"The Andover Shop x The Spee Club Harvard Burgundy w/ Yellow Repp Stripe Silk Club Tie" (SOLD)
Price on Request
Sz: 57" x 3"
*BB pink OCBD shirt sold separately*
VG
The Spee Club is a final club at Harvard University. After voting to adopt a gender-neutral membership policy in September 2015, the Spee Club became the first Harvard final club to admit members regardless of gender. The clubhouse is located at 76 Mount Auburn Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts
The Club was originally founded in 1852 as the Harvard Chapter of the Zeta Psi Fraternity. After severing ties with the national fraternity in 1914, the Club officially changed its name to the Spee Club of Harvard. In the fall of 1965, the club became the first Harvard final club to accept an African-American member. The club's mascot is a bear.
Founding:
The Spee Club was founded as the Eighth (or Rho) Chapter the Zeta Psi fraternity in 1852. Harvard Faculty abolished all secret societies in 1857, forcing the Chapter to go underground. In 1882, the chapter was reestablished and its constitution drafted. Ten years later, with tensions building between the University and its fraternities, the members of the chapter ceased payment of national dues, surrendered their charter, and voted themselves as the Zeta Psi Club of Harvard. In the spring of 1900, a unanimous vote brought the society into the final club fold, ultimately resulting in a formal name change in 1914 to the Spee Club of Harvard.
Clubhouse:
The early quarters of the Club were several rooms in a wooden house on Brattle Street. In the fall of 1886, the members purchased a second location at 44 Church Street, which became its first official clubhouse. Members describe its interior as a "simple, comfortable wooden house with a broad piazza overlooking the pear orchard and a stable nearby for the members' horses." As the Club's presence grew, a third property was acquired and the members erected a building, designed by Guy Lowell, at 15 Holyoke Street.
Notable Alumni:
William Franklin Draper - American painter and portraitist
John F. Kennedy - 35th President of the United States
Robert F. Kennedy - United States Senator from New York
Douglas Kenney - American writer and co-founder of the National Lampoon
Henry Beard - American writer and co-founder of the National Lampoon
Joshua Kushner - American businessman and investor
Peter Goelet Gerry - United States Senator from Rhode Island
Peter Benchley - American author and screenwriter
Norman D. Vaughan - American polar explorer
Pierpont M. Hamilton - Brigadier General, Medal of Honor recipient
Beekman Winthrop - Governor of Puerto Rico
William Woodward Sr. - American Banker and Racehorse Owner
John W. Sears - Massachusetts Politician
Philip Roosevelt - WWI Captain and Banker
Tweed Roosevelt - American Businessman
Jeff Hammerbacher - Data scientist