Sigma Pi Historical Society Digital Archive Now Active

The Emerald, Vol. 1, No. 1

By Christian J. Miele (HN, Towson '04), President, Sigma Pi Historical Society

For the first time ever, the entire catalog of The Emerald is available digitally to you...for free.

Ever wish you could flip through the pages of the very first issue of The Emerald (circa 1911) without having to pay a special visit to the fraternity's Executive Office?  How about having the ability to peruse the issue covering your chapter's chartering from the comfort of your own home?  Well, for the first time in the history of Sigma Pi, you can!

At their meeting at the 2012 Sigma Pi University, the Historical Society voted unanimously to authorize the creation of a Digital Archive.  The Society, in partnership with the Executive Office, has entered into an agreement with the document digitization leader, Enivation, who scanned in all issues of The Emerald catalog in its entirety.  That's right, all 368 issue to date (including the most recent), spanning 103 years and an estimated 19,000 pages worth of rich Sigma Pi history is easily available.

Based out of Claysburg, Pennsylvania, Enivation has completed similar projects for a number of other national fraternities and sororities, including Phi Kappa Tau, Pi Kappa Alpha, Alpha Delta Pi, Gamma Phi Beta, and Phi Sigma Sigma.  The company is also an affliate of the North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), Fraternity Executives Association (FEA), and the Fraternity Communications Association (FCA).

The Digital Archive is hosted by Enivation at enivation.com/SigmaPi.  Issues of The Emerald will be presented in flipbook format, which will allow Sigma Pi to showcase its official publication with real page-turning features, full-text searchable pages, and internal and external hyperlinks.  Future plans for the Digital Archive include the scanning of pledge manuals, Convocation minutes, and Fraternity correspondence of historical value, among other documents.

Founded in 2010, the Sigma Pi Historical Society is dedicated to promoting and preserving the history of the Fraternity, and fostering an appreciation of the same among its members.  Membership in the society is open to intimated members who have attended at least two Convocations, with full membership reserved for those brothers who have attended five or more.

To view the digital archive, just visit enivation.com/SigmaPi

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