Jun
16

A Social History of LGLF’s in the U.S.

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Greek ColumnsLatino Greek Lettered Fraternities (LGLF) have been around longer than you think and were influenced by several social, political and economic reasons. Below you will find a time line bridging the significance between LGLF’s and several historical moments in the U.S that could have influenced their creation. In this time line you will notice that I have categorized LGLF’s in three periods: the intellect, mainstream proclamation and multicultural. These are three significant periods to help you understand the direction of LGLF’s with in the historical context of the times and their strife for social mobility.

1776 Phi Beta Kappa

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FORMED 1776
MEXICAN AMERICAN WAR 1846-1848
AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 1861-1865
13TH AMENDMENT 1865
PLESSY VS. FERGUSON 1896
SPANISH AMERICAN WAR 1898

1ST GENERATION LGLF: INTELLECT

Union Hispano Americana 1898 EAST
Sigma Iota 1912 SOUTH

WWI 1914

Pi Delta Phi 1916

WWI ENDS 1918

Phi Lambda Alpha 1919 WEST

19TH AMENDMENT 1920

Phi Sigma Alpha 1928 P.R

GREAT DEPRESSION 1929

Phi Iota Alpha 1931 EAST
Union Latino Americana 1932

WWII 1939
GREAT DEPRESSION ENDS (US) 1940
PEARL HARBOR 1941
BRACERO PROGRAM 1942
WWII ENDS 1945
MENDEZ VS. WESTMINSTER 1945
PUERTO RICAN MIGRATION 1946
COLD WAR 1947
BROWN VS BOARD OF EDUCATION 1954
CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT 1955
VIETNAM 1959
FEMINIST MOVEMENT 2 1960
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS 1961
DOMINICAN MIGRATION 1961
BRACERO PROGRAM ENDS 1964
LATIN AMERICAN IMMIGRATION 1965
BLACK PANTHERS 1966 EAST
CIVIL RIGHTS 1968
MECHA 1969 WEST
BROWN BERETS 1968-1974 MIDWEST
YOUNG LORDS 1968-1973 EAST
VIETNAM ENDS 1975

2ND GENERATION LGLF: MAINSTREAM PROCLAMATION

Lambda Theta Phi 1975 EAST
Lambda Theta Alpha 1975 (Sorority) EAST

BLACK PANTHERS DECLINE 1976

MALIK Sigma Psi 1977 (African/Latino) EAST

CUBAN REFUGEES 1979

Lambda Sigma Upsilon 1979
Lambda Upsilon Lambda 1982 (Ivy League)
Rebirth of Phi Iota Alpha 1984
Alpha Psi Lambda 1985 (co-ed)
Lambda Alpha Upsilon 1985
Sigma Lambda Beta 1986 MIDWEST
Gamma Zeta Alpha 1987 WEST
Omega Delta Phi 1987 SOUTH
Nu Alpha Kappa 1988
Lambda Pi Chi 1988 (Sorority-Ivy League)

INTERNET 1988

3RD GENERATION LGLF: MULTICULTURAL

Beta Kappa Psi 1988 (Black/Latino) EAST

3 RD FEMINIST MOVEMENT 1990: MULTICULTURALISM

Sigma Lambda Gamma 1990 (Sorority) MIDWEST

GULF WAR 1990-1991

COLD WAR ENDS 1991

LATINO GREEK COUNCIL 1991
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LATINO FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS 1998
CONCILIO NACIONAL DE HERMANDADES LATINAS 2000
CONCILIO INTERFRATERNITARIO PUERTORRIQUENO DE LA FLORIDA 2002

Photo found via Flickr.

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  • Stash

    Good history…You did miss a few LGLO's but otherwise right on target.

    • Chris

      Please share.

  • Louis

    Good synopsis Bro.

    A few details are mixed up at the end.

    1991 CONCILIO NACIONAL DE HERMANDADES LATINAS
    1997 CONCILIO NACIONAL DE HERMANDADES LATINAS rebirth and renamed National Latino Greek Council
    1999 or 2000 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LATINO FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS

    Sometime in between there is NAFLO (around 1998?)

    Hope this helps,

    Louis “CLIP” Valente, Ph.D.
    Fall ’92 Pi Chapter
    Former VP National Latino Greek Council ’97-’98

    • Chris

      Your right thank you. 2000 is when NALFO and el Councilio merged. NALFO was establsihed in 1998. Here we can note the efforts from the west coast and the east coast amongt LGLO’s.