A RC HI VE S
FROM THE MUSEUM ARCHIVES
S IG MA D E LTA R ITUAL BOX by Michael Grant (Oakland '97), contributing writer
Editor’s Note: The "From The Museum Archives" spotlight will be an ongoing series in each issue of The Emerald that introduces an important historical item from the museum at the Executive Office. When, in the spring of 1908, PGS M. Atlee Ermold (Temple 1909) was confronted with the task of preparing a ritual for the newly formed Sigma Delta Fraternity at Temple University (of which he was a founding member), he “cast around for a guiding motif with a Grecian atmosphere.” Drawing upon the university for inspiration, the “Owl” and “Temple” offered Ermold a focal point around which to build - the former being his school mascot and the latter the name of the institution itself. He found that the “Owl-headed Goddess” in ancient Greece held a promise. So, “with the aid of the latest edition (11th) of the Encyclopedia Britannica and a humble page of an almanac," the work began. According to PGS Ermold, “Sigma Delta Fraternity was the successor to the Sigma Delta Science Club of Temple, an organization drawn largely from those pursuing the Civil Engineering Course. All members were mathematically inclined and it would only be natural that the story of [our Ancient Sage] should be blended with the other ideas.” PGS 6 4 + SUMMER 2017
Louis L. Moore (Temple 1909) wrote that Ermold’s work was adopted by the local fraternity on December 5, 1908. Thus was born the Sigma Delta Ritual, which would later become the basis of The Golden Quest, the present initiatory rite of Sigma Pi Fraternity. ABOUT THE BOX This box contains the earliest existing copy of the Sigma Delta Ritual. The words are extremely faded, but are still mostly legible. While significantly different from the present day version of The Golden Quest, it is similar enough that any initiate of Sigma Pi would recognize it. The Sigma Delta Ritual was adapted into the first version of The Golden Quest between July 1909 and April 1910. It was adopted by the Fraternity at the Second Biennial Convocation held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in October 1910. It was at this Convocation that PGS Ermold was elected Grand Sage. *Words appearing in brackets have been redacted to protect their esoteric meaning.