Skull and Bones 174638 225928565 2008-07-16T01:44:31Z JForget 1064243 Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/68.42.149.65|68.42.149.65]] ([[User talk:68.42.149.65|talk]]) to last version by NapoleonXII {{dablink|For the pirate flag, see [[Jolly Roger]]. For the international poison symbol, see [[Skull and crossbones]]. For the Cypress Hill album, see [[Skull & Bones (album)]].}} Skull and Bones is a senior or [[secret society]] based at [[Yale University]], in [[New Haven, Connecticut]]. The society's [[alumni]] organization, which owns the society's real property and oversees the organization's activity, is known as the [[Russell Trust Association]], and is named after one of Bones' founding members, General William Russell.<ref> [[The New York Times]], "Change In Skull And Bones. Famous Yale Society Doubles Size of Its House - Addition a Duplicate of Old Building", published September 13, 1903</ref> In conversation, the group is known as "Bones," and members have been known as "Bonesmen".<ref>{{cite book |author = Stevens, Albert C. |year = 1907 |title = ''Cyclopedia of Fraternities: A Compilation of Existing Authentic Information and the Results of Original Investigation as to the Origin, Derivation, Founders, Development, Aims, Emblems, Character, and Personnel of More Than Six Hundred Secret Societies in the United States'' |publisher = E. B. Treat and Company |pages = 338}}</ref> In the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, both the Democratic and Republican nominees were alumni. [[George W. Bush]], in his [[A Charge to Keep|autobiography]], states "[in] My senior year I joined Skull and Bones, a secret society; so secret, I can't say anything more."<ref> George W. Bush, A Charge to Keep, (1999) ISBN 0-688-17441-8</ref> When asked what it meant that he and Bush were both Bonesmen, former presidential candidate, and current U.S. Senator from [[Massachusetts]], [[John Kerry]] said, "Not much because it's a secret."<ref> [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A48358-2004Apr3?language=printer washingtonpost.com: Bush, Kerry Share Tippy-Top Secret]</ref><ref> ''[[Meet the Press]]''[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6905368727547377435]</ref> == History == Skull and Bones was formed in [[1832]] as a result of a dispute among Yale's debating societies, Linonia, Brothers in Unity, and Calliope over the [[Phi Beta Kappa]] awards.<ref> [[The New York Times]], "Change In Skull And Bones. Famous Yale Society Doubles Size of Its House - Addition a Duplicate of Old Building," published September 13, 1903</ref> It was once referred to as The Brotherhood of Death,<ref> Sutton, Antony C. ''America's Secret Establishment: An Introduction to the Order of Skull & Bones''. 2003.</ref> but a more common alternative name was Eulogia. The only "chapter" of Skull and Bones created outside Yale was a chapter at [[Wesleyan University]] in 1870. That chapter, the Beta of Skull & Bones, became independent in 1872 in a dispute over control over creating additional chapters; the Beta Chapter reconstituted itself as [[Theta Nu Epsilon]].<ref>[http://thetanuepsilon.com/03HistSoc/History.html http://thetanuepsilon.com/03HistSoc/History.html]</ref> By reputation, "Bonesmen" tapped the current football and heavyweight rowing captains, as well as notables from the ''[[Yale Daily News]]'', Yale Lit, and eventually the [[Yale Political Union]]. The group's decision, after much dispute, to admit women helped diversify the membership to reflect current undergraduate demographics. Numerous undergraduate constituencies are better represented among the recently tapped membership compared to the Skull and Bones "cohorts," or "delegations," that included later [[President of the United States|Presidents of the United States]] [[William H. Taft]], [[George H. W. Bush]] and [[George W. Bush]].{{Fact|date=April 2008}} [[Image:Skull and Bones tomb.jpg|left|thumb|250px|The Skull and Bones tomb between 1903 and 1911, before adjacent Yale buildings and tree growth.]] Members meet in the "tomb" on Thursday and Sunday evenings of each week over the course of their senior year. As with other Yale societies, the sharing of a personal history is the keystone of the senior year together in the tomb. Members are assigned a nickname. ==Lore== 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."<ref>http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/2004_09/old_yale.html</ref> Brooks Mather Kelley attributed the secrecy of Yale senior societies to the fact that underclassmen members of [[freshman]], [[sophomore]], and junior class societies remained on campus following their membership, while seniors naturally left.<ref>''Yale: A History'', Brooks Mather Kelley, (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, Ltd.), 1974</ref> The emblem of Skull and Bones is a skull with crossed bones, over the number "322". Some have speculated that 322 stands for "founded in '32, 2nd corps", referring to a first corps in some unknown German university which has never been found. Others suggest that 322 refers to the era of [[Demosthenes]] and that documents in the society hall have purportedly been found dated to "Anno-Demostheni".<ref>{{cite book |author = Stevens, Albert C. |year = 1907 |title = ''Cyclopedia of Fraternities: A Compilation of Existing Authentic Information and the Results of Original Investigation as to the Origin, Derivation, Founders, Development, Aims, Emblems, Character, and Personnel of More Than Six Hundred Secret Societies in the United States'' |publisher = E. B. Treat and Company |pages = 340}}</ref> The secrecy surrounding Skull and Bones has been a fertile ground for speculation, and all sorts of conspiracy theories include Skull and Bones. The society is supposed to have illicit connections to the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], [[Bilderberg Group|Bilderbergers]], [[Extraterrestrial life|Aliens]], and/or [[Freemasonry|Freemasons]]. These theories were the basis of the 2000 film ''[[The Skulls]]'' which concerns a highly elaborate secret society with clear parallels to Skull and Bones. Bones was also included, as well as the [[a cappella]] group the [[Whiffenpoofs]], in the 2006 film ''[[The Good Shepherd (film)|The Good Shepherd]]'', about the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]. Probably the most famous fictional Bonesman is [[Montgomery Burns]], of ''[[The Simpsons]]'', who attended Yale and was a member of Skull and Bones.<ref>Forbes Fictional Fifteen: [http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/12/06/montomery-burns-wealt_cx_de_05fict15_1206burnsprofile.html "C. Montgomery Burns."] Retrieved April 9, 2007.</ref> ==The Skull & Bones Hall, or "Tomb", and its Architecture == [[Image:Yale Skull and Bones Tomb.JPG|thumb|250px|right|The Skull & Bones tomb today]] [[Image:Yale Skull and Bones facade from angle.JPG|thumb|250px|right|Another vantage of the historic Bones tomb.]] [[Image:Yale Skull and Bones side rear towers view.JPG|250px|right|thumb|Bones tomb showing A.J. Davis' towers, right rear facade.]]The architectural attribution of the original hall is in dispute. The architect was possibly [[Alexander Jackson Davis]] (1803–1892) or [[Henry Austin (architect)|Henry Austin]] (1804–1891). Architectural historian Patrick Pinnell includes an in-depth discussion of the dispute over the identity of the original architect in his 1999 history of Yale's campus.<ref> http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/01_03/popup/landmarks/10.html</ref>. The building was built in three phases, in 1856 the first wing was built, in 1903 the second wing, and in 1911, there was the addition of relocated Davis-designed [[Neo-Gothic]] towers at rear garden. The front and side facades are of [[brownstone|Portland brownstone]] and in an [[Egyptian Revival|Egypto-Doric style]]. The 1911 additions of towers in the rear created a small enclosed courtyard in the rear of the building, designed by Evarts Tracy and Edgerton Swartwout, [[Tracy and Swartwout]], New York. <ref>"Yale University" 1999 Princeton Architectural Press, ISBN 1568981678 [http://books.google.com/books?id=alnup81pmkAC&pg=PA123&lpg=PA123&dq=patrick+pinnell+yale+bones&source=web&ots=Mzn6w25dre&sig=KRPoISsYFKMPZl6SIOhSU_aDMtE]</ref> Evarts was not a Bonesman, but his paternal grandmother Martha Sherman Evarts and maternal grandmother Mary Evarts were the sisters of [[William Maxwell Evarts]] (S&B 1837). Pinnell speculates whether the re-use of the Davis towers in 1911 was evidence suggesting that Davis did the original building; conversely, Austin was responsible for the architecturally similar [[brownstone]] [[Egyptian Revival]] gates, built 1845, of the [[Grove Street Cemetery]], to the north of campus. Also discussed by Pinnell is the tomb's aesthetic place in relation to its neighbors, including the [[Yale University Art Gallery]].<ref> "Yale University" 1999 Princeton Architectural Press, p.42, ISBN 1568981678 [http://books.google.com/books?id=alnup81pmkAC&pg=PA123&lpg=PA123&dq=patrick+pinnell+yale+bones&source=web&ots=Mzn6w25dre&sig=KRPoISsYFKMPZl6SIOhSU_aDMtE]</ref> Additional data can be seen [http://www.facilities.yale.edu/Campus/Campus.asp here]. New Hampshire landscape architects Saucier & Flynn designed the wrought-iron fence that currently surrounds a portion of the complex in the late 1990s.<ref> [http://www.saucierflynn.com/clients/nonprofit/scullandbones.php Fence information]</ref> ==Bonesmen== {{main|List of Skull and Bones members}} [[Image:Skull and Crossbones c1947, GHW Bush left of clock.jpg|thumb|left|Skull and Bones 1947, with George H.W. Bush just left of clock]] Judy Schiff, Chief Archivist at the [[Yale University Library]], has written: "The names of (S&B's) members weren't kept secret, that was an innovation of the 1970s, but its meetings and practices were. The secrecy seems to have attracted fascination and curiosity from the start." Notwithstanding that resourceful researchers could assemble member data from these original sources, renewed attention may have been paid to leading families in Skull and Bones because in 1985 an anonymous source leaked rosters to a private researcher, [[Antony C. Sutton]], who wrote a book on the group titled ''America's Secret Establishment: An Introduction to the Order of Skull & Bones''. This leaked [[1985]] data was kept privately for over 15 years, as Sutton feared that the photocopied pages could somehow identify the member who leaked it. The information was finally reformatted as an appendix in the book ''Fleshing out Skull and Bones'', a compilation edited by Kris Millegan, published in 2003.<ref> [http://www.fleshingoutskullandbones.com/ Fleshing Out Skull and Bones]</ref> Other notable members include: [[Benjamin Silliman Jr.]], the first to produce [[gasoline]], and the first American oil company, Pennsylvania Rock Oil; [[Chief Justice of the Supreme Court]] [[Morrison R. Waite]]; members played a key role{{Fact|date=July 2008}} in founding{{Fact|date=July 2008}} and setting the direction{{Fact|date=July 2008}} for the [[Carnegie Institution]], the Peabody Foundation, Slater Foundation, and [[Russell Sage Foundation|Russel Sage]] Foundations, as well as the [[American Economic Association]], the [[American Historical Association]], and the [[American Psychological Association]]. The first president or [[chancellor (education)|chancellor]] of the [[University of California]], [[Johns Hopkins University]], [[Cornell University]], and [[Washington University in Saint Louis]] were members.{{Fact|date=April 2008}} ==Bones and the U.S. Intelligence Community== In May 2007, [[CIA]] historians publicly released an article that rebutted inaccurate but enduring beliefs that Skull & Bones was an incubator of the U.S. Intelligence Community.<ref> [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol51no1/the-good-shepherd.html Historical beliefs]</ref> The CIA article noted that movies such as ''[[The Good Shepherd (film)|The Good Shepherd]]'' perpetuated in the public mind the notion that entry into CIA's upper echelons hinged on membership in Bones. The reality depicts a different story, however. Referring to characters depicted in the film, CIA historians pointed out that CIA Counter-Intelligence chief [[James Jesus Angleton]] attended Yale, but was not a Bonesman. Edward Wilson ([[Matt Damon]]), the main character in the film, was [[Scroll and Key]] member [[Tracy Barnes]]; Keysman [[Tracy Barnes]] is believed to have devised the [[Bay of Pigs invasion]]. [[Richard Bissell]] declined the offer of a Tap to join (he was an [[Elizabethan Club]] member, although his brother was a Bonesman). [[Richard Helms]] (DCI 1966–1973) attended [[Williams College]]. [[Allen W. Dulles]] (DCI 1953–1961) attended [[Princeton University|Princeton]]. [[McGeorge Bundy]], senior adviser to Presidents [[John F. Kennedy]] and [[Lyndon Johnson]], and strong advocate for increased intervention in Vietnam was a Bonesman. Recent former CIA Director [[Porter Goss]], Yale '60, was a member of [[Book and Snake]], and Goss and classmate [[John Negroponte]], the first [[Director of National Intelligence]], who was a member of the [[Elihu (secret society)|Elihu secret society]], were both in Fence Club, Yale's name for the [[Psi Upsilon]] fraternity. While Bones may not in actuality have been the cradle for future CIA operatives, or the [[Office of Strategic Services]] (OSS, the predecessor to the CIA), it is accurate to note that a disproportionate{{fact}} number of Yale graduates have led and staffed the intelligence community; for example, [[George H. W. Bush]], [[Director of Central Intelligence]], January 30 1976–January 20, 1977. It is said{{Who|date=July 2008}} that the term 'spook' -- once designating a Yale senior or secret society member -- is the colloquial term for anyone in espionage. (For more on Yale graduates' and faculty influences on the formation of the intelligence agencies, see the book ''Cloak and Gown: Scholars in the Secret War, 1939–1961'' by historian Robin W. Winks.) ==Asset Management & Financial Associations== In [[1943]], by special act of the [[Connecticut]] state legislature, its trustees were granted an exemption from filing corporate reports with the Secretary of State, which is normally a requirement.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} From [[1978]]-[[1988]], business of the Russell Trust Association was handled by a single trustee, [[Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.]] partner John B. Madden, Jr.{{Fact|date=April 2008}} ==See also== *[[Collegiate secret societies in North America]] *[[Secret society]] *[[List of conspiracy theories]] ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Further reading== *Millegan, Kris, ed. ''Fleshing Out Skull and Bones: Investigations into America's Most Powerful Secret Society''. Walterville, OR: Trine Day, 2003. ISBN 0-9720207-2-1 *Sutton, Antony C. ''America's Secret Establishment: An Introduction to the Order of Skull & Bones''. Walterville, OR: Trine Day, 2003. ISBN 0-9720207-0-5 *Begin, Jeremy. ''Fighting for G.O.D. (Gold, Oil, and Drugs)''. Walterville, OR: Trine Day, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9777953-3-8 *Tarpley, Webster, et al. ''George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography''. Washington, D.C.: [[LaRouche movement#Executive Intelligence Review|Executive Intelligence Review]], 1992. ISBN 0-943235-05-7. Available free on the web: http://www.tarpley.net/bushb.htm *Robbins, Alexandra. ''Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power''. Back Bay Books, 2003. ISBN 0-316-73561-2 *[http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/2006_05/notebook.html "Whose Skull and Bones?,"] Kathrin Day Lassila '81 and Mark Alden Branch '86, Yale Alumni Magazine, May/June 2006 *[http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article622744.ece "Geronimo's family calls on Bush to help return his skeleton."] The Independent, June 1, 2006. *[http://skullandcrossbones.org/articles/skullandbones.htm ''Skull & Bones Society: A rare look inside Skull and Bones, the Yale secret society and sometime haunt of the presumptive Republican nominee for President,''] by Alexandra Robbins *[[Cody Tedford|Tedford, Cody]]. ''Powerful Secrets''. Hannover, 2008. ISBN 1-4241-9263-3 ==External links== {{commons|Skull and bones}} {{wikinews|Apaches accuse Prescott Bush of robbing Geronimo's grave}} *[http://www.bbh.com/ Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Website] *[http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=181179 Yale Old Campus, Skull and Bones Tomb. opens in Google earth] *[http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=181143 Skull and Bones property: Deer Island opens in Google earth] *[http://www.newruins.com/Discovery_di/index.html Deer Island photos & information at NewRuins] *[http://www.thenewamerican.com/tna/2004/03-08-2004/bonesmen.htm The New American Article on the Skull and Bones Society, and its political influences] *[http://bookalytics.com/content/kris-millegan-fleshing-out-skull-bones-investigations-americas-most-powerful-secret-society Kris Millegan - Fleshing Out Skull & Bones: Investigations into America's Most Powerful Secret Society] on [http://bookalytics.com Bookalytics] *[http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/2004_09/old_yale.html How the Secret Societies Got That Way] (''Yale Alumni Magazine'') *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGqAGuw23CM Video of the April 23, 2001 ABC News segment: ''Behind the Closed Doors of a Secret Society''] - ABC News' Dan Harris reports on covertly shot footage that exposes the "Bonesmen" of Skull & Bones as they perform occult rituals at "The Tomb" in New Haven. The video - shot with nightvision technology and a microphone - was secretly captured with a hidden camera on the evening of April 14, 2001 by ''New York Observer'' reporter Ron Rosenbaum. (This video is hosted by YouTube.com) *[http://www.geocities.com/psyop911/skull-and-bones-2001-04-23-abc-report.html Audio and transcript the April 23, 2001 ABC News segment: ''Behind the Closed Doors of a Secret Society''] - ABC News' Dan Harris reports on covertly shot footage that exposes the "Bonesmen" of Skull & Bones as they preform occult rituals at "The Tomb" in New Haven. The video - shot with nightvision technology and a microphone - was secretly captured with a hidden camera on the evening of April 14, 2001 by ''New York Observer'' reporter Ron Rosenbaum. 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