Almost 150 years ago, in the town of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, two college students, William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore, were nursing their stricken friends during an epidemic of typhoid fever. This created an appreciation of the great joy of serving others and these two individuals established a brotherhood with several friends that was based upon this ideal on February 19, 1852. Phi Kappa Psi was founded at Jefferson College, which was a prominent institute and part of the "Jeffersonian Cradle" with Harvard and Princeton.

      Phi Kappa Psi was founded to encourage the best in men, to inspire and assist them to reach their potential as students, brothers, men and citizens.

       P.T. Moore was very eager to spread the principles of Phi Kappa Psi to other colleges. The second Phi Kappa Psi chapter was established in 1853 at the University of Virginia. At this time, a man named Thomas Cochran Campbell was the most active man in the Fraternity. He felt that Phi Kappa Psi was founded by its' peculiar character and strong foundation. In 1855, the first Grand Arch council was held in Charolettesville, Virginia. Members from Virginia Alpha exerted a strong influence and the following GAC in Canonsburg showcased members from this chapter.

      After the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, the chapters of Phi Kappa Psi suspended operations. A majority of the brotherhood (552 out of 800) were involved in the war, and more than 100 were killed. One brother, C.F. "Dab" Williams, donated to the Fraternity an unidentified, antique, homemade Phi Kappa Psi badge found on the Hagerstown Pike near Gettysburg, Pa. the day after the Civil War battle ended at that location.

       During the 1880s there had been a growing demand for changes from the Grand Chapter method of government. In 1885, the Grand Arch Council appointed a committee to draft a new system providing a strong, centralized Executive Council. This new Council would consist of graduates and undergraduates serving as heads of each district. In 1886, the report of this system was adopted at a special Grand Arch Council in Indianapolis and this revolutionary system was adapted and still in effect today. William Clayton Wilson planned the new form of government and drafted the new constitution. As a result of this farseeing development the Fraternity owes a debt of gratitude to this individual.

      In 1952 a centennial anniversary was celebrated in the old home of the Widow Letterman in Canonsburg. Over 100 members gathered together for the occasion and a bronze tablet commemorating the centennial was moved to the Pennsylvania Alpha chapter house. Phi Kappa Psi had grown to 56 chapters, 40 Alumni Associations and 40,000 initiates within its' first 100 years.