Missouri S&T Brotherhood and History

CONNIE SIEFERMAN

In a scenic valley near the Mark Twain National Forest and the Ozark highlands, the quaint city of Rolla, Missouri offers its visitors a panoramic view of pastoral surroundings. The rural midwestern setting provides a perfect backdrop for several city structures on the National Register of Historic Places. Officially established as a town in 1858, Rolla saw Civil War activity as a Confederate sympathizer overtaken by Union forces. For most of its subsequent history, the city was known as a transportation and trading center. Rolla can also lay claim to being a regular stop along the old U.S. Route 66, conveniently located about halfway between St. Louis and Springfield. More recent accounts have shown this historic and pleasant city to be an important center for state and federal education and research in science and technology. It is the proud home of the Missouri University of Science and Technology, originally founded in 1870 as the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy. Missouri S & T, as it’s now called, is well-known for its engineering and computer science departments. It is, then, a logical and welcoming gateway for a men’s social fraternity focused on majors in the sciences, engineering, and architecture. Triangle Fraternity is a natural fit at Missouri S & T.

The chapter house at 807 State Street in Rolla is a tribute to the historic legacy of the building itself. The structure was built as a private home around 1914 by a local pharmacist, Millard Fillmore Faulkner, and his wife Nancy. Mrs. Faulkner wanted something “different” than the other homes in the area and decided to use field stone from a farm north of Rolla. The farm and its surrounding stone fence pre-dated the Civil War. During the war, the farm area became a military fortress known as Fort Dette. The Faulkners “purchased” the stone by agreeing to replace it with a barbed wire fence. At that time, there were no trucks available to haul the roubidoux sandstone to its new location. It had to be hauled in regular wagons, and that meant many trips from the farmhouse locale to the city address near downtown Rolla. The Faulkner home was a private family residence for several years before becoming headquarters to The Grubstaker Club, the first social organization on the campus of the School of Mines. Originally conceived as a men’s dining club, the members eventually came to regard it as more than an eating arrangement. This gave strength to the idea of procuring a house and managing the group along the same lines as those practiced by fraternities. At the beginning of the school year 1925-26, the Grubstakers Club began leasing the property with an option to buy, and found it very suitable to their needs at the time. As the men of the club became ever more fraternityconscious, they felt the need for a significant and official brotherhood that would not be confined to just their own school. Many of them engineers, their eyes turned naturally to Triangle. In 1927, they petitioned the National Council for admittance into the organization. After an appropriate investigation of the club had been made, the petition was approved. On December 10, 1927, the Grubstakers Club became an official chapter of Triangle Fraternity. Steve Lang mom77, current president of the alumni chapter, talks about the challenges of managing a building with this longevity and character. “Historical material helps you understand how to maintain a building of this age. There has to be discipline involved in living with many other guys in this setting. Interpersonal skills are important, along with a joint appreciation for the house. The majority of today’s men are not as familiar with home maintenance and repair as was an earlier generation. You need to learn how to replace a toilet, lay carpeting down. There’s an expectation of our older guys that they will teach the younger ones who come along. You need to know how to get by in life! You don’t always have to pick up the phone and call a repairman.” There are good life lessons to be learned when living in a structure that has elements dating back to the Civil War era. If the age of the building has not proven to be enough of a challenge over the course of many decades, add in a few fire events along the way. Definitive records on these events are not thoroughly documented, but legend suggests that there have been three fires: one in 1927 that caused some minor damage; another in 1957 involving a space heater resulting in moderate damage; and a third in January of 1988, also blamed on a space heater. That one, which took place on the first day of classes for the second term, resulted in approximately $400,000 worth of damage. The top two floors of the house burned significantly. The entire structure received smoke and water damage. The chapter newsletter, Miner’s Millings, dated April, 1988, offers these meaningful and thoughtful comments from the then-chapter president, Tom Nichols mom85: “Although the fire was quite a tragedy, the brothers have pulled together and helped each other through it. It takes some character to smile in the face of adversity as I have seen these men do. We are all going to be

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better people for this…I would like to take the time to thank each of you who have helped us so far. It is very heartening to see that the bonds of brotherhood are never broken.”

The brotherhood at the Missouri Mines chapter of Triangle Fraternity remains intact to this day. The current active president is Wyatt Pickett mom17. “The brothers here are my go-to support. The network is really important to me. I can say with confidence that I would have dropped out of school if not for Triangle. The guys fill me up when I am empty, and catch me when I am falling. I think of them as friends who guide me.” Wyatt originally met one of the fraternity members through a friend, and the process of getting connected to the organization helped him get on track. He goes on to say, “During freshman boot camp in my first semester, I felt a strong sense of connection to Triangle. I actually had an ambition to become chapter president one day. Here I am!” The story for Dakota Turlington mom18, current active treasurer, is similar. “I started my studies at this school during a spring term, which is always a bit of a cold start for a newcomer. I lived in the residence hall, kind of overwhelming. Then I met Wyatt in some of my classes. He invited me to come and study with the guys at the fraternity. It is a much different feeling at the house! Here it is more comfortable, there is no undue stress to compete, everyone is helping you succeed. It was an easy transition to pledge, initiate and move in pretty quickly. The biggest thing for me is the welcoming environment.” That “comfortable house” is indeed a treasure, both historically and architecturally. The main floor is a wonder of woodworking prowess and design creativity. The phrase “They don’t make them like this anymore!” comes to mind when a visitor tours the house. But as with any structure of this age, repairs and maintenance are a constant concern. Lang comments on the process: “It’s hard to keep up a house like this. The alumni have voted to maintain, rather than rebuild. The process is slow but steady. The furniture’s in bad shape, the roof is not so good, there’s no air conditioning in some areas. We’ve opted to payas-we-go and improve as we can. We also own the building next door and are evaluating what the next steps should be with that. We’d like to see recruitment ramp up and bring our membership to around 40. It’s a matter of time.”

Other projects on the horizon are upgrades to the kitchen and eating area, landscaping, window replacements, roof shingling, and equipment for general house repairs. It would seem, however, that the needed property work does not diminish the public’s desire to check out the “Ol’ Rock House” as it is sometimes known. An open invitation to the local Greek community in 2017 resulted in a 45minute wait for people to tour the Triangle chapter house! The members turned the tour into an official party, and nearly 1000 visitors came to see the historic structure with its trademark sandstone façade. There is no doubt that the Faulkners’ dream home of 1914 has turned into a treasured local attraction over 100 years later. The Triangle house at Missouri Mines - it’s a keeper!