Berkeley's Secret Society as understood through the physical landscape of the "Tomb" and the abandoned physical legacy

"Skull & Keys, U.C., 1899," initiation, University of California at Berkeley. [photographic print]

What is the Skull and Keys Tomb?

In June of 2021, the SFGate, a local Bay Area newspaper, published an article titled "Obscure Bay Area: The secret society 'tomb' hiding in plain sight in Berkeley" in which reporter Katie Dowd draws attention to a building that has gone long forgotten in the UC Berkeley campus's public consciousness: that building was the Skull and Keys Tomb. The tomb, as it now stands on 2436 Prospect Street, is a gray windowless building with stairs to its entrance that dips below street level. It is easy to pass by unnoticed, perhaps a feature of its design. The tomb is the name of the house and meeting place of the secret society, Skull and Keys.

The tomb was originally located elsewhere in Berkeley, but according to the SFGATE, neighbors were appalled at the behavior of the members and asked the society to move, promising they would build them a new "tomb." There is allegedly a court case about this housing dispute, however, given that members' names are kept private, it is an archival challenge to find a suit against unknown defendants. The tomb today is the relocated one, pictures of the original tomb are, as to my attempts, not in existence. Articles report that the society was dissolved by the University in the 1970 yet the property the tomb is on, which was last assessed in 2015 for an unlisted amount, still remains in ownership of Skull and Keys Inc. and is listed as "miscellaneous." This leaves us to ask: does Skull and Keys still exist? If not, what is the tomb used for now?

Dowd, Katie. “The Bay Area Secret Society 'Tomb' Hiding in Plain Sight.” SFGATE. SFGATE, June 11, 2021. https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/berkeley-skull-and-keys-secret-societies-buildings-16238911.php.
Arivify.com. “2436 Prospect Street .” Arivify.com - Property search website. Accessed May 4, 2022. https://www.arivify.com/property/search/yYBJfJXD9.

Photo of Skull and Keys Building (2021)

Brief History of Fraternities and Secret Societies on UC Berkeley Campus

After the University of California's founding in 1868, the first fraternity, Zeta Psi, was created just two years later in 1870, the same year that women were admitted to the university. From this we can understand that fraternity, club, and social culture was both central to the original vision of the University and to maintaining a space for masculinity to thrive.

In order to understand the significance of the Skull and Keys society and their "tomb," it is first important to think of the ways in which fraternities reinforce social culture on campus, the way fraternities have changed, and the importance of a physical space for such groups to thrive and survive through centuries. According to scholarship by Guillermo de Los Reyes and Paul Rich, it is crucial for fraternity organizations, extending to societies such as Skull and Keys, to have a physical house or marker to be taken seriously by the university landscape, both physically and politically.

“About Berkeley.” UC Berkeley. Accessed May 4, 2022. https://www.berkeley.edu/about#:~:text=The%20University%20of%20California%20was,and%20happiness%20of%20advancing%20generations.%22.
“About Calgreeks.” LEAD Center. Accessed May 4, 2022. https://lead.berkeley.edu/about-calgreeks/.
Wilkie, Laurie A. The Lost Boys of Zeta Psi : a Historical Archaeology of Masculinity at a University Fraternity /. Berkeley :: University of California Press,, n.d.
Los Reyes, Guillermo de, and Paul Rich. “Housing Students: Fraternities and Residential Colleges.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 585 (2003): 118–23. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1049754.

Main Question: In what way does the presence of the Skull and Keys tomb today in 2022 reveal something about our current understanding of secret societies and an exclusionary history at the University?

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