Norris, Jr. Benjamin Franklin (Berkeley 1894)

From collection Member List

Benjamin Franklin Norris Jr. (March 5, 1870 – October 25, 1902) was an American journalist and novelist during the Progressive Era, whose fiction was predominantly in the naturalist genre.  His notable works include McTeague: A Story of San Francisco (1899), The Octopus: A Story of California (1901), and The Pit (1903).

During his time at the University of California, Berkeley, Norris was a brother in the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and was an originator of the Skull & Keys society.  Because of his involvement with a prank during the Class Day Exercises in 1893, the annual alumni dinner held by each Phi Gamma Delta chapter still bears his name.
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