Founders paddle for Iota Phi Theta fraternity at Morgan State College: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A wooden Founders Paddle from the Iota Phi Theta fraternity at Morgan State College. Paddle is not proportioned like a functional paddle. Grip is rounded, and the shaft is extremely short. The blade of the paddle is the majority of the paddle's body. A light brown strip of leather is strung through a hole at the center of the grip and tied in a knot. Text and depictions etched horizontally on the paddle (paddle is meant to be oriented with the grip and shaft at the top, and the blade of the paddle at the bottom). All etched text is painted(?)/colored black. The Iota Phi Theta logo is etched at the top, just below the throat of the paddle, then below reading [I/F/T] written diagonally down towards the right. Below the greek letters reads [BUILDING A TRADITION,/NOT RESTING UPON ONE/ALBERT HICKS/LONNIE C. SPRUILL, JR./CHARLES BRISCOE/CHARLES BROWN/LOUIS HUDNELL/CHARLES GREGOARY/ELIAS DORSEY, JR./MICHAEL WILLIAMS/FRANK COAKLEY/JOHN SLADE/BARON LEWIS/IT TAKES A MAN/MORGAN STATE/COLLEGE/SEPTEMBER 19, 1963]. On the reverse of the paddle, a clear sticker with rounded edges read [Another New Creation By/University Apparel, Inc./Union, New Jersey/903-688-1(illegible)03].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1963
• Subject of: Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc., founded 1963
• Subject of: Morgan State University, American, founded 1867
• Type: memorabilia
• Medium: wood, leather, paint
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 36 × 9 × 1 in. (91.4 × 22.9 × 2.5 cm)
• Place used: Baltimore, Maryland, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Associations and institutions
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Fraternities
• Topic: HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities)
• Topic: Local and regional
• Object number: 2014.191.5
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.