Book and Bond, Yale University, records

Book and Bond (also known as Phi Kappa Epsilon and Ammanot Club) was established as a social fraternity at Yale University in October 1899. Fraternity rooms included facilities at 823 Chapel Street, Ammanot Hall at the Gamble and Desmond building, and 8 Prospect Place. Book and Bond disbanded in 1935.

The Fraternity of Book and Bond (also known as Phi Kappa Epsilon and Ammanot Club) was established at Yale University in October 1899 by Benjamin F. Nead and E. H. Berner as a social club to "stand for the University's true democratic principles." Responding to Yale's transition from a college to a university in 1887, society members sought to strengthen ties among students in Yale's growing number of schools and departments. Book and Bond adopted a constitution on October 8, 1899 and held informal meetings until March 22, 1900, when members revised the constitution and elected the society's first slate of officers. On May 2, 1900, a committee reported on a meeting at which President Arthur Twining Hadley gave his sanction to the fraternity.

On September 27, 1900, Book and Bond held its first meeting in its fraternity rooms at 823 Chapel Street. Several years later, members voted to rent a room at the Gamble and Desmond building. This room was named Ammanot Hall and served as the location for fraternity functions until 1913, when the society voted to purchase a residence at 8 Prospect Place to serve as a permanent club facility.

Book and Bond's membership consisted of active (undergraduate), graduate (alumni), and honorary members. These individuals kept in touch in publications including an annual bulletin and the newsletter, Spring-It. Members also participated in "round robin" letter campaigns during which correspondence was circulated among members of an initiation group to communicate during the summer and after graduation.

Book and Bond activities included annual banquets, initiation ceremonies, dances, canoe trips, teas, receptions, and amateur theater. The official insignia of the society depicted a book surrounded by a gold, buckled strap engraved with the letters ΦΚΕ that signified "a secret student body, bound together by an unbreakable bond."

During 1923-1925, active members, looking to ensure the financial solvency of the fraternity, proposed that alumni members take out policies from New England Mutual Life Insurance Company with Book and Bond as an absolute beneficiary. This plan was ultimately rejected by the society's Graduate Council.

Book and Bond disbanded in 1935.