Category Archives: Pi Beta Phi

8/3/1923 – Calvin and Grace Coolidge Become President and First Lady

On August 3, 1923, Americans were waking to the news that Warren Harding had died suddenly, late in the evening on August 2, after he became ill in a San Francisco hotel. The Vice-President, Calvin Coolidge, and his wife Grace, … Continue reading

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Happy Founders’ Day, Pi Beta Phi!

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 … Continue reading

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Carole Ashkinaze, Pi Beta Phi, #NotableSororityWomen, #WHM2022

Carole Ashkinaze was raised in Malverne, New York on Long Island. It was said she wanted to be a journalist from the time she was in grade school and worked on a camp newsletter. Like many Long Islanders, she went … Continue reading

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A Famous (Unheard of) Writer with a Sorority Connection

Here’s another post by my Pi Beta Phi sister, Penny Proctor. Quick – which writer from Indiana published six novels and over 200 short stories in popular magazines between 1924 and the early 1950s? Drawing a blank? Here’s a hint: … Continue reading

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Mildred Thrasher Griffin: The Story Behind the Badge

This post was written by my  friend Penny Proctor. She is an initiate of the Pi Beta Phi chapter at Hillsdale College. Thank you, Penny, for sharing this story. When is a badge more than a badge? When it is … Continue reading

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Madge Oberholtzer, Pi Beta Phi, #NotableSororityWomen

Madge Oberholtzer was an initiate of the Indiana Gamma Chapter of Pi Beta Phi at Butler College (now University). Her death helped bring about the downfall of D.C. Stephenson and the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana. Its author is an … Continue reading

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With Thoughts of Mary Matthews on the Purdue Pi Phi Centennial

I love attending chapter anniversaries. There is nothing better than to see conversations start where they left off decades ago as if no time had transpired.  When I was asked if I would speak at the 100th anniversary of the … Continue reading

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Happy Founders’ Day, Pi Beta Phi!

Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, opened in 1856. Students who did not live in town needed to find lodging and board with local families. Ada Bruen and Libbie Brook, friends from Henderson County, found a room to share in Jacob … Continue reading

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Leona Baumgartner, Ph.D., M.D., Pi Beta Phi, #NotableSororityWoman, #WHM2021

Leona Baumgartner became a member of Pi Beta Phi at the University of Kansas where her father was a member of the faculty. She immersed herself in activities including acting in a number of theatrical productions and managing the K.U. … Continue reading

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Janice Martin Benario, WAVE Code Breaker and Pi Beta Phi

Yesterday, a friend sent me a link to this article which appeared in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  Janice Martin (Benario) was a 1942 initiate of the Pi Beta Phi chapter at Goucher College. As a student, one of her professors recommended … Continue reading

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