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Flat Hat Club
F.H.C.
Flat Head Club medal, c. 1750–1770
FoundedNovember 17, 1750; 274 years ago (1750-11-17)
College of William & Mary
TypeSecret
AffiliationIndependent
StatusActive
ScopeLocal
MottoStabilitas et Fiedes,
"Stability and Faith"
Chapters1
Formal nameF.H.C. Society
HeadquartersWilliamsburg, Virginia
United States

The Flat Hat Club is the common name for a collegiate secret society and honor society at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Originally called the F.H.C. Society, it was founded in 1750.

Early in the 21st century, the education section of The New York Times profiled America's oldest university clubs and societies and included a letter, now housed in the archives at Swem Library, which Thomas Jefferson wrote to Thomas McAuley, mentioning Jefferson's membership in the F.H.C.[1][2]

History

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Original society

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The society was founded as the F.H.C. Society at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia on November 11, 1750.[3][4] It was organized for "charity, friendship, and science".[4] F.H.C. met regularly for discussion and fellowship, especially at the Raleigh Tavern.[5]

William & Mary alumnus and third American president Thomas Jefferson may be the most famous member of the F.H.C. Society.[6] Late in life, Jefferson wrote that, "[w]hen I was a student of Wm. & Mary College of this state, there existed a society called the F.H.C. society, confined to the number of six students only, of which I was a member. Still, it had no useful object, nor do I know whether it now exists."[7][3]

F.H.C. Society is believed to the the precursor of Phi Beta Kappa.[8][9] A second Latin-letter fraternity, the P.D.A. Society (publicly known as "Please Don't Ask"), was founded at William and Mary in March 1773, in imitation of the F.H.C. Society.[10] John Heath, a student at William and Mary who in 1776 sought but was refused admission to the P.D.A., later established the first Greek-letter fraternity, the Phi Beta Kappa Society.[11]

The student members of the F.H.C. suspended the club's activities in 1781,[4] probably due to the suspension of academic exercises at the college as the contending armies of the American Revolution approached Williamsburg during the Yorktown campaign.

"The memory of this fraternity had entirely died out at William and Mary, but [after 1909, there was a] discovery of certain manuscript material in the correspondence of St. George Tucker, who was a student of the College in 1772. ... These manuscripts consist of (1) a letter of Mr. Jefferson, written to John D. Taylor, of Maryland, giving some account of the club at the College, stating that he was a member ... [;] (2) a list of the books described as compiled for the club's library, in 1772, by Rev. Thomas Gwatkin, Professor of Mathematics; (3) the credentials of Robert Baylor as a member in abbreviated Latin." Thus, the club possessed a small library.[10]

Subsequent groups

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The group's name was revived on September 30, 1920, by twelve undergraduate men and four professors who originally organized as the Spotswood Club, which was formed in 1916.[12][4][13] It differed markedly from the original society, a fraternity of six undergraduate men with alumnus members in urbe – that is, "in town", having graduated from the university. This society operated largely as a collegiate honorary society whose members were not secret and were published in the college's yearbook and newspapers.[4] It suspended its activities in 1943 due to World War II.[4]

A third group called the Flat Hat Club was formed in May 1972.[14][9][4] It an all-male secret society, consisting of twelve undergraduate men.[4][5] In recent years, an additional six members were added. Most of its activities remain comparatively secret within the university. Members receive medals of distinction upon graduation from William and Mary, showing their membership.[15] Contrary to the practice of some similar societies, alumni may disclose their membership after graduation.[citation needed]

Flat Heat Club seal, depicted on its membership medal

Symbols

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The initials of the F.H.C. Society stands for a secret Latin phrase, likely "Fraternitas, Humanitas, et Cognitio" or "Fraternitas Humanitas Cognitioque", two renderings of "brotherhood, humanity, and knowledge".[4][5] The group became publicly known by the backronym "Flat Hat Club" in probable allusion to the mortarboard caps then commonly worn by all students at the college (now worn at graduation by students at most American universities).[16]

The F.H.C. brothers devised and employed a secret handshake, issued certificates of membership, and wore a silver membership medal.[16][5] The front of the medal featured an F.H.C. monogram with the club's date of formation, November 11, 1750.[10] The medal's back features the club's motto surrounding its coat of arms, consisting of a shield with a chevron and clasped hands; above the shield is a rose.[10] Its motto is Stabilitas et Fiedes, Latin for "Stability and Faith".[10][17]

The organization's name has been used by the campus newspaper, The Flat Hat, since 1911, and as a campus literary magazine, Flat Hat Magazine, since 2019.[8][9] The newspaper also uses the club's motto.[17]

Notable members

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The following is a list of known notable members of the Flat Hat Club.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Early Extracurriculars". The New York Times. November 2, 2010.
  2. ^ a b Coleman, George P., ed. (1916). The Flat Hat Club and the Phi Beta Kappa Society: Some New Light on Their History. Richmond, Virginia: Press of the Dietz Printing Co. Retrieved April 15, 2025 – via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ a b "Thomas Jefferson to Thomas McAuley, 14 June 1819". Founders Online. National Archives. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "F.H.C. Society (Flat Hat Club)". Special Collections Knowledgebase. College of William & Mary Libraries. September 9, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d Herman, JR (April 2023). "Campus Secret Societies". Flat Hat Magazine. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  6. ^ Millfeld, Becca (November 2, 2004). "Shh! The Secret Side to the College's Lesser Known Societies". The DoG Street Journal. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  7. ^ Hastings, William T. (1965). Phi Beta Kappa as a Secret Society with its Relations to Freemasonry and Antimasonry Some Supplementary Documents. Richmond, Virginia: United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. pp. 38–39.
  8. ^ a b "About". Flat Hat Magazine. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  9. ^ a b c Becque, Fran (December 1, 2018). "U.S. Presidents and Fraternity Men - First Ladies and Sorority Women". Fraternity History & More. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i "The Flat Hat Club". William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine. Vol. 25, no. 3. January 1917. pp. 161–164. Retrieved November 11, 2011. via JSTOR
  11. ^ Jane Carson, "James Innes and His Brothers of the F.H.C."; Charlottesville, Virginia: The University Press of Virginia, 1965.
  12. ^ "Shhhhh....It's A Secret". William & Mary. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  13. ^ "F.H.C. Society," University Archives Subject File Collection Archived January 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary
  14. ^ "University Archives Subject File Collection, 1693–(ongoing)". Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary. Archived from the original on January 15, 2009. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
  15. ^ "F.H.C. Society Collection, 1911–2012 and undated". scdb.swem.wm.edu. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  16. ^ a b Storm, Robert W. (1973). "In Token of Friendship: Early Fraternity Medals at the College of William and Mary". Typescript in university archives, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.
  17. ^ a b "About Flat Hat News". The Flat Hat. January 20, 2012. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
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