On October 13, 1870, Kappa Kappa Gamma made its debut at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois. 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. Since the 1876 Convention, October 13 has been celebrated as Founders’ Day.
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.”
Having walked the Monmouth campus and downtown many times, I always try to envision what life was like for those 1870 coeds. It never fails to amaze me that Kappa and its Monmouth Duo partner, Pi Beta Phi, are here today. Both were forced to cease operations when the college banned all fraternal organizations in the late 1870s. In those days, the Alpha Chapter, the Mother Chapter, was typically the head of governance of the organization. It issued charters and ran the show. Lucky for both Kappa and Pi Phi that the women who joined the other young chapters of the organizations took charge of things and continued without their respective Alpha chapters. Those who follow the founders often don’t have their status or glory, but their work as “builders” is of vital importance to the organization.
One of the young women who joined the University of Washington chapter during the 1918-19 academic year would have a hand in the creation of the Consumer Price Index. In the fall of 1918 “As soon as we were nicely registered for the first quarter’s work, word came from the authorities that the university was to close on account of the Spanish influenza which had suddenly spread to the Northwest.”
The news of the closure came “right in the middle of the two weeks planned for the entertainment of freshmen girls, the fraternities were thrown into confusion over the problem of pledging, and had to rise to the occasion by making totally different plans. As a result, the Panhellenic Association decided to do away with all informal gatherings, and pledge immediately, this being to the best advantage of the freshmen.”
Aryness Joy (Wickens) was one of the freshmen women who accepted Kappa’s invitation. As a junior, she was chairman for the Women’s League Concert committee and planned an event that netted $600 (more than $9,000 in 2021 funds) for the cause. Wickens went on to serve as president of the Women’s League and attended a convention of women who were serving in that capacity in colleges and universities across the country. She was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Wickens earned a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Chicago. She spent four years teaching at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. In 1928 she took a job as a research assistant with the Federal Reserve Board and she spent the next 42 years working for the Federal government.
A statistician and economist, she served as president of the American Statistical Association. Wickens helped develop the Consumer Price Index and was an acting commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the 1958 National Convention, Kappa Kappa Gamma bestowed upon her an Alumnae Achievement Award. In addition she was also honored with a Dept. of Labor Distinguished Service Award and the Achievement Award of the District of Columbia Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Club. Wickens died in 1991.
Aryness Joy Wickens at the 1958 Kappa Kappa Gamma convention
