Alpha Sigma Alpha was founded on November 15, 1901 at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Its founders had been asked to join some of the other sororities on campus, but they wanted to stay together. The five, Virginia Lee Boyd (Noell), Juliette Jefferson Hundley (Gilliam), Calva Hamlet Watson (Wootton), Louise Burks Cox (Carper) and Mary Williamson Hundley, started their own sorority; they called it Alpha Sigma Alpha.
The Beta Beta Chapter was installed at State Teacher’s College in Greeley, Colorado (now University of Northern Colorado) on February 19, 1916. Irene Spalding, the chapter’s Acting Historian, wrote about the events of November 1918. The epidemic of which she wrote, the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, affected nearly every college campus. Approximately 675,000 Americans died from it. Spalding wrote:
Of all the inconvenient tomes for the epidemic to descent upon is, this was certainly the greatest! We were quarantined on Tuesday of Rush Week, but Beta Beta was so fortunate as to draw the day before as the date for its most important party. The affair took the form of a dinner party, and it assuredly called for some planning, for we had to entertain thirty-two at an expenditure of fifteen dollars, the limit set by Panhellenic. We never could have done it without the help of our Adviser, Miss Payne, and our housemother, Mrs. Tisdal. There were eight tables, each seating four, attractively arranged in the dining and reception rooms. For decorations we used sumac, barberries and kinikinic. In the center of each table was a red shaded candle that diffused a soft glow. The favors were nut baskets made of red crepe paper. From the handles hung tiny Sorority letters of gold. The place cards, the suggestion of our artistic president, carried the Sorority letters in red and the winged sandal of Hermes.
As the quarantine went into effect the very next day our rivals had no opportunity to show hospitality to any of the new girls. It therefore became a matter of personal rushing. The results have been a revelation to us, for the sororities heretofore have had the feeling that it was brilliant affairs that attracted the new girls. Beta Beta now knows that more can be accomplished by a quiet confidential talk with the girls about sororities in general and about the national standing of Alpha Sigma Alpha than can be done by all the parties, however delightful they may be.
On Victory Day, November 11, 1918, the quarantine was lifted. Bells rang, classes were dismissed and an impromptu parade began. The women of Beta Beta saw it as a prime opportunity to foster their recruitment efforts. A car was borrowed from Mrs. Tisdal and Mrs. Abbott, the chapter’s new patroness. Some members decorated the cars and others searched for the potential new members. Together, the rode in the decorated cars, celebrating the armistice. The morning parade consisted of only the teachers college people, but another parade was held in the afternoon and the townspeople joined in. A bonfire took place that night, but the quarantine was back in effect after the Victory Day celebration was done.
I find it interesting how she described the handling of the bids, which seems to be the precursor of preferential bidding as we know it today:
As the time drew near for bids to go out, the situation became rather tense. We have a ‘lawyer’ system, as it is called in some places. All the bids are handed to the Dean of Women. As soon as the names of rushees are known, she asks the new girls to list the sororities in order of their preference. Then she gives her the bid she prefers, or, if that is not available, the one nearest her preference.
The chapter pledged eight women, and Spalding added:
If the quarantine continues, we may not be able to have our formal pledging until after Christmas, but, although, we know that the ceremony will mean more to the new girls, we fell sure that they can scarcely be more a part of us than they are right now. If you want to feel at home with your new girls from the very start, try ‘personal’ rushing!
Beta Beta Chapter, circa 1922-23
