Moderator: I just came across this interesting article on hazing. Here is an excerpt. I have written to the Archives at Duke University for additional details.
“At Duke University last year, a fraternity pledge named Einer A. Palmgren, stripped and painted with shellac, was inadvertently ignited and had to be hospitalized for severe burns.”
More on the story here. I checked 1920 census records. Einer was four and living with his family in North Carolina in the 1920 Census.
–Moderator Hank Nuwer