When I pledged the Pi Beta Phi chapter at Syracuse University, I learned that the organization was founded in Monmouth, Illinois. As a native Long Islander, with a New Yorker’s view of the world, I likely would not have been able to locate the state of Illinois on a map, let alone find the location of Monmouth. It was just somewhere to the west of New York.
I made my first visit to Holt House in 1991, after the St. Louis convention. It was a post convention trip and several buses of convention attendees added an extra day to their convention fun. This year Pi Phi’s convention will be held in Chicago and there is another post-convention trip to Monmouth.
Monmouth is located in northwestern Illinois, about 20 or so miles from the Mississippi River. Monmouth College was opened in 1856. Students who did not live in town needed to find lodging and board from local families. Ada Bruen and Libbie Brook, friends from Henderson County, found a room to share in Jacob Holt’s home. That southwest second-floor bedroom is where Pi Beta Phi was founded on April 28, 1867. The name they chose for their “women’s fraternity” was I. C. Sorosis. They modeled their organization on the men’s fraternities that were then at Monmouth. Its grip was accompanied by the motto “Pi Beta Phi.”
Chapters began using the Greek letters prior to the official name change at the 1888 convention. The first edition of The Arrow has “Organ of Pi Beta Phi” on its masthead even though it began publishing three years before the name change was official. The chapter at the University of Kansas was charged with the magazine’s publishing and they were one of the chapters making use of the Greek letters.
Pi Beta Phi’s twelve founders included two sisters, Emma Brownlee (Kilgore) and Clara Brownlee (Hutchinson), and their friends Ada Bruen (Grier), Nancy Black (Wallace), Inez Smith (Soule), Fannie Whitenack (Libbey), Libbie Brook (Gaddis), Rosa Moore, Jennie Horne (Turnbull), Margaret Campbell, Jennie Nicol, M.D., and Fannie Thomson.
I have never taken any of those facebook quizzes, just as a matter of course. I made an exception to my policy for the “Which Pi Phi Founder Are You?'” which debuted for Pi Beta Phi’s Founders’ Day, today.
Apparently I am Emma Brownlee Kilgore. She was our first President. It is for that reason that the Brownlee family crest is a part of the Pi Beta Phi coat of arms. The blazing sun with the word lux, Latin for light, in the center is from the Monmouth College seal. In the eagle’s right talon is the monogram “IC,” and the left talon holds the arrow of Pi Beta Phi. This signifies the absolute identity between I.C. Sorosis and Pi Beta Phi Fraternity. The coat of arms was adopted as the official Fraternity crest at the 1912 Evanston Convention. Happy Founders’ Day, my dear Pi Beta Phi!
Pi Beta Phi Crest
The title of this post, “Ring ching ching Ho hippi hi Ra ro Arrow Pi Beta Phi !” is the official yell of Pi Beta Phi. It was adopted in 1892, when yells were part of everyday fraternity life. This was, of course, pre-cell phone and hearing a yell or whistle (see http://wp.me/p20I1i-q7 ) was a way of communicating with members and showing pride in an organization.
© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2015. 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/
