Category Archives: Women’s Fraternities

Edith “Eli” Mahier on Gamma Phi Beta’s Founding Day #NotableSororityWomen

The first social event Frances Haven (Moss) attended after enrolling in Syracuse University in 1874 was a church oyster supper. Her father, Dr. Erastus Otis Haven, was recently elected Chancellor of the university. At that supper, she met the man … Continue reading

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Happy Founders’ Day, Sigma Kappa!

Sigma Kappa was founded on November 9, 1874, by five young women. They were the only females enrolled at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. The group received a letter from the faculty approving the organization’s petition, which included a constitution … Continue reading

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Zeta Chapter on Alpha Sigma Tau’s Founders’ Day

On November 4, 1899, eight young women, Mable Chase, Ruth Dutcher, May Gephart, Harriet Marx, Eva O’Keefe, Adriance Rice, Helene Rice, and Mayene Tracy, formed a sorority at the Michigan State Normal College (now Eastern Michigan University) in Ypsilanti, Michigan. … Continue reading

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Madge Oberholtzer, Pi Beta Phi, #NotableSororityWomen

Madge Oberholtzer was an initiate of the Indiana Gamma Chapter of Pi Beta Phi at Butler College (now University). Her death helped bring about the downfall of D.C. Stephenson and the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana. Its author is an … Continue reading

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With Thoughts of Mary Matthews on the Purdue Pi Phi Centennial

I love attending chapter anniversaries. There is nothing better than to see conversations start where they left off decades ago as if no time had transpired.  When I was asked if I would speak at the 100th anniversary of the … Continue reading

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Olga Achtenhagen, Kappa Delta, on Founders’ Day #NotableSororityWomen

Kappa Delta was founded on October 23, 1897 at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Its founders are Lenora Ashmore Blackiston, Julia Gardiner Tyler Wilson, Sara Turner White and Mary Sommerville Sparks Hendrick. Among the charter … Continue reading

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Alpha Chi Omega and Zeta Tau Alpha Share a Founders’ Day

Alpha Chi Omega and Zeta Tau Alpha celebrate Founders’ Day on October 15. How amazing is it that the first organization and the last organization on the alphabetical listing of National Panhellenic Conference members share the same Founders’ Day? On Thursday, … Continue reading

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Aryness Joy Wickens on Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Founders’ Day #NotableSororityWomen

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 … Continue reading

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Ina Gittings, Alpha Phi, #NotableSororityWomen

Alpha Phi is the oldest of the Syracuse Triad, the three women’s National Panhellenic Conference organizations founded at Syracuse University in upstate New York. The triad consists of Alpha Phi, Gamma Phi Beta and Alpha Gamma Delta. A chapter of … Continue reading

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Happy Founders’ Day, Alpha Gamma Delta!

Quick. Name an Alpha Chapter of a National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) organization whose chapter house was designed by a founder of the organization. There’s only one. It’s the Alpha Chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta. Alpha Gamma Delta was founded at … Continue reading

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