VIDEO: “Sigs of Significance” video clip featuring Milton Caniff used with the permission of the Archives of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

Milton Caniff went to college at Ohio State University where he was a member of the fraternity Sigma Chi. I don’t think I can overstate Caniff’s enthusiasm for the fraternity over the years. The video “testimonial” above, shot while he was creating “Terry and the Pirates,” is one of many gestures of appreciation that he gave to the fraternity’s efforts during his lifetime.

When Caniff was invited to speak at MU in 1949, he connected with the local Sigma Chi fraternity, Sigma Chi Xi Xi, where he was invited to be a special guest at a dessert party during his visit. Caniff was so impressed with his stay in Columbia as a whole that he later created the Miss Mizzou character nearly three years later. The local chapter of Sigma Chi was also involved with Miss Mizzou model Bek Stiner’s visit in 1952.

As I state in the Miss Mizzou book, Caniff had been in touch with the local Sigma Chi chapter at least three times before his visit in 1949. He sent a personalized drawing of the character Burma from his “Terry and the Pirates” comic strip in 1941 to the fraternity which can be seen in the book Xi Xi of Sigma Chi – A History. As he did for many organizations around the country, he also judged two beauty contests by mail for the local Sigma Chi chapter; one in 1945 and another in 1947.

One of the people I talked to while researching the book said the rumor was that Caniff personally knew someone who had a son that went to MU and was part of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Did this play a role in Caniff agreeing to visit MU? While I couldn’t see any direct evidence of this in the letters I went through while researching, it’s an interesting theory.

Regardless, the local chapter of Sigma Chi doubtfully helped endear Caniff to the city and the college. Who knows if Miss Mizzou would have been created if they had not connected with Caniff?