Death. The first senior members included Russell, Taft, and 12 other members. William Huntington Russell and Alphonso Taft co-founded 'the Order of the Skull and Bones'. Skull and Bones is not officially affiliated with Yale University, but Yale spokeswoman Dorie Baker questioned how the authenticity of the skull could be verified, and whether someone was seeking to cash in on society secrecy.Skull and Bones was founded in 1832 after a dispute among Yale debating societies Linonia, Brothers in Unity, and the Calliopean Society over that season's Phi Beta Kappa awards. The presale estimate for the skull is between $10,000 and $20,000. 22 at Christie's New York City location at Rockefeller Plaza. The seller's name has not been released, and the person has been identified only as a European art collector. Owen' and the date 1872 are embossed in gold on the back of the book.Īccording to Christie's, Owen graduated from Yale in 1872 and later became a professor of French and linguistics at the University of Wisconsin.

Also being auctioned is a small black book listing society member names from 1831 to 1877 and 50 photographs of society members, the auction listing says. The right cross bone has an inscription of the name 'Thor,' which Christie's claims may have been a name given to a member upon induction into the society. According to the auction house, the skull has a hinged flap on top and had been used as a ballot box during society meetings at 64 High St.

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