Site Map

AMERICA'S SECRET ESTABLISHMENT -- AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ORDER OF SKULL AND BONES

Memorandum Number Three: How Much Is Known About The Order? 

The openly published literature on The Order amounts to merely two articles over a span of one hundred years: The Iconoclast (Volume One, Number One only) published October 13, 1873 and an already cited article in Esquire by Ron Rosenbaum, published in 1977. This book and its successors are based on unpublished archival material originating with The Order.

The Iconoclast (October 1873)

Back in October 1873 an enterprising Yale student, stung to action because The Order had taken over Yale finances and left the University near poverty, took it upon himself to publish an expose. Unfortunately, some of the anonymous student's acutest observations were buried in not-so-good verse. We will reprint some of the verse below as in the original Iconoclast because it's impossible to summarize.

The Yale college newspapers, Courant and Record, had a blackout policy on The Order. As Iconoclast puts it,

"We speak through a new publication, because the college press is closed to those who dare to openly mention 'Bones'."

The College Press was controlled by The Order. From time to time Yale newspapers were run by Editors in The Order. For example, one noteworthy editor of the Yale Record also in The Order was Thomas Cochran ('94), who went on to make a career as an influential partner in the influential banking firm of J.P. Morgan.

Three paragraphs in this anonymous publication summarize the Iconoclast accusation.

First, there is a Yale secret society open only to a select few:

"For more than forty years a secret society called Skull and Bones has existed in Yale College. It receives a certain number of men from each class. These are chosen nominally by the members of the class ..., although it is understood that a prominent man's influence avails for his friends and relatives through several years after his graduation. By observing the men elected from year to year, we find that they are chosen with a distinct end in view, namely, that of obtaining for the society the most honors. Some of these honors are given to literary, some to wealthy men. This, then, is the case. Men receive marks of distinction from Yale College or from their entire class, because of which they are taken into this secret society. Since Yale honors men, this fraternity professes to honor them also."

Secondly, the Iconoclast states that The Order has obtained control of Yale, and its members care more for their society than for Yale:

To Whom It May Concern

We come before the college now on Justice's side arrayed,
To claim redress for open wrongs that Vandal hands have made,
To give a college sentiment expression bold and free,
Asserting each man's native right, if such a thing there be.

We represent no clique or clan, but honest men and true,
Who never will submit to that which fifteen men may do,
Who feel the shameful yoke that long has on the college lain,
And who propose to do their best to break that yoke in twain.

We are not "soreheads." God forbid that we should cherish strong
Desires to be identified with principles that long
Have been a blight upon the life and politics of Yale,
Before whose unjust aims the glow of "Boss Tweed's" brass would pale.

We represent the neutral men, whose voices must be heard,
And never can be silenced by a haughty look or word.
Of those whose influence here at Yale would be but void and null
Did they not wear upon their breasts two crossed bones and a skull.

We hold no grudge 'gainst any man, but wish that all may be
United by the common bond of peace and harmony;
Yet, when a few do to themselves most proudly arrogate
The running of affairs, there can be no such happy state.

What right, forsooth, have fifteen men to lord it over all?
What right to say the college world shall on their faces fall
When they approach? Have they, indeed, to "sickly greatness grown,"
And must each one with servile speech them his "superiors" own?

If they have grounds on which they base their claim as just and true,
We challenge them to set them forth exposed to public view,
That all may know the reasons why this oligarchy proud
Elect themselves as lords supreme o'er us, the "vulgar crowd"

We offer no objections to their existing clan --
No one disputes with them this right, we question but the plan
On which they act, -- That only he who wears upon his breast
Their emblem, he for every post shall be considered best.

We wish this understood by all. Let none who read this say
That we are moved by petty wrongs or private spite obey;
It is for principles of right that we with them contend,
For principles which they've ignored, but which we here defend.

O fellow students, who with us revere these classic halls,
O ye across whose pathway bright their sacred glory falls, --
Ye men of every class who feel our Alma Mater's care,
Shall college life beneath these elms this loathsome aspect wear?

Shall none assert the right to act as to each seemeth best,
But cringe and fawn to him who wears a death's head on his breast?
Nay, let all rise and break the spell whose sickly glamour falls
About all that originates within those brown stone walls.

And if they will not hear our claims, or grant the justice due,
But still persist in tarnishing the glory of the blue,
Ruling this little college world with proud, imperious tones,
Be then the watchword of our ranks -- Down, Down With Skull and Bones!

"Out of every class Skull and Bones takes its men. They have gone out into the world and have become, in many instances, leaders in society. They have obtained control of Yale. Its business is performed by them. Money paid to the college must pass into their hands, and be subject to their will. No doubt they are worthy men in themselves, but the many whom they looked down upon while in college, cannot so far forget as to give money freely into their hands. Men in Wall Street complain that the college comes straight to them for help, instead of asking each graduate for his share. The reason is found in a remark made by one of Yale's and America's first men: Few will give but Bones men, and they care far more for their society than they do for the college.'"

Finally, the Iconoclast calls The Order a "deadly evil" growing year by year:

"Year by year the deadly evil is growing. The society was never as obnoxious to the college as it is today, and it is just this ill-feeling that shuts the pockets of non-members. Never before has it shown such arrogance and self-fancied superiority. It grasps the College Press and endeavors to rule it all. It does not deign to show its credentials, but clutches at power with the silence of conscious guilt.

To tell the good which Yale College has done would be well nigh impossible. To tell the good she might do would be yet more difficult. The question, then, is reduced to this -- on the one hand lies a source of incalculable good, -- on the other a society guilty of serious and far-reaching crimes. It is Yale College against Skull and Bones!! We ask all men, as a question of right, which should be allowed to live?"

The power of The Order is put to use on behalf of its members even before they leave Yale. Here's a case from the late 19th century which predates the cases we will present later and suggests how long immoral use of power has prevailed within The Order:

"The Favoritism Shown To Bones Men"

"Are not we coming to a sad state when open injustice can be done by the Faculty, and when the fact that a man is a member of Skull and Bones can prejudice them in his favor? Briefly, the case which calls forth this question is this: Two members of the Senior class, the one being a neutral, the other a Bones man, returned at the beginning of the college year laden with several conditions, some of which, upon examination, they failed to pass. Up to this point the cases were parallel, and the leniency, if there was to be leniency, should have been shown to the neutral, who has done all that lay in his power to further the interests of the college, rather than to the Bones man, who has, during his three years at Yale, accomplished nothing that we wot of. But, strange to say, the former has been suspended until the end of the term and obliged to leave town, not being permitted to pass another examination until he returns. The Bones man, on the contrary, is allowed to remain in New Haven, attends recitation daily, is called upon to recite, and will have a second examination in less than six weeks. Why is this distinction made? 'O, Mr. So-and-so's is a special case,' said a professor (a Bones man), -- the specialty, we presume, being the fact that Mr. So-and-so wears a death's head and cross bones upon his bosom. We understand that Mr. So-and-so claims to have been ill during vacation and offers the illness as an excuse for not passing the examination; but the neutral gentleman was also ill, as the Faculty were expressly informed in a letter from his father."

"The circumstance has caused a very lively indignation throughout the Senior class. It is certainly time for a radical reform when the gentlemen who superintend our destinies, and who should be just if nothing else, can allow themselves to be influenced by so petty a thing as society connections."

Esquire (September 1977)

Only one article is known to have been published within the last 100 years on The Order. Unfortunately, it is a superficial, almost mocking, review and provides some enlightenment but little contribution to historical knowledge. The article is the "Last Secrets of Skull and Bones" by Ron Rosenbaum (Esquire, September 1977).

Rosenbaum is a Yale graduate attracted by the fictional possibilities of a secret society out to control the world; he is apparently not aware of the political implications. The contribution is a blend of known authentic documents and outright hearsay. On the other hand, Rosenbaum does make some notable observations. Among these are: "... the people who have shaped America's national character since it ceased being an undergraduate power had their undergraduate character shaped in that crypt over there" (i.e., the "temple" on the Yale campus).

Another comment: when a new member is initiated into The Order, "tonight he will die to the world and be born again into The Order as he will thenceforth refer to it. The Order is a world unto itself in which he will have a new name and fourteen new blood brothers, also with new names."

And when Rosenbaum starts to inquire about The Order, he is told: "They don't like people tampering and prying. The power of Bones is incredible. They've got their hands on every lever of power in the country. You'll see -- it's like trying to look into the Mafia. Remember they're a secret society too."

The Esquire piece is well worth reading, it gives a side of The Order that doesn't concern us too much.

The "Addresses" Books

As The Order is a secret society it does not publish minutes or journals. As Rosenbaum suggests, "they don't like people tampering and prying."

This author does, however, possess copies of the "Addresses" books, which used to be called "Catalogues." These are the membership lists all the way back to 1832, the founding date in the United States. How did this material make its way into outside hands? It is possible that one or more members, although bound by oath, would not be dismayed if the story became public knowledge. That's all we will say.

Other material exists, Skull & Bones is always a lively topic for Yale conversation. Some time back a few practical minded students made their own investigation; they did a break-in job, a "Yalegate." A small hoard of Bones momentos, a layout diagram and considerable embarrassment resulted.

The core of the research for this book is the "Addresses" books. With these we can reconstruct a picture of motives, objectives and operations. The actions of individual members are already recorded in open history and archives.

By determining when members enter a scene, what they did, what they argued, who they appointed and when they faded out, we can assemble patterns and deduce objectives.

Go to Next Page