The Philomathean Society was founded on January 4, 1852, at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. Mary Ann DuPont (Lines) likely came up with the idea. She joined with Mary Elizabeth Myrick (Daniel) and Martha Bibb Hardaway (Redding) and they are the founders of Phi Mu. Founders’ Day is celebrated on March 4, the day the new society was announced. In 1904, the Philomathean Society became Phi Mu and established its second chapter at Hollins College in Virginia.
Ruth Levensalor Crowley
Ruth Levensalor (Crowley) was born on January 21, 1918 in Sebec, Maine. After graduating from Foxcroft Academy, she entered Colby College where she joined Phi Mu. She spent two years at Colby and then enrolled in the Boston University School of Law. She graduated with an LL.B.(Bachelor of Law) in 1941. She was also a member of Kappa Beta Pi legal sorority.
Colby Echo, October 21, 1936
Aglaia of Phi Mu, January 1940
Admitted to the Maine Bar in April 1941, she began practicing law. On October 5, 1942, she married Elmer Francis Crowley, a mechanical engineer, from Greenville, Maine. After the ceremony and reception, they left “immediately for a short trip to New York. The bride chose for travel a three-piece brown tweed suit with white blouse and brown accessories. Her corsage was of roses and gardenias.”
Bangor Daily News, October 7, 1942
The couple lived in Greenville for 17 years where Crowley practiced law in her home and raised her son William.
Maine Alumnus, October 1947
Crowley, the first woman in the state of Maine to be appointed Assistant Attorney General, was assigned to the Maine Department of Health and Welfare. From 1957 until 1977, the Crowleys lived in Augusta, Maine. In 1969, Crowley became chairman of the National Conference on Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of (child) Support. She was also a charter member and second president of the American Association of Welfare Attorneys.
The couple spent their retirement years living in Florida. They traveled extensively visiting six of the seven continents. and more than 50 countries. After her husband’s death in 2002, Crowley moved back to Maine. She died on March 21, 2009 at the age of 91.
From the Sebec Lake Bears House Museum Facebook page
