Owl Club (Harvard)


The Owl Club is an all-male final club at Harvard University.

History

The Owl Club was founded in 1896 by Reginald Mansfield Johnson, Malcolm Scollay Greenough, Jr., Frazier Curtis, Preston Player, Charles Clifford Payson, Austen Fox Riggs, and Dudley Hall Bradlee, Jr. Originally established as a secret society, the Club held its meetings in Cambridge's Polo Club Alley before purchasing land on the corner of Holyoke Street and Holyoke Place in 1901.
In 1905, architect James Purdon of Purdon and Little drew up plans for the Georgian clubhouse, and on June 24 of that year the cornerstone of the present clubhouse was laid. The new building was formally opened on March 24, 1906, the tenth anniversary of the Club.
In 1916, it was voted to officially change the name from “Phi Delta Psi Club” to “Owl Club”. The club had become informally known as The Owl as an abbreviation of its Greek name, Ἀυλὸς χαὶ Ἔκπωμα.

Notable members