Phi Sigma Delta was founded at Columbia University on November 10, 1909. It was organized to foster and nurture the comradeship of its founders. The fraternity then merged with Phi Alpha on April 6, 1959. Phi Sigma Delta disappeared as a national fraternity in 1969 when it merged with Zeta Beta Tau, Its total membership, as of May of 1967, was 19,500, including forty-nine active and twenty-two inactive chapters. The Mu chapter was based in Chicago.
From the guide to the University of Chicago. Phi Sigma Delta, Mu Chapter. Records, 1957, (Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.)
The Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity was founded in 1902 by Chicago law students from Chicago-Kent, the College of Illinois, and Northwestern. Within a month, the University of Chicago was initiated and began a chapter, closely followed by the Universities of Wisconsin and Michigan. Adhering to a policy of steady, conservative expansion, Phi Alpha Delta had, by 1957, seventy-eight active chapters and forty alumni chapters. Today, it has over 300,000 active members from reputable law schools in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.
Phi Alpha Delta defined its purpose as forming strong bonds between the members from different law schools and between law alumni and their schools in order to create a large network for the exchange of business information and other matters of common interest. Requisites for admission were limited, in the early years, to men in good academic standing at a law school that had a chapter and graduates or law instructors at schools accredited by the American Bar Association or the Association of American Law Schools. Individual memberships were attained upon invitation only.
From the guide to the University of Chicago. Phi Alpha Delta. Law Fraternity. Records, 1655-1961, (Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.)
