As the South was rising from the ashes of the Civil War, so too did a quiet but determined movement to expand the brotherhood of Phi Delta Theta. At the heart of this effort was Walter Benjamin Palmer, a young man from the Georgia Beta Chapter at Emory College—whose vision for the fraternity extended beyond the confines of his own alma mater. The first Southern chapters of Phi Delta Theta had been established decades earlier. First at Centre College in Kentucky in April 1850, followed by Roanoke College in Virginia in May 1869, followed by Georgia Alpha Prime at Oglethorpe College in June 1871 - a chapter whose brief existence helped create others, including Palmer’s own at Emory where he was initiated on May 25, 1873. But it was from Tennessee Alpha at Vanderbilt University (where Palmer affiliated after Emory), that he would launch his most impactful campaign: the fertile ground of the Deep South.

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One of his key targets was the University of Mississippi - a campus with tradition, academic promise, and a competitive Greek system. He began searching through college catalogs for potential connections, eventually stumbling upon a bulletin from Mary Sharp College in Winchester, Tennessee. There he discovered the name Miss Kate Carothers, the organist at Oxford Baptist Church. In February 1877, he wrote to her that he wished to establish a chapter at the University, and he asked for help identifying a suitable student who might form the foundation of a new chapter.

 

Miss Carothers consulted her cousin, W. E. Martin, a Sigma Chi, and together they (along with Chancellor Alexander P. Stewart) recommended a promising student from Copiah County: Enoch A. Enochs. Enochs agreed to correspond with Palmer and his first letter to him was written on March 9, 1877. Enochs embraced the charge and he swiftly recruited William J. Smith and Charles D. Butler to join. The trio signed a pledge and were initiated on March 17, 1877. The first official meeting of Mississippi Alpha took place just days later, on March 25, in the Greek recitation room of the University. Enochs, Smith, and Butler were joined by twelve others who would become the first brothers of Mississippi Alpha. 

 

Mississippi Alpha received its charter on June 9, 1877, becoming the sixth national fraternity at The University of Mississippi. Those that came before include Delta Kappa Epsilon in 1854, Delta Psi in 1855, Phi Kappa Psi in 1857, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon in 1866. By this time, Walter B. Palmer’s mission had already spread beyond Mississippi. He had helped found Alabama Alpha at the University of Alabama on June 6, 1877, North Carolina Alpha at Trinity College (now Duke University) on May 23, 1878, and South Carolina Alpha at Wofford College on January 31, 1879.

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Palmer’s impact was profound—not just in the number of chapters he helped establish, but in the way he understood the South: as a region in need of connection, tradition, and a shared purpose. And so, Mississippi Alpha of Phi Delta Theta came into being—not just as a simple organization—but as the start of a brotherhood that would shape the lives of countless young men. Each one finding friendship, purpose, and a place to call home.