Tag Archives: Pi Beta Phi

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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OTD in 1905, Calvin Coolidge Married Grace Goodhue

At 2:30 p.m. on October 4, 1905 in in the parlor of the home of Andrew and Lemira Goodhue, with 25 friends and relatives in attendance, the Goodhue’s daughter Grace, a Pi Beta Phi, married Calvin Coolidge, a young lawyer … Continue reading

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125 Years of Illini Sorority Life

Sorority life at the University of Illinois began 125 years ago this fall. It was a race between Pi Beta Phi and Kappa Alpha Theta to install the first chapter.

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A Sorority Woman Testifies Before the Senate After the March 3, 1913, Suffrage March

A Suffrage Parade took place on March 3, 1913, in Washington, D.C. Among the women who marched were sorority/fraternity women.  Pi Beta Phi’s former Grand President Emma Harper Turner was one of the marchers joining the George Washington University collegians … Continue reading

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