Sigma Alpha Iota, a social organization for women with a special interest in music, was founded on June 12, 1903, at the University of Michigan’s School of Music. It was incorporated in the State of Michigan on December 1, 1904.
Its founders are Elizabeth Campbell, Frances Caspari, Minnie Davis [Sherrill], Leila Farlin [Laughlin], Nora Crane Hunt, Georgina Potts, and Mary Storrs [Andersen]. June 12, 1903 was Commencement Day. Four of the founders were graduating that evening, two were leaving for graduate study, and one, Davis, was a young faculty member.
The seven young women met at Campbell’s home in the afternoon. They solemnly pledged themselves “to help each other with sisterly affection, to stand for the highest musical scholarship, for nobility and uprightness of character and for the maintenance of friendly and unselfish relations among women in the musical profession.” This event culminated a process that began earlier that spring when Fredreka Howland, wife of William Howland, head of the Vocal Department, sowed the seeds of the idea for the organization. She became the Sigma Alpha Iota’s first patroness. Davis served as its first president.
Sigma Alpha Iota promotes “interaction among those who share a commitment to music.” Sigma Alpha Iota is a member of the Professional Fraternity Association, and its members can also have membership in a National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) organization. In 1981, Sigma Alpha Iota received an exemption from Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 to remain single sex.
In 1918, Sigma Alpha Iota funded the building of Pan’s Cottage. It is a two story house that can accommodate 12 artists in residence at the MacDowell Colony for Creative Artists in Peterborough, New Hampshire. It is still one of SAI’s philanthropic endeavors. SAI has also helped fund other endeavors at the MacDowell Colony.
Pan’s Cottage, MacDowell Colony for the Creative Arts
(c) Fran Becque, fraternityhistory.com, 2013. All rights reserved.
