Category Archives: Amherst College

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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Silent Cal, My Favorite Phi Gamma Delta, on Its Founders’ Day

Calvin Coolidge is my favorite Phi Gamma Delta, hands down. It is my feeling the press did not understand the Vermont zeitgeist of the 30th President, but that is neither here nor there because it is Fiji’s Founders’ Day. On … Continue reading

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On the White House Lawn with the First Lady, Grace Goodhue Coolidge

On April 11, 1924, one of the most unique events took place at the White House. It did not involve the President, a Phi Gamma Delta from Amherst College, and he was not a part of the festivities. It was … Continue reading

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95 Years Ago a Pi Phi and a Phi Gam Became FLOTUS and POTUS

I should call this blog “I get by with a little help from my friends.” This time it was a post by the Phi Gamma Delta Archives (and Archivist Towner Blackstock) that reminded me about the events of the early … Continue reading

Posted in Amherst College, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Fran Favorite, Grace Coolidge, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Phi Gamma Delta, Pi Beta Phi, The Arrow of Pi Beta Phi, University of Vermont, Yale University | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on 95 Years Ago a Pi Phi and a Phi Gam Became FLOTUS and POTUS

Sometimes You Can Go Home Again and a Happy Founders’ Day Phi Gamma Delta

I spent Friday and Saturday in Monmouth, Illinois, where Pi Beta Phi was founded on April 28, 1867. I was able to stand in the very room where the organization came to life 150 years ago and I shared that … Continue reading

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Calvin Coolidge and Teddy Roosevelt, a Phi Gam and DEKE, January Deaths

I realized this morning that the two U.S. Presidents whose homes I visited died on January 5 and January 6, in different years. The Calvin Coolidge homestead is in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. It is the boyhood home of the 30th … Continue reading

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Longwood University, Home of the Farmville Four, to Host Veep Debate

Tonight’s Vice-Presidential debate will take place at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. Longwood has a prominent place in the history of sororities. Ever heard the phrase “Farmville Four”? It refers to the four NPC groups founded at the Virginia’s State Female … Continue reading

Posted in Alpha Sigma Alpha, Amherst College, Association of Education Sororities, Calvin Coolidge, Fran Favorite, Kappa Delta, Longwood University, National Panhellenic Conference, Phi Gamma Delta, Pi Beta Phi, Sigma Sigma Sigma, University of Vermont, Zeta Tau Alpha | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Longwood University, Home of the Farmville Four, to Host Veep Debate

Happy 168 Years, Phi Gamma Delta!

Phi Gamma Delta was founded on May 1, 1848.  The “Immortal Six” – John Templeton McCarty, Samuel Beatty Wilson, James Elliott, Daniel Webster Crofts, Ellis Bailey Gregg and Naaman Fletcher – were students at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, when they founded … Continue reading

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Calvin Coolidge and Kappa Alpha Psi Share January 5th

Two days after her 54th birthday, Grace Goodhue Coolidge became a widow. The 30th President died suddenly on the morning of January 5, 1933. Calvin Coolidge was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta chapter at Amherst College. His wife was … Continue reading

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A Phi Gam Starts a National Tradition, Helped by His Pi Phi Wife

This year’s White House ornament honors the presidency of my favorite First Couple. It was during his administration that the White House Christmas tree tradition began. The White House Historical Association does a great job of telling the story of … Continue reading

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