The sites below were nominated for historic site designation under the new “Protocols for Recognition of Monuments and Memorials of the Sigma Chi International Fraternity,” approved by the Monuments and Memorials Commission and enacted by Sigma Chi’s Executive Committee on June 13, 2020.
This page contains Level Two: Significant sites. Level Two designates a location not qualified for Level One but is of significance to the entire Fraternity. Level Two sites do not have a Fraternity-appointed warden, but the creating entity may appoint a “steward” to manage the site.
Location: Campus of Hanover College, Hanover, Indiana
Site Nominated August 28, 2020 by TSgt (USAF Ret.) Mark E. Dunning, HANOVER 1983 and the collective membership of the Hanover (Chi) Chapter.
Site granted Level Two status on February 2, 2021, prior to the enactment of a resolution adopted by the Monuments and Memorials Commission in November of 2021 that all locations related to the Grand Consuls shall be designated as Level two historical sites.
Significance: The Chi house is recognized as the first structure wholly owned by a Sigma Chi chapter and designed as a chapter house. Prior houses were rented or university provided structures. The chapter occupied the house from 1890 to 1917 and then passed into the ownership of Hanover College. The house was heavily damaged by a tornado on April 3, 1974, and subsequently razed.
This location also honors 5th Grand Consul Walter Lowrie Fisher, HANOVER 1883, who led the financing effort for the house. Fisher served as Sigma Chi’s Grand Consul from 1890 to 1892 and as the U.S. Secretary of the Interior under President William Howard Taft from 1911 to 1913.
Site is commemorated by a double-sided, bronzed upright marker inscribed on the obverse with the story of the Chi chapter house and biographical data on Walter Lowrie Fisher on the reverse.
The memorial plaque points across the Crowe Falls Ravine to the Hanover Cemetery gravesite of brother Fisher.
Site established during a dedication service held on October 1, 2016.
Location: Oak Grove Cemetery [West] East Middle Street, Chelsea, Michigan 48118, Block 13, Lot 1
Site nominated August 15, 2021 by David P. Winans, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 1970.
Site granted Level 2 status by a resolution adopted by the Monuments and Memorials Commission in November of 2021, all locations related to the Grand Consuls shall be designated as Level two historical sites.
The monument, which marks the grave of 11th Grand Consul and Significant Sig Orla Taylor, MICHIGAN 1886, stands in Oak Grove Cemetery located in Chelsea, Michigan. In keeping with honoring the Fraternity’s values, the recognition of Taylor’s final resting place will benefit Sigma Chi for years to come. Close to 6,000 alumni live within 100 miles of the gravesite and publicizing the location is intended to allow brothers an opportunity to connect with the Fraternity’s history.
Commemoration: Engraved granite sarcophagus containing the remains of past Grand Consul Taylor and his wife, Dorothea Taylor.
Site established at time of interment on December 1st, 1945.
Location: The George Ade Grave Site is in the Fairlawn Cemetery, Kentland, Indiana. The cemetery is on County Road W 1700 W, west of U.S. Highway 41, south of Kentland. The Hazelden Estate is located at 3623 E. State Road 16, Brook, Indiana 47922.
Site(s) Nominated February 9, 2023, by Robert G. Kaley, II, PURDUE 1968 and Purdue Chapter Alumni.
Site granted Level 2 status by a resolution adopted by the Monuments and Memorials Commission in November of 2021: all locations related to the Grand Consuls shall be designated as Level two historical sites.
Significance: Recognizes the estate and final resting place of 14th Grand Consul George Ade, PURDUE 1887.
Ade is the author of the Sigma Chi Creed and he made many contributions to The Magazine of Sigma Chi. He was the largest contributor to the construction of the Delta Delta Chapter House, constructed in 1912. Ade was also a major contributor to Purdue University, including being a principal contributor to Ross-Ade Stadium.
The historical significance of Ade’s gravesite at Fairlawn Cemetery in Kentland, Indiana, reflects Ade’s service to the International Fraternity as its 14th Grand Consul from 1909 to 1911 and his authorship of The Sigma Chi Creed. His headstone is one in a circle of family members’ graves surrounding a central monument bearing the Ade family surname. Ade was one of America’s most popular journalists, playwrights and authors of the early 20th century. Ade also served on Purdue University’s board of trustees and the school’s football stadium, Ross-Ade, bears his name.
Hazelden often hosted Sigma Chi events during the Grand Consul’s lifetime and has since 1993 served as the site of five-year reunions for the Purdue chapter’s class of 1968.
Gravesite is marked by a granite family marker and personal headstone.
Ade’s home Hazelden is on the National Registry of Historic Places, and its importance in Indiana history has been recognized by the Indiana Historic Bureau, which has placed memorial plaques on the grounds. A similar plaque is planned for Hazelden’s designation as a Sigma Chi Historical Site noting Ade’s contributions to the Fraternity and to the Purdue chapter. More information on Hazelden, including how to visit, can be found at hazelden.newtoncounty.in.gov.
Location: Lakewood Cemetery, W. 36th Street, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota, USA, Section 30, Lot 543, Grave 1
Site nominated April 27, 2022 by Michael J. Church, ILLINOIS 2005.
Site granted Level 2 status by a resolution adopted by the Monuments and Memorials Commission in November of 2021, all locations related to the Grand Consuls shall be designated as Level two historical sites.
Significance: Recognizes the final resting place of Douglas R. Carlson, MINNESOTA 1973. Carlson served as Grand Consul, 2001-2003, Grand Pro Consul, 1999-2001, Grand Historian, 1981-1999, and Assistant Grand Historian, 1974-1981. Carlson served as Grand Historian for 18 years, longer than any other Sig. He also served on a multitude of committees touching every facet of Sigma Chi. He was a member of the Ritual Committee and consulted on several revisions of the Ritual. One of his final tasks before he passed to the Chapter Eternal in 2017, was serving as a member of the committee to design and build the new Chuck and Kim Watson Museum of Sigma Chi, which opened in 2016.
Carlson is the author of two significant Sigma Chi publications: the 1955-1980 volume of the History of Sigma Chi series started in 1925 by 9th Grand Consul, Joseph Cookman Nate, ILLINOIS WESLEYAN 1890 and The History of the Ritual, complete in 2014.
The following, slightly [edited] at the suggestion of those who knew him well, is a tribute to Carlson printed in the Winter 2023-2024 issue of The Magazine of Sigma Chi, it says, “Throughout his entire career serving the [International Fraternity], Carlson was the driving force for nearly four decades behind moving the Fraternity toward its original intended purpose — to be an organization that develops the character of its members and helps them live purposeful lives using the framework of Sigma Chi’s teachings.“
Site is commemorated by an engraved granite headstone.
Site established during a memorial service on October 21st, 2017.