Warren A. Cole
Encyclopedia
Warren Albert Cole born in Swansea, Massachusetts
Swansea, Massachusetts
Swansea is a town in Bristol County in southeastern Massachusetts.It is located at the mouth of the Taunton River, just west of Fall River, 47 miles south of Boston; and 12 miles southeast of Providence, Rhode Island....

, was a successful businessman and lawyer and is known as the founder of Lambda Chi Alpha
Lambda Chi Alpha
Lambda Chi Alpha is one of the largest men's secret general fraternities in North America, having initiated more than 280,000 members and held chapters at more than 300 universities. It is a member of the North-American Interfraternity Conference and was founded by Warren A. Cole, while he was a...

 Fraternity
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...

.

Education

Cole was the son of Albert Warren Cole and Mary Horton Nichols. He attended high school at B.M.C. Durfee High School
B.M.C. Durfee High School
B.M.C. Durfee High School is an historic former high school building at 289 Rock Street in Fall River, Massachusetts.The school was built in 1886 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981...

 where he graduated in 1908. While there, he was a member of Alpha Mu Chi, a fraternity that may have shaped his future views for a collegiate organization. After graduation, a year of work, and a few weeks as a student at Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

, Cole entered the law school
Boston University School of Law
Boston University School of Law is the law school affiliated with Boston University, and is ranked #22 among American law schools by US News and World Report magazine. It is the second-oldest law school in Massachusetts and one of the first law schools in the country to admit students regardless...

 at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...

 in 1909, where he became a member of the Gamma Eta Gamma law school fraternity.

Lambda Chi Alpha

Cole was viewed as a congenial man, whose dogged persistence was, no doubt, the reason Lambda Chi succeeded. Cole started several fraternities that never caught on, including: The Lodge, Tombs, and Lambda Pi. After Lambda Pi he founded Lambda Chi Alpha, meaning "Loyal Collegiate Associates" before its name changed in 1912. Cole graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...

 degree in 1912. He then set about the work of continuing to build an international fraternity. Cole was one of the three founders of Lambda Chi Alpha when it started on November 2, 1909. In addition to holding Lambda Chi Alpha’s highest office, he was the administrative and traveling secretary, and the editor and treasurer of the Purple, Green, and Gold Magazine throughout World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. During his tenure in office, the Fraternity grew to 53 functioning chapters.
Cole resigned his membership in Lambda Chi Alpha during 1920 under allegations of financial irregularities and the alteration of official fraternity documents by other members of the fraternity's governing body. However, in 1957, he was reinstated as a member in good standing.

Personal life

Cole held many different jobs during his lifetime such as store owner, jewelry salesman, an assistant at the Brown University Student Union
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

, member of the Massachusetts Highway Commission
Massachusetts Highway Department
The Massachusetts Highway Department was the former name of the highway department in the United States Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 1991 until it became the highway division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation on November 1, 2009...

, insurance salesman, and as a Pinkerton
Pinkerton
Pinkerton may refer to:*Pinkerton , a 1996 album by Weezer*Pinkerton, Ontario*Pinkerton National Detective Agency, a detective agency founded in 1850 by Allan Pinkerton*Pinkerton Academy, a high school in Derry, New Hampshire...

 detective. He was a member of the Loyal Order of Moose, a Grand Chancellor of the Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

 Knights of Pythias
Knights of Pythias
The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded at Washington, DC, on 19 February 1864.The Knights of Pythias was the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was founded by Justus H. Rathbone, who had been...

, a better than 50-year member of the Pioneer Masonic Lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...

 in Somerset, Massachusetts
Somerset, Massachusetts
Somerset is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,234 at the 2000 census. It is the birthplace and hometown of Clifford Milburn Holland , the chief engineer and namesake of the Holland Tunnel in New York City....

, and a member of the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry.

He married twice during his lifetime. He married his first wife Lottie Mae Hathaway on September 13, 1910 and they lived in Boston, Massachusetts. They would have three children. He married Ethalyn Brayton Chace, on August 28, 1919, in Barrington, Rhode Island
Barrington, Rhode Island
Barrington is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 16,310 at the 2010 census.In July 2005, CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Barrington sixth on its list of the 100 best places to live in the United States.-History:...

. Cole had three more children during his second marriage. His two sons Albert Warren Cole and Nathan Warren Cole, never became members of Lambda Chi Alpha
Lambda Chi Alpha
Lambda Chi Alpha is one of the largest men's secret general fraternities in North America, having initiated more than 280,000 members and held chapters at more than 300 universities. It is a member of the North-American Interfraternity Conference and was founded by Warren A. Cole, while he was a...

.

Cole died on December 29, 1968 in Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located about south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and west of New Bedford and south of Taunton. The city's population was 88,857 during the 2010 census, making it the tenth largest city in...

 and was buried in a family plot at a cemetery in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Rehoboth is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,172 at the 2000 census.-History:It was incorporated in 1643 making it one of the earliest Massachusetts towns to be incorporated. The Rehoboth Carpenter Family is among the founding families...

 in January 1969. His first wife Lottie is buried with him.

A future historic marker is planned for Swansea, Massachusetts
Swansea, Massachusetts
Swansea is a town in Bristol County in southeastern Massachusetts.It is located at the mouth of the Taunton River, just west of Fall River, 47 miles south of Boston; and 12 miles southeast of Providence, Rhode Island....

 to commemorate Cole.

External links

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