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Brothers in Unity
Literary society at Yale University, US

Brothers in Unity, originally founded in 1768 as the Society of Brothers in Unity, is an undergraduate literary and debating society at Yale University. At its 19th-century peak, it included nearly half the student body but disbanded in the late 1870s after donating its book collection to help establish Yale's central library. The society was revived in 2021 by senior class members and alumni and is unique among Yale senior societies for admitting students from all four undergraduate years, continuing its tradition as a vibrant forum for literary and debating activities.

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History

First incarnation

The Society of Brothers in Unity at Yale College was founded in 1768 by 21 members of the Yale classes of 1768, 1769, 1770, and 1771. The society was founded chiefly to reduce class separation among literary societies; at the time, Yale freshmen were not "received" into any society, and junior society members were forced into the servitude of seniors "under dread of the severest penalties".7

David Humphreys, a freshman of the class of 1771, persuaded two members of the senior class, three junior class members, two sophomores, and 14 freshmen to support the establishment of a new society.8 Its founding members were:9

  • Joseph Barker
  • Lewis Beebe
  • John Brown
  • William Burrall
  • David Close
  • Josiah Cotton
  • Henry Daggett
  • Phinehas Fanning
  • John Hart
  • Levi Hubbell
  • David Humphreys
  • Mark Leavenworth
  • Achilles Mansfield
  • Allyn Mather
  • Sylvester Muirson
  • James Nichols
  • Josiah Pomeroy
  • Seth Sage
  • Oliver Stanley
  • Simeon Tryon
  • Joseph Woodbridge

The group picked Stanley as its first president.10

The notion of including freshmen was challenged by two or three existing literary groups that waged "an incessant war" against the new society, as described in Brothers in Unity's 1841 catalog of members. But within a year, Brothers became fully independent, its popularity influencing other societies to reconsider their exclusion of first-year students. The Yale College freshman class of 1771 ultimately yielded 15 members to the new group, while the older Linonian Society accepted four—the first recorded time in which underclassmen were publicly accepted into a Yale society.11 It is speculated that this struggle launched the Brothers' century-long rivalry with Linonia.

Through at least 1841, the society is said to have followed the template of other debating societies, although operating under "Masonic secrecy," according to 19th-century Yale historian Ebenezer Baldwin.12 Baldwin wrote that the group, in conjunction with Linonia and the Calliopean Society, discussed scientific questions and gravitated towards literary pursuits. This is substantiated by the Brothers' public documentation, which says the society sought "lofty places in science, literature, and oratory" fields, as well as general "intellectual improvement."13 It also produced plays, including contemporary British dramas and works by its members.14

By the beginning of the 19th century, most Yale College students joined either the Brothers or Linonia.15 "While the official curriculum remained extraordinarily rigid, the student body built a rich extra-curriculum through the literary societies that allowed them to explore subjects that would normally have no place in the college," wrote Elizabeth James in 2015. "Research papers, debates, and literary exercises gave vitality to intellectual life within the college. The societies provided a place where student voices and opinions could be heard, and their questions or thoughts about the world around them interrogated by their classmates."16 These societies helped pave Yale's way toward a broader European model of education.17

Both groups held expansive literary collections, which they used to compete against each other. Between 1780 and 1841, the Brothers claimed to own more volumes than Linonia, although these assertions are disputed.1819 Despite their rivalry, the two societies described each other as "ornaments" of Yale and "generous rivals."202122When Yale built its first central library in 1846, Linonia and Brothers in Unity accepted the library's invitation to house their collections in the new building. For several decades, the collections were maintained separately, each with a librarian, staff, catalogs, and building entrance. However, the society declined during the Civil War and against the competition of newer secret societies such as Skull and Bones.23 Linonia and Brothers proposed donating their collections to Yale in 1860, and this was finally done in 1872.242526 These donations are commemorated in the Linonia and Brothers Room of Yale's Sterling Memorial Library. The reading room contains the Linonia and Brothers (L&B) collection, a travel collection, a collection devoted to medieval history, and books recently added to Sterling's collections.

Brothers in Unity disbanded after the library donation; various sources say this happened in 1871, 1872, or 1878.272829

Second incarnation (2021-present)

In 2021, 21 Yale undergraduates revived the defunct society in a different form.30 While the original Brothers had a relatively open admissions policy and a large membership, its new incarnation follows the model of Yale's restrictive and smaller senior secret societies.31

The new group says it seeks members with professional experience in, or simply passion for, certain types of public service, including the U.S. armed forces, U.S. Congress, the U.S. foreign service, and U.S. intelligence community;32 and, in "exceptional circumstances", people who demonstrate business leadership or entrepreneurship.33

The society is funded by the 1768 Foundation Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity administered by alumni.34

Symbols and traditions

Internally, members call the society the Brotherhood.35 In 1768 or 1769, the Brothers adopted the motto E parvis oriuntur magna, meaning "From small things come great things". Its values are chivalry, openness, and selflessness.36

Activities

Brothers in Unity holds debates and invites speakers to discuss contemporary entrepreneurship, foreign policy, literature, and politics.37 In 2021, it hosted a lecture named for Morrison Waite, the seventh chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, who helped strike down the Civil Rights Act of 1875.38 The Brothers also award the David Humphreys Prize for a valedictory oration.39

In 2022, the Brothers donated photographs and documents concerning its revival to the Yale University Library's Manuscript and Archives collection.40 The Brothers convene regular debates and special lectures in the Mendell Room at the Brothers in Unity Courtyard in Branford College.

Membership

Membership in Brother in Unity admits 10 new members each spring.41 A current Yale professor acts as an ex-officio member to advise the society. As of May 2025, it had 175 alumni and current members.42

Members of the group between 1768 and 1841 include 26 Yale valedictorians, several Supreme Court justices, one Chief Justice, six governors, 13 Senators, 45 Congressional representatives, a Secretary of the Navy, a Secretary of the Treasury, a Postmaster General, 14 presidents of colleges and universities, two U.S. Attorneys General, and a U.S. Vice President.4344 By 1841, a total of 2,828 students had belonged to the group.45

Notable members

NameClass YearNotabilityReferences
George Edmund Badger1816U.S. Secretary of the Navy, U.S. Senator
Henry Baldwin1797Supreme Court justice and U.S. Representative
Leonard Bacon1820Abolitionist and congregational preacher
Joel Barlow1778Ambassador to France, drafted the Treaty of Tripoli46
John Brown of Pittsfield1771Revolutionary War officer, a state legislator, and a Berkshire County judge
John M. Clayton181518th U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Senator
Moses Cleaveland1777Founded Cleveland, Ohio; Brigadier General of Connecticut militia
Mason Fitch Cogswell1780Surgeon, pioneer of French sign language in the United States
Carroll Cutler1854President of the Case Western Reserve University47
John Davis1812Governor of Massachusetts, U.S. senator and Representative
Henry Durant1827Founded the University of California, Mayor of Oakland, California
William Edmond1778politician
Christopher Ellery1787U.S. Senator
John Elliott1794U.S. Senator from Georgia.
William Ely1787U.S. Representative from Massachusetts
Jeremiah Evarts1802Missionary, reformer, and activist for the rights of Native Americans
Stephen Clark Foster1840Mayor of Los Angeles.
James Gadsden1806Adjutant General of the U.S. Army
Ezekiel Gilbert1778U.S. Representative from New York
Thomas R. Gold1786U.S. Representative
Chauncey Goodrich1776U.S. Senator, 8th lieutenant governor of Connecticut
Gideon Granger1787U.S. Postmaster General
Richard Henry Green1857First African American to graduate from Yale4849
Ray Greene1784U.S. Senator and Attorney General
Thomas H. Hubbard1799U.S. Representative
William Hull1772General in the War of 1812, Governor of Michigan
David Humphreys1771American Revolutionary War colonel, Ambassador to Portugal50
James Lanman1788U.S. Senator from Connecticut, Secretary of State of New York. U.S. Representative
Henry Meigs1799U.S. Senator from New York
Samuel Morse1810Inventor of Morse code
Thomas J. Oakley1801U.S. Representative from New York, Attorney General for New York.
Peter Buell Porter179112th U.S. Secretary of War
Israel Smith1781Governor of Vermont, senator, and U.S. representative
Benjamin Silliman1796chemist, first to distill petroleum, and a founder of the American Journal of Science
John William Sterling1864Founder of Shearling & Sterling
William Strong1828Supreme Court justice
Alphonso Taft1833U.S. Secretary of War, U.S. Attorney General, founder of Skull and Bones
Benjamin Tallmadge1773Spymaster and leader of the Culper Ring, Continental Army captain, U.S. representative
Thomas Thacher1872lawyer
Uriah Tracy1778U.S. senator51
Morrison Waite1837Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
Noah Webster1778founding father, author of Merriam-Webster dictionary52
Yung Wing1854First Chinese student to graduate from an American university, businessman53
Oliver Wolcott Jr.1778U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and 24th governor of Connecticut54
William Channing Woodbridge1812Geographer and educational reformer
Chauncey Langdon1787United States Representative from Vermont (1815-181755
Theodore Dwight Woolsey1820President of Yale College, author, and academic

References

  1. "Home". Brothers in Unity. Archived from the original on 2023-05-30. Retrieved 2023-07-08. https://www.brothersinunity.org/home ↩

  2. James, Elizabeth (2015-05-01). "The True University: Yale's Library from 1843 to 1931". MSSA Kaplan Prize for Yale History. Archived from the original on 2022-10-27. Retrieved 2022-10-27. https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/mssa_yale_history/5 ↩

  3. "Yale University Library Research Guides: Yale History Timeline: 1870 - 1879". Yale Library. Archived from the original on 2022-10-27. Retrieved 2022-10-27. https://guides.library.yale.edu/c.php?g=296074&p=1976336 ↩

  4. Havemayer, Loomis (January 1961). "Yale's Extracurricular and Social Organizations 1780-1960". Eli Scholar's Page. Yale University. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021. https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=yale_history_pubs ↩

  5. "About". Brothers in Unity. 2021-11-28. Archived from the original on November 28, 2021. Retrieved 2022-11-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20211128044747/https://www.brothersinunity.org/about ↩

  6. "Linonian and Brothers in Unity: The Societies that Built Yale University's Library". Connecticut History.Org. CT State Government. Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023. https://connecticuthistory.org/linonian-and-brothers-in-unity-the-societies-that-built-yale-universitys-library/ ↩

  7. Robinson, W.E. (1841). "Preface". A Catalogue of the Members of the Society of Brothers in Unity, Yale College, 1841. New Haven, Connecticut: Hitchcock & Stafford. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 4 June 2015. https://archive.org/details/acataloguesocie00unitgoog ↩

  8. Robinson, W.E. (1841). "Preface". A Catalogue of the Members of the Society of Brothers in Unity, Yale College, 1841. New Haven, Connecticut: Hitchcock & Stafford. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 4 June 2015. https://archive.org/details/acataloguesocie00unitgoog ↩

  9. "History". Brothers in Unity. Archived from the original on 2023-05-30. Retrieved 2023-07-06. https://www.brothersinunity.org/home ↩

  10. "History". Brothers in Unity. Archived from the original on 2023-05-30. Retrieved 2023-07-06. https://www.brothersinunity.org/home ↩

  11. Robinson, W.E. (1841). "Preface". A Catalogue of the Members of the Society of Brothers in Unity, Yale College, 1841. New Haven, Connecticut: Hitchcock & Stafford. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 4 June 2015. https://archive.org/details/acataloguesocie00unitgoog ↩

  12. Ebenezer Baldwin (1841). History of Yale College: From Its Foundation, A.D. 1700, to the Year 1838. B. and W. Noyes. pp. 235–236 – via Internet Archive. http://archive.org/details/historyyalecoll00baldgoog ↩

  13. Robinson, W.E. (1841). "Preface". A Catalogue of the Members of the Society of Brothers in Unity, Yale College, 1841. New Haven, Connecticut: Hitchcock & Stafford. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 4 June 2015. https://archive.org/details/acataloguesocie00unitgoog ↩

  14. Tsourapas, Gerasimos (April 2004). "The History of the Yale Dramatic Association, 1900-1980s". Yale Dramatic Association. Archived from the original on 2023-07-07. Retrieved 2023-07-06. https://yaledramat.org/history/ ↩

  15. "An Irrepressible Urge to Join". Yale Alumni Magazine. March 2021. Archived from the original on 2022-10-28. Retrieved 2022-11-01. http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/01_03/groups.html ↩

  16. James, Elizabeth (2015-05-01). "The True University: Yale's Library from 1843 to 1931". MSSA Kaplan Prize for Yale History. Archived from the original on 2022-10-27. Retrieved 2022-10-27. https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/mssa_yale_history/5 ↩

  17. James, Elizabeth (2015-05-01). "The True University: Yale's Library from 1843 to 1931". MSSA Kaplan Prize for Yale History. Archived from the original on 2022-10-27. Retrieved 2022-10-27. https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/mssa_yale_history/5 ↩

  18. Robinson, W.E. (1841). "Preface". A Catalogue of the Members of the Society of Brothers in Unity, Yale College, 1841. New Haven, Connecticut: Hitchcock & Stafford. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 4 June 2015. https://archive.org/details/acataloguesocie00unitgoog ↩

  19. Ebenezer Baldwin (1841). History of Yale College: From Its Foundation, A.D. 1700, to the Year 1838. B. and W. Noyes. pp. 235–236 – via Internet Archive. http://archive.org/details/historyyalecoll00baldgoog ↩

  20. The Linonian Society Library of Yale College: The First Years, 1768—1790 ↩

  21. Kathy M. Umbricht Straka The Yale University Library Gazette, Vol. 54, No. 4 (April 1980), pp. 183-192 ↩

  22. Robinson, W.E. (1841). "Preface". A Catalogue of the Members of the Society of Brothers in Unity, Yale College, 1841. New Haven, Connecticut: Hitchcock & Stafford. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 4 June 2015. https://archive.org/details/acataloguesocie00unitgoog ↩

  23. "History". Brothers in Unity. Archived from the original on 2023-05-30. Retrieved 2023-07-06. https://www.brothersinunity.org/home ↩

  24. James, Elizabeth (2015-05-01). "The True University: Yale's Library from 1843 to 1931". MSSA Kaplan Prize for Yale History. Archived from the original on 2022-10-27. Retrieved 2022-10-27. https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/mssa_yale_history/5 ↩

  25. "History". Brothers in Unity. Archived from the original on 2023-05-30. Retrieved 2023-07-06. https://www.brothersinunity.org/home ↩

  26. "Yale University Library Research Guides: Yale History Timeline: 1870 - 1879". Yale Library. Archived from the original on 2022-10-27. Retrieved 2022-10-27. https://guides.library.yale.edu/c.php?g=296074&p=1976336 ↩

  27. James, Elizabeth (2015-05-01). "The True University: Yale's Library from 1843 to 1931". MSSA Kaplan Prize for Yale History. Archived from the original on 2022-10-27. Retrieved 2022-10-27. https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/mssa_yale_history/5 ↩

  28. "Yale University Library Research Guides: Yale History Timeline: 1870 - 1879". Yale Library. Archived from the original on 2022-10-27. Retrieved 2022-10-27. https://guides.library.yale.edu/c.php?g=296074&p=1976336 ↩

  29. Havemayer, Loomis (January 1961). "Yale's Extracurricular and Social Organizations 1780-1960". Eli Scholar's Page. Yale University. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021. https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=yale_history_pubs ↩

  30. "History". Brothers in Unity. Archived from the original on 2023-05-30. Retrieved 2023-07-06. https://www.brothersinunity.org/home ↩

  31. Ebenezer Baldwin (1841). History of Yale College: From Its Foundation, A.D. 1700, to the Year 1838. B. and W. Noyes. pp. 235–236 – via Internet Archive. http://archive.org/details/historyyalecoll00baldgoog ↩

  32. "About". Brothers in Unity. 2021-11-28. Archived from the original on November 28, 2021. Retrieved 2022-11-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20211128044747/https://www.brothersinunity.org/about ↩

  33. "Membership". Brothers in Unity. 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-11-28. Retrieved 2022-10-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20211128044739/https://www.brothersinunity.org/membership ↩

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