Alpha Tau Omega’s Founding

Posted on September 11, 2024 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Before September 11 became a day of national tragedy, it was a date important to all Alpha Tau Omega members. On September 11, 1865, 150 years ago, Alpha Tau Omega was founded by three young Virginia Military Institute cadets – Otis Allan Glazebrook, Alfred Marshall, and Erskine Mayo Ross. 

Those three young men, Glazebrook, Marshall, and Ross, had been participants in another national tragedy, our Civil War. As VMI cadets, the three, along with most of their classmates, took part in the Battle of New Market.

The ages of 257 VMI cadets who fought in the battle ranged from 15 to 25, but most were like the three ATO founders, between 17 and 21 years old. Ten cadets would die in action or of their wounds. Another 45 were wounded.

This is the story of Alpha Tau Omega from its website:

Alpha Tau Omega began as an idea in the mind of a young Civil War veteran who wanted peace and reconciliation. His name was Otis Allan Glazebrook. His people were defeated, many of their cities burned, much of their countryside ravaged. But Glazebrook, who had helped bury the dead of both sides, believed in a better future. He saw the bitterness and hatred that followed the silencing of the guns and knew that a true peace would come not from force of law, but rather from with the hearts of men who were willing to work to rekindle a spirit of brotherly love.

Most people weren’t ready for sermons on brotherly love. John Wise, a classmate of Glazebrook’s at Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia, and a member of Beta Theta Pi, put it this way when he wrote of that time: ‘For four years we had been fighting. In that struggle, all we loved had been lost… in blood and flame and torture the temples of our lives were tumbling about our head… we were poor, starved, conquered, despairing; and to expect men to have no malice and no vindictiveness at such a time is to look for angels in human form.’

Glazebrook, deeply religious at age 19, believed that younger men like himself might be more willing to accept, forgive, and reunite with the Northern counterparts if motivated by Christian, brotherly love. But he needed an organization, a means of gathering and organizing like-minded people. That was why a letter caught his attention. As cadet adjunct for the VMI Cadet Corps, Glazebrook routinely handled mail addressed to the Institute’s Superintendent, General Francis H. Smith. One such letter came from an official of a leading northern fraternity who wanted help in reviving his southern chapters. (The South lost all 142 of its fraternity chapters during the war, and it was only with great effort that they were revived and expanded.) Fascinated, Glazebrook asked Gen. Smith about fraternities. As Gen. Smith explained what they were, Glazebrook knew he had found his organization.

Glazebrook invited Marshall and Ross to his home at 114 East Clay Street in Richmond, Virginia, on September 11, 1865. He read them the Constitution he wrote and then invited his friends to sign it. In doing so, Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity was founded making it the first fraternity created after the Civil War.

Otis Allan Glazebrook (Photo courtesy of VMI Archives)

Otis Allan Glazebrook (Photo courtesy of VMI Archives)

As a VMI cadet, Otis Allan Glazebrook served as a Corporal of Company D. He graduated first in the Class of 1866. Although he had an interest in the law, he enrolled in the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. Glazebrook was ordained in 1869.

He was a personal friend of President Woodrow Wilson, a Phi Kappa Psi. In 1914, after a career as a pastor, Glazebrook was appointed as the U.S. Consul to Jerusalem and shortly thereafter he became responsible for the the interests of eight nations in the Holy Land. In 1920, he was sent to Nice, France, and served as U.S. Consul there until his retirement in 1929. He died in 1931.

Erskine Mayo Ross served in Company A as a 1st (orderly) sergeant. He had a long and distinguished career as a lawyer and judge. When he retired from his post as a member of the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Judicial District, President Calvin Coolidge commented on Ross’ service. The President, a Phi Gamma Delta, noted Ross had a “record which will long stand as a memorial to a just and fearless and able judge.” Ross died in 1928.

Both Glazebrook and Ross were involved as alumni of Alpha Tau Omega. Alfred Marshall never had that chance. As a VMI cadet, Marshall served as a Corporal  in Company D. After graduation he began his career as a civil engineer. He died of yellow fever on September 22, 1870 while working in Mobile, Alabama.

A few other early initiates of ATO were also veterans of the Battle of New Market. These include the first initiate, John Garland James, as well as Archibald Waller Overton and Hardaway Hunt Dinwiddie.

The Battle of New Market painting which hangs in the Alpha Tau Omega headquarters in Indianapolis.

The Battle of New Market painting which hangs in the Alpha Tau Omega headquarters in Indianapolis.

At ATO’s 150th celebration held in 2015, ATO’s National Chaplain, Rev. Comforted Keen, spoke about the cadets, their spirituality, and the Battle of New Market. It was a powerful and moving talk about the lives of those three young men on the battlefield and how their lives intersected with the lives of the young men in the audience.

Rev. Comforted Keen, ATOs National Chaplain, speaking at the 2015 ATO Congress.

Rev. Comforted Keen, ATOs National Chaplain, speaking at the 2015 ATO Congress.

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July 19, 1893 at the Chicago World’s Fair

Posted on July 19, 2024 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.
When Pi Beta Phi, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Gamma, Alpha Phi, Gamma Phi Beta, and Delta Delta Delta met in Boston in 1891, one of the items on the agenda was the upcoming 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The women wanted to have a formal gathering space and perhaps a meeting.

A “Congress of Fraternities” during the Fair was not only discussed when the seven women’s fraternities met in Boston, but the idea was also mentioned in both men’s and women’s fraternity magazines. During the 1890s, fraternity magazine exchanges were the primary manner in which information was shared between the organizations.

According to The History of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity: 

The prospectus of the liberal arts department of the fair, issued in 1891, said that a provision would be made for a fraternity display. Dr. S.H. Peabody, who was head of this department, having formerly been Regent of the University of Illinois, expressed an earnest desire to have a full exhibit by the fraternities.

In early January, 1892, representatives from 23 fraternities met in Chicago to discuss the proposed congress and exhibit. They recommended that all Greek-letter societies make exhibits to display at the Fair.

A subsequent meeting took place on July 7, 1892. The group adopted a constitution, elected officers, appointed committees and applied for space in an exhibit hall. Another meeting does not seem to have taken place until April 1, 1893. At that time, six men’s fraternities were represented and a decision was made that the exhibit was not feasible. The authorities were too late in allotting exhibit space and asked for $2,500 for expenses. According to the Phi Delta Theta’s report, it was “impossible to raise $2,500 for such purpose, and therefore the whole plan for an exhibit was abandoned and the allotted space surrendered.”

Although things did not go according to the original plan, the Congress met starting on July 19, 1893 in the Memorial Art Institute, at the foot of Adams Street. About 300 fraternity members attended the morning session. Among the papers read were several by Phi Delta Theta members. These included talks on the histories of fraternities, fraternity catalogs and fraternity finances. In the afternoon, there was a meeting of fraternity magazine editors. J.E. Brown, Editor of Phi Delta Theta’s Scroll, read a paper on “The ethics of loyalty in relation to fraternity journalism.” Phi Delta Theta’s reporter noted that more Phi Delts took part in the morning and afternoon sessions than any other fraternity. The Beta Theta Pi correspondent noted, “Though a discussion of the topics presented in the papers read was invited, no one seemed to have the temerity to initiate any.”

1893 - 100021893 - 2

At 5 p.m., the women’s fraternities gave a reception at the New York State Building. The building was crowded with fraternity men and women proudly wearing their badges. The Scroll reported:

The chief competition in yells and songs was between Phi Delta Theta, Delta Kappa Epsilon, and Beta Theta Pi, who had more men present than any of the other fraternities. ‘Phi Delta Theta All Revere’, ‘Hail Phi Delta Theta’ and ‘Phi Delta Theta for Aye’ were lustily sung by the more than 50 Phis present. Brother Swope led in singing and yelling: we doubt if he is over his consequent hoarseness, yet. The various fraternity clans got together and marched around in lock-step lines, and such strains as ‘Phi-Phi-Phi-Kei-A’ and “Dee-Dee, Dee-Kay-E!’ marked the accompaniment. Finally a Pan-Hellenic circle was formed and the joint singing was begun by Brother Swope starting, ‘There’s a hole at the bottom of the sea,’ the famous song of our Bloomington convention. After the college songs, the crowd went to the music pavilion on the lakefront, where the band played college airs.”

New York State Building at the 1893 Columbian Exposition. On July 19, 1893, a banquet was served at 7:30 p.m. in the building and dancing followed. A Panhellenic reception took place in this building on the next evening.

The morning session of July 20 was devoted to women’s fraternities. Ellen Martin Henrotin welcomed the crowd to the room at the Art Institute. Although it does not appear she was a fraternity woman, she was very active in the women’s club movement. There were addresses by representatives from Kappa Kappa Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, Delta Gamma, Delta Delta Delta, Alpha Phi, and Pi Beta Phi. Among the topics presented were the origin and development of the fraternity system, fraternity journalism, chapter houses, limitations in fraternity membership, fraternity extension, and fraternity women in the world. Gertrude Boughton Blackwelder, an 1875 graduate of the University of Kansas and a charter member of the Pi Beta Phi chapter there, read a paper on the “Ethical influences of fraternities.” It was later published in several fraternity magazines.

A social meeting of the women’s fraternity officers was held in the afternoon, and a Panhellenic reception was held in the New York State Building in the evening.

Several organizations held their conventions in Chicago that summer and others arranged for a hospitality room for their membership. Phi Delta Theta had a corner room on the third floor of a building at the southwest corner of Jackson and Franklin Streets, and 420 Phi Delts signed the guest book. Kappa Alpha Theta,  Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta and Delta Delta Delta had a fraternity booth in the Organization room of the Women’s Building. The booth provided a resting place for fraternity women and a there was a guest book for members to sign.

It would be almost nine years before the women’s fraternities called another meeting. They would gather again in Chicago, at the request of Alpha Phi. And the third time was the charm! The National Panhellenic Conference would come into its own and begin the process of interfraternal cooperation among the women’s organizations.

Oh, to have been a fly on the wall at those early meetings!

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1924 – Kappa Alpha Theta Convenes at West Baden Springs Hotel

Posted on July 18, 2024 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

West Baden Springs Hotel

Kappa Alpha Theta’s 1924 Grand Convention took place at the West Baden Springs Hotel in West Baden, Indiana. It was billed as a homecoming convention and took place from June 27-July 1. Most of the attendees made their way there via rail. Extensive instructions for securing tickets were published in the organization’s magazine. Some of the attendees rode the special train that spent several hours in Greencastle, site of the founding. Then the train went onto Bloomington where the second chapter was established. Those opting for this side trip would spend the night on the train and arrive at West Baden in the morning.

Jeannette Barnes (Monnet), an initiate of the University of Oklahoma chapter attended the convention. When Barnes left Union Station in St. Louis,  “there were girls everywhere wearing Kappa Alpha Theta badges. All of them had a happy, anxious and expectant expression.” 

Those who considered driving to southern Indiana were given names of Thetas to contact for advice and direction.

Those wishing to attend were instructed to make their own reservations with the hotel. Inside refers to rooms looking out over the atrium. Outside rooms had views of the grounds.

Room rates and instructions for securing a convention room.

Barnes described the West Baden Springs Hotel as a “magnificent edifice placed in a setting of gardens, brilliant with flowers of varied hues.” Once in the hotel, Barnes spied a “huge circular space littered with bathtubs, wash bowls, sawdust, boxes and men everywhere hammering. Such a mess!” The line to get a room was two hours. Why? Plumbers! And a plumbers convention. And plumbers who had such a good time the night before. Some were a little too “indisposed to leave their rooms the next morning.”

The atrium at the West Baden Springs Hotel in 2019.

The dining room that first night was filled with about 500 women. They were “laughing and chattering. Most of them were young but scattered among the bobbed, marcelled heads of the younger generation were the snow white heads of women who before us worked and strove to make Kappa Alpha Theta what is today.”

According to Barnes, the convention highlight was founder Betty Locke Hamilton.  She was a “small unassuming woman to whom five hundred women extended a most since welcome by applauding and asking for a speech until she assented.” Barnes added, “Speaking merely as an onlooker I would say that she is friendly, determined, gracious, unpretentious and full of fun. I know this last quality because of the twinkle in her eye and then during the banquet procession, after we had walked a long time, I distinctly her say ‘If they don’t give me some food pretty soon I’ll never get there.'”

Bettie Locke Hamilton late in her life. Photo courtesy of Kappa Alpha Theta.

The West Baden Springs Hotel would close during the early days of the Great Depression. It would fall into ruin and be rebuilt in the early 2000s. Today it a wondrous place. All rooms have bathing facilities and running water and room prices have increased substantially.

The world has changed greatly in the 100 years since Barnes wrote her report for the Theta magazine. Yet, her summation of a convention is as true today as it was then. The final banquet was a “beautiful affair with its bright decorations and pretty faces and frocks, yet over all is an air of sadness. The sadness of farewell. You listen to the toasts, the songs, glance around and wonder if you will ever see these faces again. And as you pass out singing the Recessional there is a lump in your throat and a heaviness of heart. Yet with the bitter there is the sweet and the thought comes of another convention in two years and the resolution that you’ll be there if possible. Thus is convention.”

 

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July 17, 1969 – To the Moon and Back

Posted on July 17, 2024 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.
Apollo 11 launched on July 17, 1969. Despite internet reports to the contrary of the three men aboard Apollo 11, only one was a fraternity man. Michael Collins and  Edwin Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr were West Point graduates where there were then no social fraternities. Aldrin was elected to Tau Beta Pi, an engineering honor society. Neil A. Armstrong was a fraternity man, an initiate of the Phi Delta Theta chapter at Purdue University. Armstrong’s Phi Delt badge is the first fraternity badge to have been to the moon. He was the first man to walk on the moon. Upon his return to Earth, he presented the badge to Phi Delta Theta and it is on display at the fraternity’s headquarters in Oxford. However, also contrary to rumor, he never pinned it on the American flag on the moon, nor did he pin his wife’s Alpha Chi Omega badge to the American flag.

Neil Armstrong’s Phi Delta Theta badge

A P.E.O. Connection

Buzz Aldrin carried with him a P.E.O. Centennial Charm in loving memory of his grandmother, Jessie Ross Moon. She was a member of the first Florida chapter of P.E.O., Chapter A, in Miami, as was his aunt, Madeline Moon Sternberg. His aunt and her chapter presented the charm to P.E.O. at the dedication of the P.E.O. Centennial Center on Sept. 29, 1969 during P.E.O.’s Centennial festivities.

The P.E.O. Centennial charm is at the top of the plaque in the center of the circle.

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Lou Gehrig, Phi Delta Theta

Posted on June 2, 2024 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

While a student at Columbia University, Lou Gehrig became a member of Phi Delta Theta. Today, June 2, is the fourth annual Lou Gehrig Day throughout Major League Baseball. Each MLB player, manager and coach will wear a “4” decal, which were designed in Yankee uniform font and color.

A video narrated by Sarah Langs, a young sports broadcaster who has ALS, has been released Lou Gehrig Day tribute video.

Lou_Gehrig_fundraiser247

Each year since 1955, Phi Delta Theta has presented the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award to the MLB player who exemplifies Gehrig’s spirit and character. The plaque is located at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY.

Phi Delta Theta has a partnership with the ALS Association. Chapters raise funds for the Association and each chapter is encouraged to connect with the local ALS Association chapters to assist area residents suffering from the disease.

On July 4, 1939, in front of a packed house at Yankee Stadium, Gehrig gave his farewell speech. He did it without notes and spoke from the heart. He said:

For the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.

When you look around, wouldn’t you it consider it a privilege to associate yourself with such as fine looking a man as is standing in uniform today.

Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day?

Sure, I’m lucky. Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert; also the builder of baseball’s greatest empire, Ed Barrow; to have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow Miller Huggins; then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology—the best manager in baseball today—Joe McCarthy! Sure I am lucky.

When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift— that’s something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies—that’s something.

When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter, that’s something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so that you can have an education and build your body, it’s a blessing! When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed, that’s the finest I know.

So I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break; but I have an awful lot to live for!”

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NPC Organizations Which No Longer Exist

Posted on May 5, 2024 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), the umbrella organization for 26 women’s fraternities/sororities, officially met for the first time on May 24, 1902. Over the years, especially the early years, there were a number of organizations which ceased to exist. 

The first of these organizations admitted to NPC was Beta Phi Alpha; it joined NPC in 1923. Beta Phi Alpha was founded as Bide-a-wee on May 8, 1909 at the University of California – Berkeley. A few months later, the name changed to Aldebaran, In 1919, it became Kappa Phi Alpha. It then changed its name to Beta Phi Alpha. In 1936, chapters of Phi Delta at New York University and George Washington University affiliated with Beta Phi Alpha. On June 22, 1941 Beta Phi Alpha was absorbed by Delta Zeta. At that point, 30 chapters had been installed and there were 3,000 members. Beta Phi Alpha’s “Convention Lights” has been sung at the close of Delta Zeta conventions.

Beta Phi Alpha’s badge was a “Phi outlined in pearls with Beta and Alpha embossed on the black enamel at either side of the stem of the Phi.”*

Alpha Delta Theta was granted associate NPC membership in 1923 and full membership in 1926. It was founded as Alpha Theta in the fall of 1919 at Transylvania College and it took the name Alpha Delta Theta in 1922. That year, a second chapter was founded at the University of Kentucky. Twenty-five chapters had been established when Violet Young Gentry, Alpha Delta Theta, presided at the 26th NPC meeting at the Greenbrier Hotel in 1939. After the meeting, Alpha Delta Theta merged with Phi Mu. The national officers of both organizations then embarked on a trip to Alpha Delta Theta’s Alpha chapter at Transylvania University to install the collegians and alumnae as members of Phi Mu. Visits to the other Alpha Delta Theta chapters followed. Phi Mu affiliated five chapters and gained eight others through campus mergers. Four Alpha Delta Theta alumnae groups were installed as Phi Mu. In the 18 cities were Phi Mu and Alpha Delta Theta both had alumnae groups, Alpha Delta Theta’s alumnae chapters were disbanded and absorbed into Phi Mu. Hazel Falconer Benninghoven, Alpha Delta Theta National President at the time of the merger, served as Phi Mu’s National President, too.

Alpha Delta Theta’s badge was a “yellow gold pin, delta in shape, bordered with 15 pearls and with an emerald at each corner, the Delta superimposed upon a gold key place horizontally. The center of the Delta was of black enamel, bearing the emblems in gold, the Alpha in the lower left corner, the Delta in the apex, the Theta in the lower right corner, a lighted candle in the candlestick between the Alpha and Theta with crossed palm branches above.”

Theta Upsilon was granted associate NPC membership in 1923 and full membership in 1928. Theta Upsilon was founded at the University of California – Berkeley in 1914. Its roots can be traced to 1909 when a group of women rented a house on Walnut Street that they called “Walnut Shell.” On January 1, 1914, they organized as the Mekatina (“Among the Hills”) Club. In September 1933, Lambda Omega became a part of Theta Upsilon. On May 6, 1962, Theta Upsilon became a part of Delta Zeta. Three campuses overlapped, that is, they had both a Theta Upsilon and Delta Zeta chapter on campus. These three were Miami University, the University of Illinois, and Temple University. Delta Zeta gained nine new chapters.


Theta Upsilon’s badge was a “jeweled Theta superimposed upon a hand-chased Upsilon.”

Sigma Phi Beta was granted associate NPC membership in 1928. It was founded at New York University on November 1, 1920 under the name of Sigma Sigma Omicron. It became Sigma Phi Beta on July 28, 1927. Phi Alpha Chi, with its three chapters, joined Sigma Phi Beta’s five chapters on January 7, 1928. On October 1, 1933, Phi Omega Pi absorbed Sigma Phi Beta; on August 10, 1946, Delta Zeta absorbed Phi Omega Pi.

Sigma Phi Beta’s badge was a circle bearing a Sigma, Phi, and Beta, with six jeweled points on the edge of the circle. The bottom badge is that of Sigma Sigma Omicron, which preceded Sigma Phi Beta.

Beta Sigma Omicron was granted associate NPC membership in 1930 and full membership in 1933. It was founded in 1888 at the University of Missouri. A second chapter was founded in 1891 at the Synodical College in Fulton, Missouri. The Alpha chapter closed in 1892. Although 61 chapters had been established, in 1964 when the organization was absorbed by Zeta Tau Alpha, there were only fifteen active chapters. Seven chapters became Zeta Tau Alpha chapters. These were: Howard College (now Samford University); Millsaps College; William Jewell College; Evansville College (now University); Thiel College; Westminster College; and Youngstown State College (now University). Alpha Phi picked up three chapters from those on campuses where there was already a chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha. The three Beta Sigma Omicron chapters that became Alpha Phi chapters were located at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge, Baldwin Wallace College, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Beta Sigma Omicron’s badge was “a monogram of the Greek letters Beta Sigma Omicron, the Sigma being superimposed.”

Lambda Omega was granted Associate NPC membership in 1930.  Lambda Omega was founded on May 5, 1923 at the University of California – Berkeley. It began as the Norroena Club founded in November 1915. It existed as a local house club for more than seven years until the house burned. Norroena “meaning ‘breath of the North,’ developed its ritual around an Indiana legend and had a Norse motif emphasizing the hardihood of the Norse people, their hospitality, economy, and friendship.” Other chapters were founded shortly after the organization became Lambda Omega. The Iaqua Club was founded at Berkeley in 1919, and it later became Alpha Sigma Delta; it merged with Lambda Omega in 1932. In 1933, Lambda Omega merged with Theta Upsilon. In 1962, Theta Upsilon merged with Delta Zeta.

Lambda Omega’s badge was a monogram of the Greek letters.

Phi Omega Pi was granted associate NPC membership in 1930 and full membership in 1933. It was founded at the University of Nebraska on March 5, 1910. In its early years, membership was limited to those belonging to the Order of the Eastern Star. In 1931, this restriction was eliminated. In 1933, Sigma Phi Beta was amalgamated with Phi Omega Pi. Phi Omega Pi disbanded in 1946. Four chapters were inactive. Other chapters were taken over by Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Gamma Delta, Sigma Kappa, and Kappa Alpha Theta. Delta Zeta was asked to consider the alumnae and a few chapters that remained. On August 10, 1946, Delta Zeta absorbed Phi Omega Pi.

Phi Omega Pi’s badge was an “irregular pentagon of black enamel surrounded by a gold band, had a five pointed star set with a sapphire above the Greek letters Phi Omega Pi engraved in gold.”

Pi Sigma Gamma was sponsored by NPC in 1930. It was founded in 1919 at the University of California – Berkeley. There were four chapters. The other three were at the University of Washington, Hunter College.  and the University of California – Los Angeles. The UCLA chapter closed in 1930. Sometime in 1931 or 1932, the three remaining chapters affiliated with Beta Sigma Omicron.

I could find no description of the Pi Sigma Gamma badge, but above is a picture of it.

Delta Sigma Epsilon, an Association of Education Sororities member, became a member of NPC in 1947. Delta Sigma Epsilon was founded on September 23, 1914 at  Miami University. It became a member of the Association of Pedagogical Sororities, an organization that then became the Association of Education Sororities. In the fall of 1941, Pi Delta Theta, another Association of Education Sororities member, merged with Delta Sigma Epsilon. It was the only merger within the Association of Education Sororities. In 1941, Delta Sigma Epsilon alumnae donated an outdoor drinking fountain and patio to Miami University. In 1956, Delta Sigma Epsilon was absorbed by Delta Zeta. At the time of the merger more than 13,000 women had been initiated as members in its 52 chapters. The chapter at Southern Illinois University Carbondale became an Alpha Gamma Delta chapter; both its collegians and alumnae were released from obligations to Delta Zeta (there is a chapter on this episode in my master’s thesis available on this site).

Delta Sigma Epsilon’s badge was a “shield-shaped, having seven point, the background of enamel, bordered with pearls, and displaying the fraternity letters, a circle, and a cornucopias. There was a plain badge in black and gold.”

Pi Kappa Sigma, an Association of Education Sororities member, became a member of NPC in 1947. It was founded on November 17, 1894 at the Michigan State Normal School (now Eastern Michigan University). At first it was known as J.P.N. In 1897, it reorganized and the name was changed to Pi Kappa Sigma. It was absorbed by Sigma Kappa on May 15, 1959.

Pi Kappa Sigma’s badge was “a modified triangular shield of black enamel displaying the letters Pi Sigma Kappa and a lamp and carrying a diamond surrounded by thirteen gold rays.”

Theta Sigma Upsilon, an Association of Education Sororities member, became a member of NPC in 1947. It was founded on March 25, 1921 at Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia. Its roots can be traced to 1909 when it was known as the Sigma Society. Theta Sigma Upsilon united with Alpha Gamma Delta on June 29, 1959.

Theta Sigma Upsilon’s plain badge was “a five pointed shield of black enamel, displaying a torch and the Greek letters and mounted upon a beveled shield of gold similarly shaped.” The jeweled badge was “shield similar to the plain badge, but jeweled with pearls and turquoises.”

Iota Alpha Pi was granted associate NPC membership in 1953 and full membership in 1957. The oldest national sorority for Jewish women, it was founded in 1903 at the New York Normal College  (now Hunter College).  A second chapter was founded in 1913. The first six chapters were all in the metro New York area.  The organization disbanded in 1971.

Iota Alpha Pi’s badge was a “diamond shaped pin, with two full-blown gold roses on each of the horizontal points, consisting of a scarlet field surrounded by a border of twenty pearls.” The roses were added to the corners after Iota Alpha Phi joined NPC, perhaps because it was so similar to Alpha Delta Pi’s badge.

*Quoted descriptions of badges are taken from the 19th edition of Baird’s Manual of American College Fraternities.

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Phi Gamma Delta Sires and Sons

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Phi Gamma Delta was founded on May 1, 1848. John Templeton McCarty, Samuel Beatty Wilson, James Elliott, Daniel Webster Crofts, Ellis Bailey Gregg and Naaman Fletcher – the Immortal Six – were students at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, when they founded the fraternity. The fraternity’s Beta chapter was established the same year at Washington College in Washington, Pennsylvania. The chapters became one when the colleges merged to form Washington and Jefferson College in 1865.

In the summer of 1920, a Phi Gamma Delta  alumnus from the Amherst College chapter won the Vice Presidential spot on the Republican ticket for the 1920 election. At the time of the nomination, Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge was at Amherst attending his 25thcollege reunion and the 99th anniversary of the college. A reception at the chapter house was arranged with his wife Grace Goodhue Coolidge, a Pi Beta Phi member, helping the chapter plan the event on short notice.  More than 1,500 people – students, faculty, alumni, students and community members – attended.

Calvin Coolidge became President after the death of Warren G. Harding on August 2, 1923. The Coolidges were planning  to attend Phi Gamma Delta’s 75th anniversary celebration in Pittsburgh in September 1923, but the plans had to be cancelled. Later, a founders badge was presented to the President. On that occasion, President Coolidge said, “I am very glad to have this badge. My wife wears mine most of the time.”

On November 17, 1924, John Coolidge became a member of his father’s Phi Gamma Delta chapter at Amherst College. On the following Founders’ Day, May 1, 1925, FIJI Sires and Sons was organized. Its purpose is to “impress upon all fathers and sons, who are members of the fraternity, and in time upon their sons, a realization of the noble trinity of principles of the fraternity, with the hope that they may outrun the fervor of youth.”

The Coolidge family - Calvin, Jr., Calvin, Grace, and John shortly before Calvin, Jr.'s death. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

The Coolidge family – Calvin, Jr., Calvin, Grace, and John shortly before Calvin, Jr.’s death. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

The idea was conceived on March 17, 1925 when T. Ludlow Chrystie and Fraternity Historian William F. Chamberlin discussed creating a list of all the fathers and sons who have been initiated into the Phi Gamma Delta. Chrystie, Chamberlin and three other men, Robert D. Williamson, Charles H. Bosler, and Abram S. Post, visited the White House. President Coolidge, Sire No. 1, signed the preamble of the organization. The men then joined the President for lunch at the White House.

John Coolidge died in 2000.

Although the postcard reads “Phi Gamma Delta – Calvin Coolidge Fraternity – Amherst College, Mass.”, Calvin Coolidge never lived in this house. He helped the chapter obtain it. The chapter is no longer active.

 

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The First Women’s Fraternity Based Upon the Men’s Fraternity Model

Posted on April 28, 2024 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Today is the date upon which Pi Beta Phi was founded. Twelve young women who were attending Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, established it on April 28, 1867. 

The staircase the Pi Beta Phi founders climbed while on their way to the founding of the organization at Holt House in Monmouth, Illinois.

Monmouth College opened on September 3, 1856, and was incorporated about six months later on February 17, 1857. Included in the 1869-70 Monmouth College catalog were the names and hometowns of all students as well as professions of alumni. There were 219 alumni listed in the catalog. Graduation class size ranged from 4 in 1858 to 39 in 1869. In 1870, less than one percent of all females aged 18 through 21 years were enrolled in higher education, according to educational historian Mabel Newcomer.

Four former members of the Holt House Committee along with the painting of Pi Beta Phis 12 founders.

Those who attended coeducational institutions sought support systems and friends with whom they could share their educational pursuits. Although most colleges had literary and debating societies that females could join, some women were seeking closer ties. There were four literary societies at Monmouth College, two for men and two for women. The Philadelphian and Eccritean were male societies. Amateurs des Belles Lettres (ABL) and Aletheorian were the female literary societies. The men’s fraternity system had been established and chapters were located at many colleges. Therefore, there was a model upon which to create women’s fraternities. The women’s fraternity movement began in the Midwest soon after the end of the Civil War. I.C. Sorosis, today known by its original Greek motto, Pi Beta Phi, was founded on April 28, 1867, at Monmouth College in Illinois. It was an institution supported by the Presbyterians. Kappa Alpha Theta came to life at Indiana Asbury University (now DePauw University), a Methodist supported institution in Greencastle, Indiana, in January of 1870. Kappa Kappa Gamma made its debut at Monmouth College in October of that year. In 1870, Monmouth, Illinois, was a city of 6,000. It was accessible via the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and the Rockford, Rock Island and St. Louis Railroad.  The 1869-70 catalog boasted “Ladies and Gentleman are admitted to all the privileges of the College on the same footing.” It appears that about a third of the students during that academic year were women. At that time, Monmouth’s library had 1,500 volumes. The collection of James Barnett, D.D., who spent 17 years as a missionary at Cairo, Egypt, had been purchased by the College. It contained “ancient coins, geological specimens from Sinai and regions about the Red Sea, and many articles of interest to students of Bible History.” There was also a cabinet of geological specimens from the state of Illinois.

The expenses for the college year were about $30. Music students were charged for lessons and piano time. “Soldiers and Soldiers’ children, unable to pay, are admitted to all the privileges of the College without charge for tuition,” according to the catalog. It was also noted that the Trustees might need to increase the $2.00 incidental fee for the following year.

There were no residence halls. Students boarding in private homes were notified it cost $4 or $5 per week to do so. Two of Pi Beta Phi’s founders rented a room and boarded at the home of Jacob Holt.

Monmouth College offered two degrees. The “A.B.” was awarded to students who completed and passed examinations in the Classical course. “B.S.” degree was conferred on those who completed and passed exams in the Scientific course. For the 1869-70 academic year there were 370 students enrolled in all courses, including the Preparatory and Mercantile programs. The Mercantile program consisted of single entry bookkeeping course and one on business forms. The Preparatory program was a high school type program to prepare students for collegiate study.

1869-70 Monmouth College catalog, courtesy of Hewes Library

Women’s fraternities provided their members a safe haven, moral support and academic encouragement. Until 1881, when Alpha Phi’s second chapter was established at Northwestern University, only four groups – Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and Pi Beta Phi – formed chapters beyond the founding campus. The National Panhellenic Conference began in 1902. It fostered cooperation on campuses and added structure to the recruitment practices of the organizations.

I like to say that I am an accidental Pi Phi.  As a first-generation college student, I had no clue about any of it. I went through rush, as it was then known, strictly to see the insides of the chapter houses. That I became a member is something that still floors me. I remember learning that the organization was founded in Monmouth, Illinois. Frankly, as a New Yorker, Illinois was somewhere “out there” to the west of the Hudson River. Never did I once think that I would be in the very room where the organization was founded, nor that I would be entrusted with the care of its history. At that point, I did not think about things like that. I had not yet realized that the more I gave of myself to Pi Beta Phi, the more I would get in return. Thank you New York Alpha for extending me an invitation to membership in Pi Beta Phi. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to be one of your number.

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A Saturday Afternoon with Edith Head, Delta Zeta

Posted on April 24, 2024 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

This past weekend, I  had the opportunity to attend a P.E.O. event in the Chicago area. It was the Q Suburban Round Table luncheon. The name of the group comes from the railroad line, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy suburban train, which once connected the chapters in the round table. Representatives from the chapters in the round table meet several times a year. (P.E.O.s note that Illinois round tables are what other state, provincial and district chapters know as reciprocities.)

When I first saw the invitation, I was intrigued by the guest speaker. Although initially I had no plans on being at an event in the northern part of the state, I found myself in the Chicago area and was able to attend at the last minute. I am glad it worked out.

Martina Mathisen was Edith Head in a truly wonderful program. And although Head’s Delta Zeta connection wasn’t mentioned, I told a few of my table mates about it.

Fashion designer Edith Head was born on October 28, 1897. She was Delta Zeta’s 1960 Convention initiate as a member of Mu Chapter at the University of California-Berkeley. Head was a Berkeley graduate and had a master’s degree from Stanford University. She started as a teacher, took a few art courses so she could teach art, and by happenstance, applied for a job at one of the studios. Her hard work and perseverance paid off.

In 1968, she was Delta Zeta’s Woman of the Year. She had an unprecedented 35 Oscar nominations, of which she won eight. Moreover, she had 400 film credits over the course of her 50-year career. She was the first female head of a movie studio costume design department.

She lent her many talents to the Southern California Council of  Delta Zeta for their Lamplighters’ Flame Fantasy fashion show and luncheon during the 1960s and 1970s. The February 1968  show took place in the Century Plaza Hotel. More than a 1,000 alumnae and their friends attended the show. According to pre-event publicity, “Delta Zeta’s own Edith Head, Academy Award winning costume designer and noted author, will commentate the couturier show which will feature original California designs.”

Palos Verdes Peninsula News, February 16, 1978

Betty Davis called her “one of Hollywood’s greatest designers. She was an amazing woman in a field dominated by men in the 1930s and 1940s. While other designers were busy starring their clothes in a film, Edith was making clothes to suit a character; for her, the character always came first.”

Delta Zeta’s Foundation awards a scholarship in her name. Members studying fashion design or a related field are eligible. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6504 Hollywood Blvd.

Head died in 1981, four days shy  of her 84th birthday.


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A 1979 Avalanche Remembered

Posted on April 21, 2024 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

It’s hard to remember a time when there was a 24-hour news cycle and not a 24-7 constant barrage of news. Three Stetson University students were killed in an avalanche in Innsbruck, Austria on January 17, 1979. Save for two articles that were distributed by the Associated Press, I could find little about the tragedy.

The three students who were killed were:

Dennis Long, Delta Sigma Phi

Scott Fenlon, Sigma Nu

Katharine “Katy” Resnick, Pi Beta Phi

Most of the group continued on and finished their travels. They returned to the United States on January 30, went back to Stetson, mourned and got on with their lives. The tragedy was largely forgotten on campus.

If you have some time, take a look at this story.

Tragedy and Triumph

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