Monmouth College, the birthplace of the women’s fraternity movement, is in Monmouth, Illinois, a small town about 15 miles from the Mississippi River in Warren County. The two organizations founded there – Pi Beta Phi in 1867 and Kappa Kappa Gamma in 1870 – are known as the “Monmouth Duo.”
Monmouth College was founded by the Second Presbytery of Illinois, a part of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, on April 18, 1853.
Vintage Monmouth College logo
On April 28, 1867, a college society of women modeled after men’s Greek-letter fraternities, was founded by 12 young women. Its name was I. C. Sorosis and its grip, the secret handshake of its members, was accompanied by the secret motto Pi Beta Phi (Spring, 1936). In 1888, the name was officially changed to what its motto had been, Pi Beta Phi, although many of the collegiate chapters had taken to using the Greek-letter motto years earlier (Helmick, 1915). Issues of the Monmouth College Courier, the student newspaper, from the founding years have information about I.C. Sorosis included in the fraternity column and not the literary society column.
The preamble of the I. C. Sorosis constitution reflected the founders’ intention of finding fellowship and “kindred spirits” among the other college women, “Whereas it was deemed necessary, in order to cultivate sincere friendship, establish the real object of life, and promote the happiness of humanity, we, the undersigned ladies of Monmouth College do ordain and establish the following constitution” (Lewis, 1899, p. 4).
In the summer of 1868, the group met at the home of Fannie Thomson in Oquawka, Illinois, and had its first convention. Founder Emma Brownlee Kilgore later described it, “Well laid plans were made of how we would extend the I. C. reputation of being the first woman’s secret society; how we would enter other colleges; no high schools were to be considered; and we also unanimously decided that no college fraternity among the young men should be better, wiser, or stronger than ours” (Helmick, 1915, p. 86).
Kappa Kappa Gamma’s founders are Mary Moore “Minnie” Stewart, Anna Elizabeth Willits, Susan Burley Walker, Hanna Jeanette “Jennie” Boyd, Mary Louise “Lou” Bennett, and Martha Louisa “Lou” Stevenson. Some of the founders recalled that the organization was founded in March, 1870, but that the appearance was delayed until fall, because the badges had been difficult to procure. Willet’s mother was the one who came up with the idea of using a key as the badge. The first badges were made by the Bennett’s family jeweler who was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In order to have the badges made, 12 had to be ordered at a price of $5 each. The Kappa Kappa Gamma’s first public appearance at chapel took place on October 13, 1870 and since the 1876 Convention, October 13 has been celebrated as Founders’ Day (Burton-Roth & Whiting-Westermann, 1932).
The Monmouth College Courier noted the fraternity’s debut in an October 1870 issue, “They wear a little golden key, sometimes on their foreheads, sometimes on their little blue or red jackets. . . . It has three letters on it, KKG. . . We have been able to count only six of them” (“Kappa Kappa Gamma,” 1870, p. 4).
At a June 1874 meeting, the Senate of Monmouth College, under pressure from some sections of the United Presbyterian Church, passed the following resolution, “It shall be unlawful for any student of the college hereafter to become a member of any secret college fraternity or to connect with any chapter of any such fraternity, and also for an active member of such fraternity to be admitted as a student in the college” (Donaldson, 1967, p. 71).
At first the resolution had little impact, but pressure from devout United Presbyterians grew. Some refused to donate money to the financially struggling institution. In early 1878, the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter bowed to pressure and disbanded. The I.C.s followed suit shortly thereafter as did the men’s groups on the Monmouth campus (Spring, 1936).
There are records that both Pi Beta Phi and Kappa Kappa Gamma chapters continued to exist sub-rosa. At the 1884 Pi Beta Phi Convention, the Alpha chapter was asked to give up its charter (Helmick, 1915).
What is amazing to me is that both organizations were able to withstand the demise of their Alpha chapter. For Pi Phi it was seven years from the founding; for Kappa it was only four years. The Monmouth Duo eventually returned to Monmouth College. On May 25, 1928, the Illinois Alpha chapter of Pi Beta Phi was reinstalled. The Alpha chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was reinstalled on October 13, 1934.
A Monmouth Duo Dance Card Cover, 1961
© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2013. All rights reserved.
