Then & Now

Nels Andrew N. Cleven established the National Honor Society in History, Phi Alpha Theta, at the University of Arkansas on March 17, 1921. Nels Andrew Nelson Cleven was born on December 21, 1874 in Lake Mills, Iowa. He began his teaching career in public schools in 1893 before receiving his bachelor’s degree (Ph.B and Litt) from the University of Chicago in 1900. Cleven earned his Ph.D from the University of Chicago in 1913, and taught at San Diego High School and Junior College until 1918. From 1918 to 1919 he worked as a research assistant for the War Trade Board’s Bureau of Research and Statistics in Washington, D.C.

In September 1919, Dr. Cleven moved to Fayetteville after accepting an assistant professorship from Dr. David Yancey Thomas, Head of the Department of History and Political Science at the University of Arkansas. Dr. Cleven and his wife Hilda soon found Fayetteville and the unique region of the Ozarks to their liking. They frequently volunteered the social activities of campus fraternities and sororities, organizations for which Dr. Cleven previously had little regard. These gatherings would inspire what he termed “the Phi Alpha Theta idea.”

The possibility of “diffusing information through socialized channels,” he wrote later, “was due to the kindly cooperation of my students in Arkansas.” He came to regard fraternities as “an essential spirit of the age – watchers at the Truth in History.” Such societies were sometimes “recruited and disciplined through noble principles” and “Despite the rational proliferation of social and professional fraternities during this period, he discovered there were no societies in History, a deficiency he was determined to remedy. In his mind, he envisioned a secret fraternity open to women as well as men, which would embrace the “active History of Mankind.” By chance, a painting depicting ancient Athens and featuring a red-robed Sea of Divinity hung on the wall of his classroom. The red became the central symbol for the History fraternity.

On March 14, 1921, Dr. Cleven presided over a meeting in his classroom with a group of History students. Those present voted to create the University Historical Society. Officers were elected and Constitutional, Programs, and Membership committees were appointed. Even though Dr. Cleven regarded this meeting as the anniversary date for the founding of Phi Alpha Theta, it was not until a month later that the name Phi Alpha Theta was formally adopted.

Since its inauguration in 1921, Phi Alpha Theta has grown to more than nine hundred chapters in all fifty states, more than any other accredited four-year college honor society. The total number of initiates since its inception exceeds 500,000 nationwide.

In 1996, Phi Alpha Theta received recognition as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Contributions to our society are tax-deductible as allowed by law.

We are a nationally certified academic honor society for colleges and universities whose mission is to promote the study of History through the encouragement of research, good teaching, publication, and the exchange of learning and ideas among Historians. We seek to bring students, teachers and writers of History together for intellectual and social exchanges, which promote and assist Historical research and publication by our members in a variety of ways.