Chicago was the place to be in the summer of 1893. The World’s Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair, was taking place. July 19, 1893 also has the distinction of being the first time the men and women who belonged to fraternities and sororities tried to meet together to discuss their organizations’ value and worth in American higher education and society at-large. This event took place before the establishment in 1902 of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) although a one-time meeting of seven groups* had taken place in Boston in 1891. It also predates the formation of the North-American Interfraternity Conference, which began in 1909. None of the National Pan-Hellenic Council’s “Divine Nine” organizations had yet to be founded.
From May 1 until October 30, 1893, it is estimated that more than 27 million attended the fair, with 25% of the United States population having visited the fair in the six-month period of roughly 180 days.
Two hundred new, yet temporary, buildings covered 633 acres, housed 65,000 exhibits, and sat 7,000 people for meals. The second organized meeting of Panhellenic women took place July 19-20, 1893, at the fair.
It had only been 14 years since the publication of the first edition of American College Fraternities: A Descriptive Analysis of the Society System in the Colleges of the United States, with a Detailed Account of Each Fraternity written by Willaim Raimond Baird, Beta Theta Pi. Baird’s book helped spread the growth of the fraternity system.** Baird opened the program on Wednesday, July 19 at 9 a.m. with a talk on the “Legal Status of the Fraternities.”
Several organizations combined their conventions with the fair. Both Pi Beta Phi and Kappa Alpha Theta scheduled their conventions to coincide with the fair. Others arranged for a hospitality room for their membership. Phi Delta Theta had a room on the third floor of a building at Jackson and Franklin Streets; 420 Phi Delts signed the guest book. Kappa Alpha Theta, Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, Pi Beta Phi, and Delta Delta Delta shared a fraternity booth in the Organization room of the Woman’s Building. The booth provided a resting place for fraternity women and a there was a guest book for members to sign.
A “Congress of Fraternities” during the Fair was discussed when the seven women’s fraternities met in Boston and 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.
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. Another meeting took place on July 7, 1892. The group adopted a constitution, elected officers, appointed committees and applied for space in an exhibit hall. A third meeting does not seem to have taken place until April 1, 1893, at which time the six men’s fraternities who were represented made the decision 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.”
The Congress met starting on July 19, 1893 in the Memorial Art Institute, located at the foot of Adams Street. About 300 fraternity members attended the morning session. Papers were read by Phi Delta Theta members. These included talks on the histories of fraternities, fraternity catalogues and fraternity finances. In the afternoon, the fraternity editors met. J.E. Brown, Editor of Phi Delta Theta’s Scroll, read a paper on “The ethics of loyalty in relation to fraternity journalism.”
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 that 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.” A banquet was served at 7:30 p.m. in the New York State Building and dancing followed.
- New York State Building, 1893 Columbian Exposition
July 20’s morning session 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 Kappa Kappa Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, Delta Gamma, Delta Delta Delta, Alpha Phi, and Pi Beta Phi representatives. 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.
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. 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 (see http://wp.me/p20I1i-d7). And the third time would be the charm! The National Panhellenic Conference would come into its own and begin the process of interfraternal cooperation among the women’s organizations.
* Pi Beta Phi, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Gamma, Alpha Phi, Gamma Phi Beta, and Delta Delta Delta.
** For more on Baird’s Manual, see http://wp.me/p20I1i-Gk
(c) Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2013. All Rights Reserved.
