Skiouros the Squirrel on Alpha Gamma Delta’s Founding Day

Posted on May 30, 2022 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Alpha Gamma Delta was founded at Syracuse University on May 30, 1904 at the home of Dr. Wellesley Perry Coddington, a Syracuse University professor. By 1901, all seven of the founding National Panhellenic Conference organizations had chapters at Syracuse. Coddington, who had a hand in the early years of Alpha Phi, realized 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 the possibility of another organization on campus very quiet. 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.

During Alpha Gamma Delta’s first year, the chapter met in a third floor room of a home at 1005 East Genesee Street. The chapter’s first house was located at 761 Irving Avenue. On April 30, 1907, it was the site of the first Alpha Gamma Delta convention. Delegates from the Beta Chapter at the University of Wisconsin and the Gamma Chapter at Wesleyan College in Connecticut were in attendance, along with several Alpha Chapter representatives.

According to Alpha Gam history aficionado Dr. Ellen Wenzel, the squirrel was first used as Gamma Chapter’s mascot. It was adopted as Alpha Gam’s mascot at the 1909 convention in Athens, Ohio. The Gamma Chapter closed when coeducation was banned at Wesleyan University, but Skiouros the squirrel lives on. (Skiouros is the Greek word meaning squirrel.)

I’ve written about Emily H. Butterfield in other posts. She was an architect and designed the Alpha Chapter house, among others. Her best known sketches are the ones she did of Alpha Gamma Delta’s mascot. She was quite fond of him and  when she was editor of The Quarterly, her drawings of him would appear often.  By mid-century, some chapters weren’t cognizant of Skiouros’ existence.

From the 1972 convention. It is the first squirrel in Nann Blaine Hilyard’s collection.

From the Nann Blaine Hilyard Skiouros collection

Attendees at the 1972 convention received a small brass squirrel from Grand President Lorna Wilson Brigden. She hoped that the gift would spark the interest of Alpha Gams and bring its mascot to the forefront.

A needlepoint pattern of Skiouros was also distributed at the convention. The needlepoint pillow was designed by Jo Ippolito Christensen, member of Alpha Xi chapter (Maryland). She wrote several needlepoint design books.

This effort seems to have been the spark for a Skiouros revival.

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Two Planes Over the Grand Canyon in the Summer of 1956

Posted on May 16, 2022 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Pi Beta Phi’s 40th Biennial Convention at the Huntington Sheraton Hotel in Pasadena, California, was the largest one to that date; it took place from June 24-30, 1956. The final banquet was held on Friday evening. Afterwards, many attendees began preparing to return home since some had early flights on Saturday morning.

Janice Hass, Missouri Gamma, was president of her chapter at Drury College. She lived in Springfield, Missouri, where Drury is located. Marie Wilson Klemp, a Colorado Alpha – University of Colorado, the mother of a young child, was serving as President of the Kansas City, Missouri, Alumnae Club. Lois Klein Brock, Colorado Beta – University of Denver, was the delegate for the Arlington-Alexandria, Virginia Alumnae Club. She lived in Falls Church, Virginia. The three boarded a TWA flight for Kansas City. Sally Laughlin, Pennsylvania Epsilon, served as the Penn State chapter’s delegate. She was from McKeesport, Pennsylvania. She boarded a United flight to Chicago. None of the four would make it home.

Lois F. Klein Brock

The two planes, a United Airlines Douglas DC-7 and a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation, took off from Los Angeles within minutes of each other on June 30, 1956. The TWA pilot requested to fly above the clouds and the planes were cruising at the same altitude — 21,000 feet. At about 10 a.m., each pilot reported that they would be crossing over the Grand Canyon at the same position at 10:31 a.m. Unfortunately, they did not report this fact to the same station, so that the pilots were not made aware of each other’s presence.

The planes crashed over the Grand Canyon that morning. All 128 people, the total of passengers and crew on both planes, were killed. At the time, it held the distinction of being the deadliest American plane crash. More importantly, it led to the establishment of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to modernize air traffic control so that accidents of that type could be prevented.

In 2014, a plaque was dedicated at the overlook above the Grand Canyon accident site making the crash site a national historic landmark. The marker reads: “This tragic site represents a watershed moment in the modernization of America’s airways, leading to the establishment of the Federal Aviation Administration and national standards for aviation safety.”

On July 5, Pi Beta Phi Grand President Marianne Reid Wild sent a letter to officers, chapters and alumnae clubs telling them of the tragic loss of the four Pi Phis. She asked that each chapter/club’s membership be notified. Her instructions continued, “In loving memory of those whom many Pi Phis had come to know during the Convention, Pi Beta Phi declares a period of official mourning from July 15th to July 25th. In accordance with the Chapter Manual a small strip of black ribbon will be worn under the badge for that period in remembrance.”

Pennsylvania Epsilon’s chapter letter in the Spring 1956 Arrow noted that Sally Laughlin had been elected to Pi Gamma Alpha Fine Arts Honorary. In the Chapter Reports section of the Winter 1956 Arrow, Missouri Gamma reported, “A scholarship fund which is to be made available to any Drury girl, has been established under the auspices of Pi Beta Phi in memory of Janice Traer Haas, Missouri Gamma president.”

 

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Happy Founders’ Day, Alpha Delta Pi!

Posted on May 15, 2022 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

On May 15, 1851, Alpha Delta Pi was founded as the Adelphean Society at Wesleyan Female College in Macon, Georgia by six young women. The founders are Eugenia Tucker Fitzgerald, Ella Pierce Turner, Octavia Andrew Rush, Mary Evans Glass, Sophronia Woodruff Dews, and Elizabeth Williams Mitchell.  Fitzgerald, known to generations of Alpha Delta Pis as “Mother Fitzgerald,” was the leader and first president of the Adelpheans.

In 1905, the Society changed its name to Alpha Delta Phi and installed its second chapter at Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. A year later, a third chapter was founded at Mary Baldwin Seminary, in Staunton, Virginia. Alpha Delta Phi joined the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) in 1909. The installation of the Sigma Chapter at the University of Illinois in 1912 came shortly after the installation, on the same campus, of the Illinois Chapter of Alpha Delta Phi, a men’s fraternity founded in 1832 at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York.  The Illinois members made their organization aware of this duplication of name and the problems that surfaced because of it. In 1913, the convention body voted to change the name to Alpha Delta Pi.

In 1926, a bench was dedicated on the Wesleyan College campus. It was given in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Adelphean Society. The bench was designed by Emily Langham of the Sophie Newcomb College chapter. The event was chronicled in the 1930 History of Alpha Delta Pi. “We have just had a big thrill way down in Dixie. When one attends a family reunion, there is always a feeling of both pleasure and pain, so many recollections are aroused. As the large number of Alpha alumnae gathered together for the presentation of the Marble Bench by Alpha Delta Pi to Wesleyan College, commemorating the seventy-fifth anniversary of its founding, they felt they were returning to an old home, the mother gone, but her children ‘rising up to call her blessed.’ Every loyal heart there felt with keenest appreciation the placing of this Memorial at the home of Alpha Chapter.”

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Dedication of Founders Bench

Dedication of the Memorial Bench

The bench was placed in “a grove of great oaks. Waving mimosa trees in full bloom and magnolias added the floral decoration.” Ella Clark Anderson, the oldest member present, was a member of the class of 1862. Descendants of the founders were present when the blue and white drapery was drawn aside and the bench was unveiled. Ten years later, Alpha Delta Pi once again gathered on campus to dedicate another gift to the college. The Alpha Delta Pi’s Memorial Fountain is located in the center of Wesleyan College’s quadrangle; it was a gift to celebrate the college’s centennial in 1936. Made of Georgia marble, the Alpha Delta Pi coat-of-arms is engraved on the large slanting block at center. The names of the founders of Alpha Delta Pi Sorority are engraved on the stairs leading up to the fountain. Other elements of the fountain were added on other commemorations including two lions, the mascot of Alpha Delta Pi, given in 2011 to celebrate the College’s 175th anniversary.

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Dancing the Night Away!

Posted on May 10, 2022 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

This post is by Mike Raymond, Lambda Chi Alpha, Miami University (Ohio), Class of 1967. Thank you, Mike!

Dance cards are a lost part of Greek Life history. At one time they were prominent parts of balls and dances on campus across America. They first appeared in Europe in the early 1800s but quickly made their way to America around the time of the American Civil War. Most people, aside from watching Bridgerton on Netflix, have never seen a dance card or know its purpose.

The cards were a fixture at college and Greek Letter Society organization dances from about the end of World War I to the late 1960s. Dance cards could be found throughout society from community groups, like the Masons, to high school proms, to the ‘country club” set. A young woman displayed her dance card on her left arm, dangling from a colorful cord and sporting a pencil to write down the names of her dance partners.

Companies like Balfour, Auld, Brochon, E. Kilburn, and Burr-Patterson made the design and sale of dance cards a large portion of their business as they marketed their products to fraternity men. I can remember back in 1966 when a number of salesmen solicited my fraternity for dance cards. Later as a teacher, the high school proms all sported dance cards into the late 1970s.

WHAT IS A DANCE CARD?

So, just what is a dance card? The cards come in many guises. Originally, it was an actual card printed on both sides with a list of dances. As time passed, it took the form of a small booklet, stapled or held together by a cord or string with an attached pencil. The card itself named the dance theme, had a list of dances, the orchestra playing, and the people who organized or sponsored the event. The variations in themes, colors, shape, materials, are endless. There were homemade cards as well as the professionally designed and manufactured dance cards.

The dance card served at least three purposes: it provided an easy introduction for potential dance partners to meet each other, it helped to track the evening’s dances, and it later served as a memento or keepsake from the event. Expressions like, “My dance card is filled,” originated from the use of the dance card. Old scrapbooks abound on the internet that are filled with dance cards from hundreds of colleges in the first two-thirds of the 20th century.

NOVELTY DANCE CARDS

It is amazing how creative people could be when designing dance cards. These novelty dance cards became very popular after World War II and continued to the 1960s. Three of these cards are presented in this article. They include a Beta Theta Pi “Kid Party” with an old-fashioned baby bottle as the cover of the card. The dance was held in honor of their pledge class. It features dances with titles like “I Needs Change” and “Feeding Time.” The Beta Pledge Class was identified by name with the caption “Our Pride and Joy.”

 

The Phi Delta Theta card is one of my favorites because it is a jab at the old-fashion formal dances held prior to World War II. Back in the Roaring Twenties a formal dance meant top hat and tails. A semi-formal required a tuxedo and a casual dance attire was a suit. Women dressed accordingly to that of the man. As can be imaged not many people could afford to attend a formal dance with an admission price of $3.00. For example, in 1925 the average American worker made $38.00 for a fifty-hour work week! So, a” Half-Formal” dance made complete sense to a fraternity that was composed primarily of veterans attending college on the G.I Bill.

In 1948, Sigma Phi Epsilon put on their annual “Bowery Ball.” The card had “swinging doors” that open into the contents of the dance card. The chaperones were called constables and the housemother was called warden. A kind of mixed message but still fun.

GREEK ORGANIZATION DANCE CARDS

In 1929, Delta Eta of Kappa Sigma held their Pledge Dance and had a very nice dance card made for the occasion. The card is patterned after the KS pledge pin. It is extremely well preserved with its small red pencil attached. An attached pencil is an unusual find because most pencils were removed to put into a scrapbook or discarded.

The New York Epsilon Chapter of Phi Delta Theta held their Pledge Dance for the class of 1936. The dance card has a cut out on the cover with an embossed pledge pin on blue sparkling paper. This dance was held in the Chapter House with music provided by the Vagabonds.” As typical of dance cards the planning committee members and chaperones were listed. The cord is in the color scheme of the fraternity.

Sigma Chi’s Gamma Delta Chapter chimed in with its Annual Pledge Dance held in the “Old Gym” in 1948. Music was provided by a campus band named the Varsitonians. This dance card has a clear plastic cover and has its pencil neatly attached by a silver string. Both the names of the Active and Pledges were listed in the booklet.

The Interfraternity Council also sponsored dances. These dances afford an opportunity to socialize with members of other fraternity and sorority students. The Interfraternity Council of Oklahoma A. and M. College (now  Oklahoma State University) held their Ribbon Dance in 1948. The cover features an embossed array of the Greek letters of the IFC member organizations The dance card listed the Social Committee, Chaperons, honored guests and it indicated that music was provided by the Varsity Crew. What is a “ribbon dance?” It is hard to be certain, but it may be named after an old tradition of wearing colored ribbons along with the fraternity or sorority badge. This is the kind of question that a dance card can stimulate upon closely examining it.

PERSONALIZED DANCE CARDS

Many of the cards are personalized with the name of the woman, her dance partners, and even sentimental notes.

One such card came from the Annual Spring Formal which was held by the Epsilon Chi Chapter of Phi Chi fraternity in 1937. It features a velvet cover with an embossed image of their coat of arms. In addition to the common elements of a dance card, such as a list of dances, it also lists the menu for the evening. A very nice meal at that! However, there are two things about this dance card that separates the card from the others. The names of the two partners are hand written on the cover along with a drawing of entwined hearts and cupid’s arrow! There is also a handwritten inscription on the Menu page that is rather cryptic: “No Eat- Sit Down Strike.” Just another example of how intriguing dance cards can be upon examination.

Stories were told by the dance cards such as a series of five dance cards that were found a few years ago that had two cards from the usual dances back in 1938-39. However, the cards changed to Pershing Rifle and ROTC dances by 1941. The same couple danced with notes of affection and love on the cards. All dances reserved for her companion. She saved these dance cards until her death. One wonders what happened to the couple? Did he survive combat, did they reunite, and marry? That is an example of how meaningful something as simple as a dance card can be.

CONCLUSION

Dance cards reflected the times when they were created. They say a lot about the changing nature of society in general and fraternities and sororities in particular. They were made to commemorate many celebrations and special events. During their nearly seven decades of popularity the cards documented the changes in the social norms of fraternities and sororities. From expensive and formal balls to inexpensive and casual dances the dance cards were there to help document this lost tradition of providing a dance card to a potential partner

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The Coolidges on Phi Gamma Delta’s Founders’ Day

Posted on May 1, 2022 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

On May 1, 1848, Phi Gamma Delta was founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. The founders, the Immortal Six, are John Templeton McCarty, Samuel Beatty Wilson, James Elliott, Daniel Webster Crofts, Ellis Bailey Gregg and Naaman Fletcher. The Beta Chapter was established the same year at Washington College in Washington, Pennsylvania. The chapters became one when the colleges merged to form Washington and Jefferson College in 1865.

This full size portrait of President Coolidge was painted by Ercole Cartotto. Although it is now at the Phi Gamma Delta’s Headquarters, it was originally commissioned by the Xi Graduate Chapter for the Phi Gamma Delta Club in New York City. Ercole Cartotto’s painting was dedicated on February 20, 1929, in the Club library. It is “life size.”

And although this is Fiji Founders’ Day, this post is really about the President and his lovely wife. In the summer of 1920, an Amherst Fiji won the Vice Presidential spot on the Republican ticket. At the time of the nomination, Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge was at Amherst attending his 25th college reunion and the 99th anniversary of the college. A reception at the chapter house was arranged with his wife Grace Goodhue Coolidge, a Pi Beta Phi alumna, helping the chapter quickly plan the event. More than 1,500 people attended the hastily planned reception.

Grace Coolidge in her official First Lady portrait given to the Nation in 1924 by Pi Beta Phi. Her golden arrow is worn over her heart.

Calvin Coolidge became President after the death of Warren G. Harding on August 2, 1923. The Coolidges were planning  to attend Phi Gamma Delta’s 75th anniversary celebration in Pittsburgh in September 1923. Unfortunately, they had to cancel those plans. Later, the fraternity presented a founder’s badge to the President. On that occasion, President Coolidge said, “I am very glad to have this badge. My wife wears mine most of the time.”

On November 17, 1924, the Coolidges’ son, John, a student at Amherst College, became a member of his father’s chapter. On the following Founders’ Day, May 1, 1925, Fiji Sires and Sons was organized. Its purpose is to “impress upon all fathers and sons, who are members of the fraternity, and in time upon their sons, a realization of the noble trinity of principles of the fraternity, with the hope that they may outrun the fervor of youth.”

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Happy Founders’ Day, Theta Phi Alpha!

Posted on April 30, 2022 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

On August 30, 1912, Theta Phi Alpha was founded at the University of Michigan. Although founded on August 30, Theta Phi Alpha celebrates Founders’ Day on April 30, the Feast Day of St. Catherine of Siena.* St. Catherine is the patroness of the organization and her motto, “Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring, ” is Theta Phi Alpha’s motto as well.

At that time Theta Phi Alpha was founded, Catholics were not always welcome in the other fraternal organizations on campus. Moreover, the University of Michigan is likely the only state university which can count a Catholic priest among its founders. In 1817, Father Gabriel Richard was a co-founder of the Catholepistemiad of Michigania which later became known as the University of Michigan. (The University celebrated its 200 birthday a few days ago!) He served as its Vice-President from 1817-21. In 1821 he was appointed to the Board of Trustees and served until his death in 1832. So, it is therefore interesting to note the Catholic connection between the Catholic sorority and the state university founded by a Catholic priest.  When Theta Phi Alpha was founded, the Catholic hierarchy was of the belief that Catholic women should be attending Catholic colleges and universities. Giving Catholic women the opportunity to join a Catholic sorority could provide an opportunity to keep them close to their Catholic roots at a secular institution.

In 1909, Father Edward D. Kelly, a Catholic priest and the pastor of the university’s student chapel organized Omega Upsilon. He believed that the Catholic women at the university should have the opportunity to belong to an organization  that “resembled the Catholic homes from which they came.”

After Father Kelly left campus and became the Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, Omega Upsilon was struggling.  There were no alumnae to guide the organization. Bishop Kelly’s vision that the Catholic women at Michigan should have a place to call their own was still alive even though he was not on campus. He enlisted the assistance of Amelia McSweeney, a 1898 University of Michigan alumna. Together with seven Omega Upsilon alumnae, plans were made to establish a new organization, Theta Phi Alpha.

The Founders of Theta Phi Alpha

There are two sets of sisters among the Theta Phi Alpha founders, the Ryans and the Caugheys. The founders are Amelia McSweeney, Mildred M. Connely, May C. Ryan, Selma Gilday, Camilla Ryan Sutherland, Helen Ryan Quinlan, Katrina Caughey Ward, Dorothy Caughey Phalan, Otilia Leuchtweis O’Hara, and Eva Stroh Bauer Everson.  Seven of them were Omega Upsilon alumnae and two were undergraduate members of Omega Upsilon.

 

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Happy Founders’ Day, Pi Beta Phi!

Posted on April 28, 2022 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Pi Beta Phi was founded on April 28, 1867, at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois by 12 female students. The chapter, along with all its counterparts, was forced to close in the late 1870s because of anti-fraternity sentiments. Luckily, extension has taken place early on, including the second chapter founded at Iowa Wesleyan University on December 21, 1868. Alpha Chapter existed sub rosa through the early 1880s, but a grand council governance structure was approved in 1882.

Its 13th convention took place in conjunction with the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Sessions took place in the evening so that attendees could visit the fair exhibits during the day.

Syracuse University was the site of the 1901 convention. One of the attendees at the 1901 convention was future First Lady Grace Goodhue (Coolidge), who was the delegate from her chapter at the University of Vermont.

Because the 1893 convention was such a memorable one and it took place in conjunction with the exposition, there was a feeling at the 1901 convention that the next one should take place at the same time as the Louisiana Purchase exposition which was planned for St Louis in 1903. Elizabeth Gamble was elected Grand President at the 1901 convention and she jumped into her Pi Phi duties. She was Pi Phi’s representative at the first NPC meeting which took place in 1902 in Chicago.

She contacted Gratia Woodside, a recent alumna of the Missouri Alpha chapter who lived in Salem, Missouri. Gamble asked Woodside to  be the Convention Guide for the 1903 convention and help with the convention planning in St. Louis.

Woodside agreed and the adage of if you need something done find a busy person was evident and true. The daughter and granddaughter of judges, Woodside studied the law and was a practicing attorney. Woodside had been admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of Missouri in June 1900. She wrote an interesting article that appeared in an early Arrow about law as a profession for women. Of the woman lawyer Woodside said she:

must be prepared to do the trivial, petty things, when she longs for the complicated-to straighten out marital infelicities when she longs for the intricacies of great problems. She must keep a cool head, be slow to anger, and must never let her sympathy run away with her judgment. She must be a good judge of human nature, and able to handle all sorts of people in such a way as to get the most out of them with the least friction. There is another thing that will not effect the woman lawyer of the future, but which the one of today has to contend with, and that is the notoriety that is forced upon her. She must be prepared to be an object of curiosity,-to try her cases before an audience that is there for the expressed purpose of ‘hearing a woman lawyer,’ and she must either actually be, or must appear unconscious of it all.

Although it was planned for 1903, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition did not take place until 1904. And so it was, too, with the Pi Beta Phi convention. It was three years before the Pi Phis met again.

The convention took place at the Forest Park University Hotel from June 29 through July 1, 1904. Forest Park University existed until the 1920s when the fabulous building was torn down.

The 1904 Pi Beta Phi Convention body in front of the Forest Park University building where the convention took place.

There were two sessions each day, one in the morning at 10 and in the afternoon at 2. Four of the founders – Emma Brownlee Kilgore, Libbie Brook Gaddis, Fannie Whitenack Libbey and Jennie Horne Turnbull. A report in The Arrow described the convention:

With an enthusiasm as fresh and spontaneous as they had for the fraternity in its eastly fays as I.C. Sorosis, they told for the delight of the younger members stories of their college days, and of the beginnings of Pi Beta Phi. Beyond the joy of knowing personally some of our founders, each Pi Phi felt a redoubled interest and pride in her fraternity in learning something of its early history through the reminiscences of the ladies of Monmouth chapter…..

After the girls had returned to the hotel, many information meetings were held in their rooms at which girls from five or six chapters were represented. Here the different customs of each college were discussed, as well as relative merits of the other fraternities. It was at these little ‘gabfests’ as one girl termed them, that the closest friendships were formed. The girls had an opportunity to know one another well, in going to the exposition together. The Pi Phi whistle was heard everywhere, and one was continually meeting girls wearing a knot of wine and blue.

The 1915 convention took place in Berkeley, California, during the Panama Pacific International Exposition. It was the first time the Pi Phis used a special train to convention.

 

 

 

 

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Happy Founders’ Day, Tri Sigma!

Posted on April 20, 2022 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Sigma Sigma Sigma was founded on April 20, 1898, at the State Female Normal School in Farmville, Virginia (now Longwood University). The founders are Lucy Wright, Margaret Batten, Elizabeth Watkins, Louise Davis, Martha Trent Featherston, Lelia Scott, Isabella Merrick, and Sallie Michie.

On April 14, 1904, Mabel Lee Walton was initiated as a charter member of the Sigma Sigma Sigma chapter at Randolph Macon Woman’s College in Lynchburg, Virginia. Her life was dedicated to advancing her sorority. She was Tri Sigma’s third National President and she served for 34 continuous years, from 1913 through 1947, and she was named President Emerita in 1956.

The December 1913 Triangle contains a greeting from Walton and its words are as true today as they were more than a century ago. They can also be applied to all of us who wear badges of sisterhood. She wrote:

TO THE SORORITY:

A word of greeting at the beginning to officers, chapters, and alumnae!

A Sigma Sigma Sigma never outgrows her usefulness to her Sorority — has this occurred to you? While she is in school she is a very influential personage. She is one of a number that forms a unit — which unit makes a chapter — a part of a whole. And if that girl does not play an important part in chapter affairs the fault is largely hers.

After leaving school a Sigma Sigma Sigma becomes an individual member. She acts entirely for herself. If she fails in this obligation which she deliberately took upon herself, the fault is wholly hers.

If every girl who wears the Sigma Sigma Sigma emblem would work earnestly for her Sorority, what a mighty band we would be! What a force we could prove to the sorority world! One member can never take the place of another — YOU have a work no other can perform. If you fail to do your part, the duty falls on other shoulders, willing, perhaps, to do extra work, but the question is, are you willing to stand by and see others doing what you know you should do yourself?

Let this mark a new era for the Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority. Let each one do her part in the upbuilding of her Sorority. Success, unbounded success, will be our reward! Is not this a priceless prize worth working for?

Mabel Lee Walton

 

 

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Happy Founders’ Day, Chi Omega!

Posted on April 5, 2022 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Chi Omega was founded on April 5, 1895 at the University of Arkansas. Ina May Boles, Jean Vincenheller, Jobelle Holcombe, and Alice Simonds, with guidance from Fayetteville dentist, Dr. Charles Richardson, a Kappa Sigma, created the organization. Dr. Richardson was known as “Sis Doc” to generations of Psi Chapter members (the founding chapter at Arkansas is known as the Psi Chapter) and he is counted as a founder. He crafted Chi Omega’s first badge out of dental gold.

In trying to find something to write about for Chi Omega’s Founders’ Day, I found this snippet about Emmie Lela Gramling in a 1905 Eleusis, She was:

born in Atlanta, Ga., where she lived until entering Wesleyan College, Macon, Ga., in 1897. In 1900 she entered the Freshman Class of Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, where she graduated with an A.B. degree. She took a leading part in college affairs, was president all four years of the Class of 1904, a champion basketball player, and was voted the most beautiful girl in school. She was initiated into Chi Omega by Sigma Chapter in January, 1902, and held offices in the chapter.

When I went looking for more information about her, I found this wonderful post on the Chi Omega website. Turns out that when she was at Wesleyan College, she was a member of the Adelphean Society. Several years after she left Wesleyan, the Adelphean Society took on Greek letters Alpha Delta Pi.

Photo courtesy of Chi Omega

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Uretta Hinkhouse, P.E.O., #WHM2022

Posted on March 31, 2022 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Uretta Amis Hinkhouse was an alumna of Hunter College in New York City. After graduation she spent some time working for the Y.W.C.A. in the city but then joined her parents in Egypt. Her father was working for Standard Oil of Egypt at the time. She taught in Cairo at the United Presbyterian Mission’s American College for Girls and the Ezbekish Girls School.

The August 12, 1921, edition of the Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette contained the headline “Meet besides pyramids, marry at Hopkinton.” Uretta and Paul Hinkhouse were wed on August 10, 1921, in Iowa. The ceremony was officiated by the groom’s father. The couple met by chance in the shadows of the pyramids. At that time, Paul was a term teacher  in Assiut College. According to the newspaper wedding announcement:

At the end of his term he traveled extensively over India, Siam, China, Korea and Japan. He was on the ill-fated Mongolia that stuck a German mine 25 miles out from Bombay and sank in 18 minutes. On coming home he spent some time in Columbia University specializing in journalism and is connected with the Continent in Chicago writing the world editorials.

The couple lived in New Jersey but were world travelers. She was a member of the Women’s Press Club of New York City, the National Farm and Garden Association as well as past president of the Women’s Presbyterian Society of Morris and Orange. In addition, she was a YWCA trustee in the New Jersey cities of Orange and Maplewood.

Honolulu Star Bulletin, January 23, 1957

An article in the May 22, 1958, edition of the Quad-City Times described her as having had  “a distinguished career in clubwork.” She was a dedicated member of P.E.O. and served as president of New Jersey State Chapter and was chair of the International Peace Scholarship Committee. From 1946-1953, she was a member of P.E.O.’s Peace Participation Committee and  served as an accredited United Nations observer.

As second vice-president she was the official visitor to the 59th convention of the Illinois State Chapter of P.E.O. That convention was held on the campus of Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the Student Center. She was installed as president of the Supreme Chapter of P.E.O. in 1963.

Paul Hinkhouse, president of Hinkhouse Lithography in New York City, died in early November 1963. Uretta died on June 13, 1964 at the age of 70. She never had the opportunity to preside at the 1965 biennial convention of the P.E.O. Sisterhood.

A garden at the P.E.O. Executive Office and Centennial Center in Des Moines is named for her. Built in 1971, the Hinkhouse Center at P.E.O.’s Cottey College in Nevada, Missouri, honors the couple.

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