Phi Sigma Sigma was founded at Hunter College on November 26, 1913 as Phi Sigma Omega. When it was discovered that the name was already in use, it became Phi Sigma Sigma. Its founders are Lillian Gordon Alpern, Josephine Ellison Breakstone, Fay Chertkoff, Estelle Melnick Cole, Jeanette Lipka Furst, Ethel Gordon Kraus, Shirley Cohen Laufer, Claire Wunder McArdle, Rose Sher Seidman and Gwen Zaliels Snyder.
In the 1940s, during World War II, Phi Sigma Sigma began a fundraiding drive. Its goal was to provide a Red Cross Clubmobile as a way to assist the men who were fighting on the front lines. The Clubmobiles supplied coffee and donuts to the soldiers who were in isolated and remote areas. Women drove the Clubmobiles which looked somewhat like today’s recreational vehicles. It was reported that the women who drove and staffed the Clubmobiles made and served 20,000 donuts per day. The Phi Sigma Sigma Clubmobile was assigned to follow troops in the North African invasion.
The check covering the cost of the Phi Sigma Sigma Clubmobile was presented to the American Red Cross on February 20, 1944. The event took place at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Forty-five collegians, alumnae and national officers attended. Luncheon chairman Kitty Bralow, who had served as National Philanthropy Secretary, led the War Project. Clarisse H. Markowitz, Grand Archon, spoke about Phi Sig’s philanthropic purposes. She told how grateful she was that the War Project had come to fruition.
Later that day, out of town guests were treated to a buffet supper at the Xi chapter house at Temple University.
