Founding of Phi Gamma Delta
On the night of Saturday, April 22, 1848 at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, six college students gathered in a dormitory room and determined to establish a secret society. The society they formed is called the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta.
The founders, reverently referred to by Brothers today as the "Immortal Six", are John Templeton McCarty, Samuel Beatty Wilson, James Elliott, Jr., Ellis Bailey Gregg, Daniel Webster Crofts, and Naaman Fletcher.
The first regular meeting of Phi Gamma Delta and the adoption of the Fraternity's Constitution took place on May 1, 1848. Consequently, May 1 was chosen to be "Founder's Day" at the 43rd Convention held in 1891 and has traditionally been celebrated as the founding date of the Fraternity ever since.