Alpha Gamma Delta was founded at Syracuse University on May 30, 1904 at the home of Dr. Wellesley Perry Coddington, a Syracuse University professor. It is the youngest of the Syracuse Triad, the three National Panhellenic Conference organizations founded at Syracuse University. The other two, Alpha Phi and Gamma Phi Beta, were founded in 1872 and 1874, respectively.
By 1901, all seven of the founding National Panhellenic Conference organizations had chapters at Syracuse. Dr. Coddington felt that the campus needed another women’s fraternity. He approached several young female students and discussions ensued. Though excitement started to grow, the women managed to keep very quiet the possibility of another organization on campus. Edith MacConnell was recovering from a serious accident and was a patient at the Homeopathic Hospital. Not even the nurses attending to her had any idea what was taking place, despite the steady stream of visitors to her room.
The announcement in the Daily Orange, the school’s newspaper, noted:
A new Greek-letter fraternity has been organized among the women of the university. The name is Alpha Gamma Delta and the members thus far are: Marguerite Shepard, ’05; Jennie C. Titus, ’05; Georgia Otis, ’06; Ethel E. Brown, ’06; Flora M. Knight, ’06, Estelle Shepard, ’06; Emily H. Butterfield, ’07; Edith MacConnell, ’07; Grace R. Mosher, ’07; Mary L. Snider, ’07.
Celebrating Founders’ Day on May 30 became difficult for chapters, especially if the chapter’s school year ended in mid-May. In 1936, the celebration of Founders’ Day was replaced by International Reunion Day (IRD). It takes place on the third Saturday of April. I was invited to speak to the Alpha Gams in Southern Illinois this year, but the event was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Emily Butterfield
Founder Emily H. Butterfield was an architect and an authority on fraternity heraldry. She designed the Alpha Chapter’s home at 709 Comstock Avenue which was completed in the fall of 1928.
Her best known sketches are the ones she did of “Skiouros,” Alpha Gamma Delta’s squirrel mascot when she was editor of The Quarterly. To Skiouros was the name of the “secret edition” of The Quarterly. (FYI – the secret editions of GLO magazines contained membership numbers and information about chapter strengths and weaknesses and not anything having to do with ritual matters. These editions were not sent to the other GLOs in exchanges. )
