One of America’s most prestigious and storied secret societies, Yale University’s Skull and Bones, may be a little less secret if archivists at President George W. Bush’s presidential library in Dallas get their way.
More than 1,000 pages of letters, memos, a draft speech and other materials relating to Skull and Bones are set for release in July, unless Bush or President Barack Obama move to block the disclosure, according to the National Archives.
“Included is correspondence from individuals, organizations, and children to President George W. Bush, Laura Bush, Andrew Card, and Karl Rove; routine memoranda regarding government awards and promotions; and draft correspondence from the White House with background material,” the National Archives said in an official notice to attorneys for Bush and Obama.
“Additional records include vetting materials, emails related to scheduled events, a phone message, a press briefing on Turkey, a register of Frederick Law Olmsted’s papers at the Library of Congress, requests for comments from the press, and a request for Vice President Richard B. Cheney to attend William F. Buckley’s memorial service,” the notice indicates.
The secretive group of well-connected Yale seniors meets in a foreboding campus building called “the tomb” and is rumored to conduct macabre rituals (one persistent rumor holds that the Bones tomb contains the skull of Geronimo, among other occult objects). Over the years, the society has been the subject of several books as well as a “60 Minutes” segment.