Tag Archives: University of Illinois

Of Dance Cards and Scrapbooks

Yesterday, the Student Life and Culture Archives at the University of Illinois posted a link to a scrapbook in its collection.  As one who has been on the Illinois campus and has studied the history of its fraternities and sororities, … Continue reading

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11/22/33, Mildred McCann Balfour, Mrs. Lloyd G., Became a Pi Phi

November 22, 1933, 11/22/33, was hopefully an important and happy one in the life of Mildred McCann Balfour, the wife of Lloyd G. Balfour. On that day, she became an alumna initiate of the Illinois Zeta Chapter of Pi Beta … Continue reading

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Elkhart, Illinois, Remembers a Sigma Chi

The Elkhart, Illinois, exit off of I-55 in Illinois, just north of Springfield, has intrigued me ever since I wrote a history of Sigma Chi’s Kappa Kappa Chapter at the University of Illinois. For five seasons of football games at Knox … Continue reading

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Agnes Nixon, Alpha Chi Omega and Soap Opera Titan

Yesterday, Agnes Eckhardt Nixon died. She is considered the Queen of Modern Soap Operas. Unlike some of her soap opera characters, there will never be anyone to replace her. Nixon became a member of the Northwestern University chapter of Alpha … Continue reading

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Museum Mystery, Chi Omega Trending, and the New/Old Gymnasium

It is official. The #WHM posts nearly did me in as they were combined with a to-do list that has its own zip code. But I loved writing about those “Unsung Heroines.” April has several Founders’ Days that I want … Continue reading

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#WHM – M. Esther Funke, Theta Phi Alpha and Lawyer

Marie Esther Funke was born on June 29, 1906 in Edwardsville, Illinois, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri. She died in Edwardsville almost 60 years later. She is buried there in the Calvary Catholic Church cemetary. Her professional name was … Continue reading

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#WHM – Myrtle Fahsbender, KΔ, Lighting Expert

I was given a tip on Myrtle Fahsbender, a 1927 initiate of Kappa Delta’s Sigma Omicron chapter at the University of Illinois. I was told that she would be a fascinating woman to research. And she was. When I started … Continue reading

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#WHM – Gladys Gilpatrick, AΔΠ, and the Pillar in Memorial Stadium

March is Women’s History Month (#WHM and #WHM2016), and it is my goal to highlight an outstanding sorority woman each day in March. Please check back every day to see who is in the spotlight for that particular day. I … Continue reading

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Beta at Kansas, THON at Penn State, and a Phi Mu from Syracuse

I’ve been away for a week on a research project, my mind is swimming with places, dates, and the faces of those long gone. One of the most interesting tidbits I picked up last week was that Emma Patton Noble, … Continue reading

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On Phi Psi’s Founders’ Day, the Third Williams Brother

Phi Kappa Psi was founded on February 19, 1852 in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, at Jefferson College (now Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania). Phi Kappa Psi’s founders are William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore. For the last few … Continue reading

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