Charles B. Everson

Charles B. Everson, Psi, 1878, Phi Alpha 1888-1889

Charles B. Everson, Psi, 1878, was a successful hardware merchant, architect, real estate developer and community leader in Syracuse, New York.

He served on the Board of Directors of the Syracuse Journal newspaper and with
his sister, Helen, was a major endower of the Everson Museum of Art. Brother Everson was active as a Cornell alumnus throughout his life. He served for decades on the Cornellian Council as the Class of 1878 representative.

He demonstrated that same commitment to Zeta Psi. He was a stalwart and efficient
treasurer of the Psi chapter’s Elders Association for more than thirty years in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1879, he was one of the catalysts and initial
officers of the Psi Chapter House Association. In 1891-1892, with enough funds
secured, the trustees purchased the property and built the house on Stewart Avenue. Brother Everson’s cousin, William, was also a Psi Zete, class of 1893.

On the national level, Brother Everson, before being elected Phi Alpha, served Zeta Psi
as Gamma Alpha (treasurer) from 1882-1886 and chairman of the committee which
published the general catalogue of the fraternity in 1883. During his term as Phi Alpha,
Zeta Psi chartered the Eta chapter at Yale University.

Brother Everson was a member of the University and Century Clubs of Syracuse, Sons
of the Revolution and Zeta Psi Club of New York.