Exposing Bones: Graduation Day

“Out of every class Skull & Bones takes its men. They have gone out into the world and have become, in many instances, leaders in society… It does not design to show its credentials, but clutches at power… The question, then, is reduced to this – on one hand lies a source of incalculable good – on the other a society guilty of serious and far-reaching crimes. We ask, which will it be?” – The Iconoclast (one-time publication circulated at Yale, October, 1873)

For the 15 incoming members of Skull & Bones (called “Neophytes” during initiation) the initiation into the society involves some unusual traditions, macabre rituals, and the requirement to share more with your fellow Bonesmen than you will with anyone else in your life. As strange as these activities seem to outsiders, they create an enduring bond within each Bones class, as well as integrating the new members into the society itself. What takes place inside the tomb during their senior year is clearly important, but perhaps the best example of how strongly the bond between Bonesmen is can be better seen by what happens after graduation day at Yale.

All Bonesmen past and present take an oath of allegiance to each other, and to the society, to assist its members in reaching positions of power through business, financial, political, and social connections. Of course the political connections are clear, especially as both President George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush had, at any given time, at least a dozen fellow Bonesmen filling positions within their administrations, but some of the other connections are just as interesting – and from a local perspective, some of the Bones connections with Connecticut become really interesting, especially as many of them still exist.

Take for example William Huntington Russell, the co-founder of Bones, who was born in Middletown and attended Yale back when it was still Yale College. After graduation he was hired to organize the Connecticut militia during the Civil War for which he was made a Major General of the Connecticut National Guard. During that time he spent 15 years in New Haven cultivating and developing the first classes of Bones and he also established the Russell Trust Association which oversees the finances of Bones to this very day. Every year since 1832 Bonesmen have pledged to contribute funds back into the society, and today the Russell Trust Association is one of the wealthiest organizations in Connecticut with assets that exceed $1 million, including the ownership of both the tomb at Yale, and Deer Island, the Bones private island in Alexandria Bay, New York.

The Russell Trust Association isn’t the only major business to come out of Bones which that still has links here in Connecticut. The New Haven based law firm Wiggin & Dana, which has pulled many associates directly from the Bones roster, is one of the largest law firms in the Northeast and provides any needed representation to the society or its members. When the Bones seniors tried to tap the first female initiate in 1991 it was Wiggin & Dana which filed suit to bar that class from going forward with the process and even went so far as to try and bar the class from entry into the tomb itself. It was only after the lawsuit started to trickle into the media that the firm backed off, and the society decided to handle the issue within itself. And in what has got to be one of the most blatant announcements  of just how much Bones has influence over the Wiggin & Dana firm, the Post Office box that they use for their New Haven offices is #1832… which just happens to be the founding date of Bones.

As we all know, where there’s money, there’s power, and when it comes to controlling stakes in American financial institutions Bones has been behind most of top-tier companies. Never was this clearer than the foundation of the Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. firm, which included W. Averell Harriman, Prescott Bush, George Herbert Walker, and Robert A. Lovett among its founders. All of whom were not only Bonesmen, but also went on to serve in high-ranking political positions as well. As a matter of fact, 8 out of the 10 partners in the firm were directly out of Bones! Such influence is still strongly apparent in the company today, and it’s been suggested by long-time Bonesmen that the society continues to receive substantial contributions from the firm, enough to keep the society “very well set” into the future.

Yale University itself is one place where the influence of Bones can be clearly noticed throughout the years as well. Over the 180 year history of Bones at least 30 of its members returned to prominent roles in the university from presidents, to treasurers, to professors, and these are names reflected not only throughout Yale, but also throughout the city of New Haven, as well as the state of Connecticut. Names like Timothy Dwight V (Bones class of 1849) for who a Yale President and whom Dwight Hall is named after. Theodore Salisbury Woolsey (Bones class of 1872), the co-founder of the Yale Review and also a prominent name on campus. Other recognizable names from Bones which are reflective both in Yale, and surrounding New Haven, include Phelps, Spitzer, Whitney, Lyman, Hadley, Seymour, and Colt.

And finally, something more of an amusement as a researcher (hey, there has to be some light when digging into such a notorious group as this) with Bones is the connection to the number “322.” This number is found on the Bones “death head” emblem and is said to have significance in regards to the date of 322 BC when the Greek Goddess Eulogia is said to have gone up to the heavens, and only returned to earth in 1832 when she apparently decided to make her home within the Bones tomb. 322 is of high importance in Bones tradition, and it just so happens that while several Bonesmen were involved in local political positions in the 1960s there was a Route 322 established here in our state. In addition, when trying to reach out to known Bonesmen during research it was interesting how many of them used the phone extensions, office numbers, or even addresses with “322” in them.

Whether you think that Bones is at the root of some nefarious scheme to control America - or the world! - or you think the society is more of an over-zealous fraternity that’s probably kicking back and having a good laugh over all the hoopla generated over it, the fact of the matter is that Bones is undeniably linked to powerful and influential people throughout the history of our country, and it has managed to have its hands in many of the major events in our country over the short time in which it has been around. The 2004 elections showed us just how controversial some of that involvement could be, and since we don’t know as much about those who became Bonesmen after the 1970s, we don’t really know just how far-reaching the influence is today.

What we do know for sure is that this society operates just down the road from here behind 12-foot-high, padlocked, and sealed doors on High Street in the heart of Yale University and New Haven. After only 180 years, and having just 2700 members in its history, the society has managed to produce three U.S. Presidents, shape the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency, amass a financial capital worth over $1 million, and do so all without divulging any information to the public… even when two of its most famous members were vying for the most powerful office in the world.

I don’t know about you, but this is one conspiracy that looks less and less like a theory every time I take a moment to look in on it again. And, as I and the SGRA has since 1997, researching Skull & Bones will always be one of our most active projects. Thank you to everyone who has read this series, and as always, I invite you to post your comments and questions here, or contact me directly at jon@sgra.org.