Our Gang

Our Gang 

Human beings are social animals. Throughout our evolutionary journey we have organized ourselves into groups. Families, clans, tribes, and nations are examples. This propensity to live and organize into groups may have come from the safety found in numbers, or to more efficiently provide food and shelter. Perhaps this need to belong to groups comes from deep psychological instincts that are hardwired in the human psyche

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Take good care of yourself, you belong to me 

 In 1943 psychologist Abraham Maslow published a paper “Theory of Human Motivation” in which he proposed a hierarchy of human needs. This hierarchy remains a popular framework in sociology and the study of human growth and development. The hierarchy is in the shape of a triangle or pyramid with the most fundamental needs at the bottom. 

 At the base of the hierarchy we find physiological needs. Air, water, food, clothing, and shelter are examples of these needs. Next we find safety and security needs. These might include personal security, financial security, health and well being, and safety against the adverse impact of accidents and illness. The third level, after physiological and safety, are interpersonal needs involving the feelings of belonging. Maslow believed that humans need to be a part of, and feel a sense of, acceptance and belonging within social groups, be these groups large or small. Large groups would include clubs, co-workers, religious groups, professional organizations, and sports teams. Small social connections include family, intimate partners, mentors, colleagues and confidants.

 Humans need to love and be loved by others. People often experience loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression in the absence of this love or belonging element. When combined with strong peer pressure, this need for belonging can overcome the physiological and security needs.

 Let us dig a little deeper into this need to belong. Sebastian Junger, American journalist, author and filmmaker has produced several works that examine the dynamics of the need to belong as it relates to soldiers having served in Afghanistan. These works include “Retrospo,” “War,” “Which Way is the Front Line From Here,” “Korengal,” “The Last Patrol,” and “Tribe.” A theory that Junger shares in these films and publications is the idea that the bonds of community and belonging found in army platoons engaged in combat are exceptionally strong. The brotherhood experienced by those in combat platoons promotes the building of powerful relationships that fulfill the need to belong to a trusted group. In many cases this brotherhood and belonging found in the platoon far exceeds any feelings of connectedness previously experienced. The after effects of this strong bonding when the time of deployment and combat have ended often precipitate responses from service persons that are unfortunate and sometimes confusing. 

 Many soldiers return home to experience serious problems as they attempt to reconnect with civilian society. Junger argues that many are unable to assimilate back into the larger society because of their feelings of being untethered and disconnected. They often experience alienation and anxiety, missing the brotherhood shared with those in their combat platoon. Many had not experienced these strong bonds of trust and belonging before their time in service. Upon returning home they experience alienation and anxiety because they are no longer a part of a trusted group. As we know, the rates of mental illness, homelessness, and suicide are very high among veterans of recent wars in the Middle East. 

 Another interesting question considered in Junger’s work: why do servicemen and women sign on for multiple tours of combat duty? Patriotism, perhaps, but Junger shares another theory. He maintains that many service persons sign on for multiple tours of duty in order to continue to experience the sense of belonging and brotherhood found within their combat platoons. Reflecting back on Maslow’s hierarchy, many return to combat even though they are placing themselves in harm’s way, as the need for belonging outweighs the need for safety. They return to combat not because they like war, but because their need to belong to a tightly bonded group is so powerful and met through the relationships in the combat platoon.

 As you have already surmised, part of our discussion this evening centers on the human need and propensity to belong to groups. We shall take a look at some specific groups that young men and women have formed perhaps to meet this basic human need to belong. The focus of these groups was initially scholarly and later social in nature.

 Let’s start a club

 The American fraternity and sorority system began with students who wanted to conduct discussions and debates secretly as the topics may have been thought inappropriate by the faculty of their schools. Today fraternities and sororities are used as social, professional, and honorary groups that promote social activity, community service, leadership, and academic achievement. 

 The Phi Beta Kappa Society was founded on December 5, 1776, at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was the first fraternal organization in the United States and established the custom of naming college societies using Greek-letter initials of a secret Greek motto. The motto chosen was Philosophia Biou Kubernētēs or philosophy is the Helmsman of Life, now translated as Philosophy is the Guide of Life. 

The group was formed by students who were patrons of the Raleigh tavern, a popular off campus meeting place. The founders of Phi Beta Kappa declared that the society was formed for congeniality and to promote good fellowship, with friendship as its basis and benevolence and literature as its pillars. Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa were established at Yale and Harvard and then spread to other colleges and universities. As time went by it became more of an honor society rather than a social organization similar to fraternities of today. 

The Kappa Alpha Society, established at Union College in Schenectady, New York in November of 1825 is considered the first general Greek letter fraternity. Phi Beta Kappa had been at Union since 1817 and Kappa Alpha adopted many of their practices but made fellowship, the development of brotherhood and friendship their main purpose. Soon to follow at Union College were Sigma Phi and Delta Phi resulting in Union becoming known as the birthplace of the fraternity and sorority system. 

The golden age of fraternities occurred after the Civil War, a time of rapid growth and the establishment of many new organizations, particularly in the South. The formation of Alpha Tau Omega at VMI and Kappa Alpha Order at Washington and Lee University in 1865, and then Sigma Nu at VMI, and Kappa Sigma at The University of Virginia in 1869 are examples of this growth. The Chi Omega chapter of Kappa Sigma, of which I am a member, was formed in April of 1890 at the University of South Carolina. The Kappa Sigma motto AEKDB, translates as After Each Kiss Drink Beer. Not really, but it’s a secret. I can’t tell you what it really means!! 

 The first secret society for women was the Adelphean Society, later Alpha Delta Pi formed in 1851 at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. The Philomathean Society, later Phi Mu, was founded in 1852 also at Wesleyan. The first women’s society to expand by forming different chapters was I.C. Sorosis, founded in 1867, later known as Phi Beta Phi. The first women’s society founded using Greek letters was Kappa Alpha Theta in 1870. Subsequently numerous other societies were formed in the 1870’s including Kappa Kappa Gamma, Alpha Phi, Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta and Sigma Kappa. The first women’s society to be called a sorority was Gamma Phi Beta in 1882. Delta Delta Delta was formed in 1888, with Chi Omega, now the largest sorority in the nation, being formed in 1890. No doubt many of us know some ladies who are affiliated with these organizations and may have gone out with one or two during our college years.

 Let’s make it local 

It seems this need to belong to a group holds true for all ages. Young people often participate in group activities modeled after those to which adults belong and participate. We have all had some experiences of hanging out with a group of friends from the neighborhood. Sometimes these groups were a loose alliance, and sometimes more formally arranged. The focus for the rest of our time this evening will be on high school boys and girls growing up in Sumter who formed groups, often known as social clubs. These groups were patterned somewhat similarly to college fraternities and sororities.

 Ladies First 

During the fall of 1939, a group of thirteen young ladies attending Sumter High School formed a new group named Les Coeur Cognes which came to be known as LCC. 

 Charter members were Jeanne Harby, Lucy Stubbs, Margaret McLeod, Pretto Brunson, Mary Ellen Cain, Zadeth Beth Green, Susanne Mallard, Polly Moise, Carol Humbert, Sally Nash, Barbara Lee, Iva Belle Seale, and Less Moses. Of these ladies only Margaret McLeod Hunter and Sally Nash Wilson are still with us. The name was French and was meant to be translated as “The Heart Breakers”. Legend has it that Robert Moise was called upon to provide the name but his French was not as good as the ladies thought and the name actually translates as “the heart broken”. The idea of the club came about as Sumter girls met some girls from Columbia at the beach who were members of a group known as “Les Coquetts”. The primary social activities of the LCC in the early days were dances, initially held at the Armory on Artillery Drive. Meetings were held at the homes of the members’ parents to plan and organize for the dances. 

The LCC was in existence for many years. Over the decades countless young ladies that we know were members. They held dances and parties year after year. One of the highlights of the year was that spring event at which time “Mr. Heartbreaker” was named. 

 Boys will be boys 

Unlike the LCC which was the only girls club in town, there were many organizations that came and went over the years for young men. The first club I could find any information on was established in the fall of 1949. The club was formed by a group of senior boys at Edmunds High. The plan was to have twenty-one members. Someone suggested they use the French word for twenty-one which they believed to be “vontoon”. Much like the LCC they were somewhat mistaken as the French phrase for 21 is “vingt et un.” Somehow this was translated into Vontoon and so it was. In short order the membership grew to well over twenty-one. The club met in the parents’ homes of the various members, mostly “swapping lies” and laughing for a couple of hours. The highlight of the year was a house party trip to Ocean Drive chaperoned by Coach “Hutch” Hutchinson and his wife. It appears this club only lasted one year or perhaps two. 

Next on the scene was an organization known as Club 52. Formed during the school year 1951-52, this group was short lived because of a prank which involved the “plowing up” of a small portion of the front lawn of the school and the painting of disparaging remarks regarding the principal, Joseph Lyles, on the monument to Dr. Edmunds in front of the school. Several club members received serious disciplinary action and as a result the club was disbanded. 

Around 1953 or ’54, a new club, The Counts, was formed that left a legacy for clubs that were to follow. Described as being a “suave” yet “rough and tumble” group of young men, they left their mark on the community by establishing, at some point in time, a private location for “parking”. CPA as it came to be known, an acronym for Counts Parking Area, was located near what is now Henderson St. just beyond Wilson’s pond, parallel to Paisley Park. Back in the day, that entire area was undeveloped woods with only a little dirt lane leading up the hill towards what are now Ingram and Haile Streets. Only The Counts were allowed to park in this area. However, after the Counts disbanded, the area was open to all, but for many years after was still known as CPA. 

 Also, around 1953 or ‘54 another club was formed that would prove to become the longest lasting of all the socials clubs for young men, the Les Rois. French for “The Kings”, this group had a run that stretched into the early 70’s. Members of the Counts in the early Fifties felt the Les Rois were more scholarly, but couldn’t dance. We shall hear more about the Les Rois shortly. 

 The early 60’s saw the formation of a couple more social clubs for the men. One of these, The Diablos, beginning in 1961 or ’62, was active through 1965. This group had the distinction of actually designing and wearing a pin, similar to the pins worn by college fraternity members. 

 Also, in 1961-‘62, a group known as The Esquires was formed which had a little longer life span, essentially running parallel with the Les Rois through the sixties and into the early seventies. I was a member of this group during my junior and senior year at Edmunds, 1965-67. We shall hear more about the Esquires shortly as well. Over the years all the clubs seemed to have one primary goal in common: all wanted to go on a house party at the beach. These house parties most often occurred during spring break which happened around Easter. As we all know, the beach over Easter break is teeming with young people out to find a good time. In order to accomplish this adventure the clubs needed to raise money to finance the endeavor. The primary source of the fundraising was to sponsor a dance during the Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays. Favorite venues for the dances included the American Legion on Artillery Drive and the VFW off Broad Street. Sometimes dances were held in surrounding towns such as Camden or Florence. Popular bands, usually from out of town, were hired for these events. Also, during the dance a raffle might be held to enhance the take for the evening. The profits would be used to rent a house at the beach for spring break. Sometimes, if the profits from the dance were sizeable, a house might be rented at the beach for Junior Senior Prom weekend as well. 

 Another thing all the clubs had in common, at least during the sixties and early seventies, was a clubhouse. The clubhouse was usually a ram-shackled abandoned tenant farmhouse somewhere out of town. Some club member or perhaps someone’s father would make arrangements for the club to take possession of an old house for use as a meeting place and party venue on weekends. The houses would be “fixed-up” and redecorated by club members complete with some kind of record player as music was a critical ingredient for making merry. The good folks that let us use those structures must have been slightly out of their minds but we surely appreciated their generosity and made good use of the facilities. The use of a particular house would usually only last a year or two and then the club would have to move to a new location. The liability factors that we face today, of course, would make such an arrangement completely out of the question. The Esquire house my senior year was located out highway 521 S. on Britton Rd, just beyond “Britton’s Siding”. The Les Rois house was out highway15 N., on W. Foxworth Mill Rd., a little way behind Mozingo’s Store.

 Let’s Jump Through Some Hoops 

 Leaving one group and entering another is what a cultural anthropologist would define as a rite of passage. Most often accomplished through some kind of ceremony, this passage may involve a change in one’s status in society. The term was coined by Dutch-German-French ethnographer Arnold Van Gennep in his work “Les Rites de Passage” (The Rites of Passage) in 1909. Van Genepp proposed the idea that the larger society is made up of many separate groups, with these separate groups divided into yet smaller subgroups or mini-societies. As members of society we all belong to multiple groups, some more important to us than others. “A house divided into rooms” is the metaphor used by Van Gennep, with a passage occurring when we leave one room, or group, to enter another.

 The ceremonies associated with rites of passage, often in the form of an initiation, have several effects on the dynamics the group, and on the individuals making the passage. Severe initiations produce what psychologist call a “cognitive dissonance,” which can be experienced when we voluntarily participate in an unpleasant activity in order to achieve a goal. Using “effort justification,” we reduce the unpleasantness of the activity by inflating the desirability of the goal. Hence joining the group is more important than avoiding the initiation. In addition, this cognitive dissonance results in increased loyalty to the group, more conformity among new members, and heightened feelings of affiliation. The ceremony/initiation may result in the forming of a “sacred bond” among the members of the group. 

 In our society these rites of passage and their accompanying ceremonies take on many forms. Graduations, debutant balls, first prom, first kiss, boot camp, commissioning of an officer, weddings, a swearing-in, bar mitzvah, baptism, and retirement are but a few examples. This passage may result in one leaving behind the past and becoming a different person as a result of the rituals and symbolic actions of the ceremony. Once the rite of passage is complete one may be viewed as having a different status in society. A married man is a different person than the single man he was before the ceremony. 

 Of course, different societies and cultures have different ceremonies related to their rites of passage. The Vanatu of Penetecost Island in the South Pacific have a particularly unique rite of passage for their young men moving from adolescence into manhood. Land diving, as it is known, requires the participant to jump off a wooden tower, 60 – 100 feet high, with no safety equipment, save the two vines wrapped around their ankles. The boys making their rite of passage jump at lower levels than the men who continue jumping throughout adulthood as part of a ritual to insure a bountiful harvest. 

 It was a week to be remembered

 But let us turn now to the rites of passage for the social clubs of Sumter. At some point in its history, LCC initiation began on what came to be known as “pick up day.” The girls that had been selected for membership were clandestinely “kidnapped” from their homes on the appointed day through a previously arranged secret agreement between the initiate’s mother and her “big sister” in LCC. The inductees were taken to someone’s backyard, usually the home of the president’s parents. This was when the process of “cognitive dissonance” began. Boys were invited to come and watch the proceedings which included the application of various natural and organic treatments to insure healthy and vibrant hair and skin. The initiation then continued throughout the following week, with strict regulations regarding appropriate dress to be worn to school and personal hygiene related to the initiate’s hair. In addition, inductee’s were required to learn and perform songs on demand which might include: “I’m a little prairie flower, growing wilder by the hour I’m as wild as I can be, I’m a baby LCC Les Couer, (clap, clap) Cogne, (clap, clap).” At the end of the week, the new members were, of course, welcomed with open arms into the sisterhood of the LCC.

 It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

 The rite of passage for the boys’ clubs was usually just a one night affair. These “ceremonies” also brought on a significant “cognitive dissonance” in the psyche of the initiates. Most often conducted at the club house during the summer before the inductee’s junior year, these events were only held at night. The attire for the initiates was designed to provide evidence to contradict that pillar of American democracy that “all men are created equal.” The cuisine for the evening could only be described as unforgettable dining. In order to improve the physical conditioning and health of the initiates, a vigorous regimen of calisthenics and cross country running was incorporated into the ceremony. In an effort to prevent any muscle soreness from the physical activity, certain liquids were generously and thoroughly applied to the initiates to sooth any sprained or inflamed areas. In addition, initiates were provided, free of charge, a complete and totally new hair style, very carefully and professionally done. In some cases at the end of the evening, a task was required which was specifically designed to help improve the resourcefulness and problem solving skills of the initiates. All in all, it was a very memorable evening that certainly provided a source of bonding for those who enjoyed the privilege of participating.

 It’s kind of hazy in here 

 Public perception and attitudes toward the rite of passage activities described above have changed significantly in recent years. Because of injuries and deaths that have occurred during initiations, hazing has been criticized by educators, law enforcement, and the general public and rightfully so. Definitions of hazing are varied. The Fraternal Information and Programming Group (FIPG) defines hazing as any action taken or situation intentionally created to produce mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, or ridicule. Hazing is illegal is 44 states including South Carolina. As with many rituals, customs, and traditions, attitudes and behaviors regarding rites of passage are sometimes slow to change, however. No question that activities that could result in injury to initiates should not be a part of any organizations rite of passage. Some good advice related to this could be taken from the ancient adage inscribed in the temple of Apollo at Delphi in Greece, meden agan, “nothing in excess.” 

 Where are they now? 

 So what became of the Esquires, Les Rois, and Les Coeur Cognes? As is usually the case, the men expired first. Both the Les Rois and the Esquires closed up shop at the end of the 1972 school year. One explanation provided was many of the young men of that time were more interested in becoming “hippies” than frat boys. Changes in attitudes, hair styles, music, clothing, and diversions were all part of the cultural movement to emphasize one’s individuality, trading in some of the old values of the past for some new values of the future. The times they were a changing. The LCC had a much longer romance, breaking the last hearts in the 2007 school year. In its later years the LCC had girls who joined from both Wilson Hall and Sumter High.

 Our Gang 

 The title of this paper, of course, comes from the comedy short film series known as ‘Our Gang” and later as “The Little Rascals”. The films were produced from 1922-1944. As you recall, the “gang” was a group of poor neighborhood kids engaged in one adventure after another. Over the years, the kids in the films changed. As some grew too old they were replaced by younger children. Some of the most memorable characters were Farina, Wheezer, Chubby, Jackie (Cooper), Stymie, Porky, Froggy, Buckwheat, Alfalfa, Darla, Spanky, and Petey the dog. In addition to being hilariously funny, the films were significant in two other ways. They were ground breaking in that the characters were shown displaying the raw, unaffected nuances of regular children as opposed to imitating the acting styles of adults. More significantly as a cultural statement, the white and black boys and girls were portrayed as interacting as equals. 

 One of my favorite episodes, which is relevant to our discussion this evening is the story of Spanky and the guys forming a club, none other than the notorious “He Man Woman Haters Club”. Like the social clubs of Sumter, they had a clubhouse and held meetings there. 

 So here we are this evening with “our gang,” gathered together as we do each fortnight. Formed over one hundred years ago we are still going strong. As with most exemplary groups, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. As alluded to earlier, each of us are part of many groups in the larger society and this is but one of them, albeit an important one. Participation in “our fortnightly gang” helps us meet our need to belong, and I for one am extremely glad that I belong with you. 

 Dr. John B. Hilton Jr. - Fortnightly - January 10, 2018 

Primary Sources: Steve Barwick, John Boney,  Hillary Bordeaux,  Joe Boyle,  J.J. Britton,  Steve Creech,  Carl Croft,  Jimmy Cromer,  Stan Dubose,  Billy Edwards,  Frank Edwards,  Jessica Ellis Fralick,  Polly Harritt Harrell, Micki Harritt,  Susan Hunter Hilton,  Margaret McLeod Hunter,  Bill Kimbrell,  Curtis Kimbrell, Tom Lewis,  Tricia Hilton Limoges, Lauren Bostic Locklear,  Walter Lee McCracken,  Kirk McLeod,  George Morris,  Richard Murrell,  Tommy Reed,  Windy Rodgers,  Rufus Wactor,  Bob Wilson,  Sally Nash Wilson.