OBC (Secret Society)
Encyclopedia
University of North Carolina at Asheville
The University of North Carolina at Asheville is a co-educational, four year, public liberal arts university. The university is also known as UNC Asheville. Located in Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina, UNCA is the only designated liberal arts institution in the University of North...
. Its existence has been documented as early as May 1938; however, there is no confirmed documentation of its founding or membership.
History
In March 1865, previously-secret legislation to create an official Special and Secret Bureau of the War DepartmentConfederate Secret Service
Confederate Secret Service is an umbrella term for a number of official and semi-official secret service operations conducted by the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.-Overview:...
was enacted by the Confederate Congress, and the Battle of Asheville was waged that April on the grounds of Woolsey Dip, the area which would eventually become the present-day campus of the University of North Carolina at Asheville. A small group of Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
reserves stationed in the city was victorious; remaining Union troops were forced to withdraw to Tennessee. After the unexpected victory, rumors of the Confederate soldiers’ potential association with the new Bureau arose. However, in preparation for the evacuation of Richmond, Confederate Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Judah P. Benjamin
Judah P. Benjamin
Judah Philip Benjamin was an American politician and lawyer. Born a British subject in the West Indies, he moved to the United States with his parents and became a citizen. He later became a citizen of the Confederate States of America. After the collapse of the Confederacy, Benjamin moved to...
burned nearly all official documents related to the formation of the Secret Service, and the rumors were never able to be confirmed or dispelled. In the following years, rumors turned to the existence of a secret society in Woolsey Dip, alleged to have been organized by the small band of Confederate soldiers.
The Buncombe County Junior College opened its doors on September 12, 1927, welcoming 86 men and women free of tuition. However, tuition became necessary to the school’s continuation in 1929 with the advent of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. That year also saw the passage of the first graduating class, known as the “29 of ’29,” and a merger with Asheville City College, after which it was known as Biltmore College. In 1934, the college changed location to College Street in downtown Asheville, and in 1936 it was chartered as Asheville-Biltmore College and accredited by the United States Department of Education
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
. The school moved twice more over the next 15 years, first to Biltmore Avenue, south of downtown, then north of downtown to Merrimon Avenue. Finally, in 1948, the Alumni Association was founded under direction of United States House
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Representative Roy A. Taylor
Roy A. Taylor
Roy Arthur Taylor was a U.S. Representative from North Carolina.Born in Vader, Washington, Taylor graduated from Asheville-Biltmore College, Asheville, North Carolina, 1929....
, the valedictorian
Valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
of the class of ‘29, and the following year the college was moved to Seely’s Castle
Fred Loring Seely
Fred Loring Seely was a newspaperman, chemist, inventor and philanthropist.Born to Uriah and Nancy Hopping Seely, in Monmouth, New Jersey, Fred Seely first worked for the Parke-Davis pharmaceutical company and later became an executive for his father-in-law Edwin Wiley Grove's "Paris Medicine...
on Sunset Mountain.
It was during the period of the college’s residence at Seely’s Castle that rumors of a secret society in Asheville arose once more. A small group of students whose possessions included artifacts from the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, referring to themselves as simply OBC, was alleged to use the lowest rooms of the castle to hold secret meetings, beginning a tradition of underground meeting places that is rumored to hold true to today. The original purpose of the group was believed to have been the creation of a public liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
college, as the society has been long associated with projects aimed at the improvement of what has now become the University.
Membership and Associations
Membership in the society has never been revealed. It has been written that members are students "deeply involved in student organizations and other prominent leadership positions in the University, a tactic which is suggested to ease the ability of the society to wield its influence within the University’s community."It has been suggested that the society is in communication with the administration and Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina at Asheville, as well as the present-day owners of Seely’s Castle. The society is also alleged to have associations with the North Carolina State government
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
through Representative Taylor, beginning in 1948.
Name
Since an account of the society's existence was first published in the late thirties, "OBC" has been assumed to be an acronym; however, there has been no confirmation of either this or what the letters may stand for. Over the years, many names have been suggested, including "The Order of the Blue Castle," "The Order of Brothers Confederate," "Omega Beta Chi," "Olde Brethren of the Chamber" and, more recently, "The Organization on the Bulldog Campus."Significance
OBC is the oldest known secret society operating at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Its historical significance lies not as heavily in its existence as a secret society, but as an academically-oriented society in favor of a liberal artsLiberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
curriculum, as amongst North Carolina's many higher education institutions, UNCA is currently the only designated liberal arts institution in the UNC system
University of North Carolina
Chartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina was one of the first public universities in the United States and the only one to graduate students in the eighteenth century...
.
Historically, the group is also suggested to have been responsible for keeping the college afloat during the long years of economic instability following the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, and for the construction of bomb shelters beneath many of the academic buildings during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. They are held to have begun the traditional autumnal ceremony of the Turning of the Maples, now hosted by the Alumni Office, in 1969 under the administration of Chancellor William E. Highsmith, to showcase the beauty of the campus.
Today, the society is accredited with a wide range of activities, from major financial donations to minor humorous pranks. The completed construction of the newest building on the University of North Carolina at Asheville campus, Zeis Hall, is reported to have been possible only thanks to the donation of a large sum of money from the society. The symbol believed to be linked to the society, a large letter B surrounded by a circle with two hash marks at 45 and 135 degrees, appears on buildings and sidewalks in out-of-the-way locations on campus approximately once every semester. Most recently, the group is publicly held to be the source of the nickname "Chan Anne" for current (2005- ) UNC Asheville Chancellor Anne Ponder.
External links
- http://www.unca.edu/alumni/history/timeline.html
- http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/secret-society/list-of-secret-societies.html
- http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/ball/pages/ball_n1030.html
- http://toto.lib.unca.edu/university_archives/institutional_history/history_1927_2001/UNCAhistory.html