In December 1932, the nation was in the depths of the Great Depression. Nevertheless, the Moravian College chapter of the Omicron Gamma Omega fraternity announced that it had leased a home at 117 West Locust Street, then just outside the college campus, to serve as its chapter house beginning with the fall 1932 semester. Prior to being converted for the fraternity’s use, the home had been rented by Mrs. Howard L. Musselman and her children as a family residence and boarding house. Now it earned the distinction of being Moravian’s first dedicated fraternity house.

An article in the Allentown Morning Call described the building after renovation: “The interior of the house has been furnished for the needs of college men. There is a reception room, dining room, trophy room, recreation room, study room and a dormitory.”

Officers of the Beta chapter of Omicron Gamma Omega for 1932 
pose in front of their new headquarters, also seen at top in the 1950s 
aerial view (where Collier Hall of Science now stands).

Moravian’s OGO chapter itself was already a decade old at the time, having been founded in 1923. The original, or Alpha, chapter of the Omicron Gamma Omega fraternity was founded in 1921 by Franklin G. “Frank” Chiles ’25 while a student at the University of Virginia. When Chiles transferred to Moravian College and Theological Seminary, he asked the Alpha chapter’s permission to form a Beta chapter at his new school. The original Beta members, besides Chiles, were John Schade ’25, Romeo Lucente ’25, Neil McCormick ’25, Harold Fischer, and Richmond E. Myers ’25.

Frank Chiles would go on to have a distinguished career as a designer and contractor who designed and built some of Bethlehem’s most distinctive homes. Myers became a professor of geology at Muhlenberg College and the author of many books and articles on geology and Lehigh Valley history.

Perhaps the Great Depression took its toll after all, because by 1937, 117 West Locust Street was again a private home. And the house had fallen under the wrecking ball by 1971, when Collier Hall of Science rose in its place. After years of temporary lodgings, the fraternity established itself in 1961 at 1305–1307 Main Street, just north of campus, where it remained until 2000. Since 2010, OGO has been headquartered on campus at Hillside 6A on West Laurel Street. The fraternity is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.