Phi Mu was founded on January 4, 1852 at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. Originally known as the Philomathean Society, it and Alpha Delta Pi, also founded at Wesleyan College, are known as the “Macon Magnolias.” Phi Mu was founded by Mary DuPont (Lines), Mary Myrick (Daniel) and Martha Hardaway (Redding). The founding was publicly announced on March 4, 1852, the day that is celebrated as Founders’ Day. On August 1, 1904, the group received a charter from the state of Georgia and was established as Phi Mu Fraternity. The second chapter was founded at Hollins College in 1904. Phi Mu joined the National Panhellenic Conference in 1911.
Hazel Hartzog (Tow) was initiated into the University of Southern California chapter of Phi Mu. In addition to her membership in Phi Mu, she was the Daily Trojan’s women’s page editor and a was a staff member of the El Rodeo yearbook. A member of the Class of 1941, she was also a staff member of Wampus, the campus humor magazine, president of Theta Sigma Phi journalism sorority, and a member of Amazons, a service honorary society.
January 1940
She joined the Los Angeles Bureau of United Press in 1943. Two years later, she was one of only 117 female war correspondents.
The first American war correspondent to arrive in occupied Japan, she interviewed Countess Satoko Otani, the younger sister of the Japanese Empress.
October 10, 1945
She became Mrs. Wallace Tow in 1947. From 1958 until her retirement in 1984, she was involved in journalism. She was one of the first female members Sigma Delta Chi (today known as the Society of Professional Journalists).
L.A. Times, February 3, 1984
Tow died on September 14, 2001, at the age of 81, from complications from lung cancer.
