This post is by my friend Penny Proctor. She is a Pi Phi’s whose name was known to me long before I met her. She was the winner of the Amy Burnham Onken, award, one of Pi Phi’s highest individual awards. She is a proud alumna of Hillsdale College and received her law degree from the University of Michigan.
Fran’s blog inspired me to do my own research, and although I wasn’t expecting to find a connection between Memorial Day and women’s fraternities, I came across this account of a memorial service on May 31, 1886 at my alma mater, Hillsdale College. The holiday wasn’t generally called Memorial Day then, and at Hillsdale College, it wasn’t even called Decoration Day; instead, it was an annual event with no particular name but of huge importance to the small school. During the War, 183 Hillsdale students joined the Union Army, representing the highest percentage of student body of any college or university to enlist. While the community celebrated Decoration Day, the College held a service every May 31st to honor the sacrifices of all who served and died in the defense of the nation.
In 1886, the memorial was held downtown at the Opera Hall, with the entire campus and community invited. The speakers were students who led the audience in a reverent remembrance through music, poetry, and prose. Among them was sophomore Minta Morgan, a music major known for her clarity and style in public speaking. She delivered an original oration, “Our Uncrowned Heroines,” which focused on the role, sacrifices and accomplishments of women during the War. Here’s an excerpt:
The American women proceeded to organize relief for [their loved ones in the Army]. They did it … with a self-controlled and rational consideration as to the wisest and best ways of accomplishing their purpose. The distinctive features of the women’s work in the War were the magnitude, system, co-operation with the other sex, clearness of purpose, and steady persistency until the end.
[They] wrought and thought and prayed together, and from that hour, the womanhood of our country has united in a bond which the softening influence of peace will not weaken or dissolve.
Reading this, it occurred to me that these words partly explained by women felt the time was right to form their own college fraternities shortly after the War ended. The years of conflict showed them their own strength, individually and in a group dedicated to a common purpose. And who better than young women, bucking convention to pursue higher education, to realize the concept of “girl power”?
Actually, these words also foreshadowed Minta’s future. Less than a year later – 51 weeks, to be exact – Minta became a charter member of Michigan Alpha chapter of Pi Beta Phi. She truly believed that women united in a bond of sisterhood could accomplish great things.
Minta Morgan
It’s a digression from the intentions of Memorial Day, but this weekend, I will be remembering the courage of all the women during and after the Civil War, and how their actions then are still resonating today.
Sources: Moore, Vivian L. The First Hundred Years of Hillsdale College (Ann Arbor Press, 1944)
Morgan, Minta. “Our Uncrowned Heroines.” Hillsdale Herald, 10 June 1886, page 1
Photo from the Archives of Hillsdale College
© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2016. All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed this post, please sign up for updates. Also follow me on twitter @GLOHistory and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/glohistory/
