The 1937 National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) meeting took place at the Beekman Tower (Panhellenic), the New York City hotel built by NPC women, originally for NPC women.* The meeting was chaired by Harriet Williamson Tuft, Beta Phi Alpha. The next session of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) met at the Greenbrier Hotel in 1939. Violet Young Gentry, Alpha Delta Theta, served as chairman.
After that 26th session of NPC closed, Gentry, as the outgoing NPC Chairman and Alpha Delta Theta’s NPC delegate announced the merger of Alpha Delta Theta and Phi Mu and the dissolution of her organization. Phi Mu officers began initiating Alpha Delta Theta collegians and alumnae. Phi Mu affiliated five chapters and gained eight others through campus mergers. Four Alpha Delta Theta alumnae groups were installed by 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 by Phi Mu. Alpha Delta Theta had been a member of NPC for 16 years; it 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. There were 25 chapters established prior to the 1939 merger with Phi Mu.
The officers who were installed for the 1939-41 biennium are pictured above: Juelda C. Burnaugh, Beta Sigma Omicron; Beatrice Mullian Moore, Theta Upsilon; and Helen Hambly Cunningham, Phi Omega Pi. None of the five NPC groups which held the chairmanship from the close of the 1935 meeting through 1945 are in existence today. Moore chaired the 1941 meeting, followed by Burnaugh in 1943, and Cunningham in 1945.
Beta Phi Alpha 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 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 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” is still sung at the close of Delta Zeta conventions.
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.
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. More than 14,000 had been initiated since 1888. Although 61 chapters had been established throughout its history, by 1964 when the organization was absorbed by Zeta Tau Alpha, there were only fifteen active chapters. Seven chapters became Zeta Tau Alpha chapters. There 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.
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. At the yearly 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 previously 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.
At the close of the 1945 NPC meeting, Amy Burnham Onken, Pi Beta Phi’s Grand President and NPC Delegate, was installed as chairman and the NPC rotation began anew.
*For more information on the Beekman Tower (Panhellenic) see the post at http://wp.me/P20I1i-1n
(c) Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2013. All Rights Reserved.
