Category Archives: Colleges and Universities

S.S. Monmouth Duo – Rowing at the 2012 Olympics

On Thursday, August 2, 2012, the United States the women’s eight crew successfully defended its gold medal at Eton Dorney Lake. The team has been undefeated since 2006. On Sunday, July 29, 2012, the crew won its heat against Australia by … Continue reading

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George Rapp of Carbondale, Illinois, Noted Architect and Illini Sigma Chi

In the 1920s, the Chicago firm of Rapp and Rapp designed hundreds of buildings. Theaters were its specialty. George Leslie Rapp, a member of Sigma Chi’s Kappa Kappa Chapter at the University of Illinois, and his brother Cornelius Ward (“C.W.”) … Continue reading

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“My Dear Mrs. Sisson…Wouldn’t it be a good plan for you to look some of them up?”

“There are local ladies societies at Barnard (Alpha Omicron Pi), Wellesley (Alpha Kappa Gamma), U. of Miss (Sigma Tau), U of Ark (Chi Omega), Wesleyan (Phi Sigma), Dickerson (sic) (Phi Gamma Zeta), Sigma Kappa (Colby) – Wouldn’t it be a … Continue reading

Posted in Alpha Omicron Pi, Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities, Barnard College, Beta Theta Pi, Chi Omega, Fran Favorite, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Mary Love Collins, Pi Beta Phi, Sigma Kappa | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on “My Dear Mrs. Sisson…Wouldn’t it be a good plan for you to look some of them up?”

DePauw’s 1870s Samurai Fraternity Men Who Were Betas and Dekes

In 1877, four young Japanese men arrived in Greencastle, Indiana. They became students at the alma mater of their teacher, an American missionary. They, too, like their mentor, became fraternity men. Two joined Delta Kappa Epsilon and the other two … Continue reading

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The History of Women’s Fraternities at the University of California at Berkeley from 1880-1902

This is from one of the sections of my dissertation. It is from the chapter that looks at individual campuses that had either five, six, or all of the seven founding National Panhellenic Conference organizations prior to the 1902 founding … Continue reading

Posted in Alpha Phi, Delta Delta Delta, Fran Favorite, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, National Panhellenic Conference, University of California at Berkeley, Women's Fraternities | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Back Home Again in Ann Arbor – Happy Centennial Convention Theta Phi Alpha!

This week, from July 10-15,  Theta Phi Alpha is celebrating its Centennial in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the place where it was founded. How fitting that an organization founded by a Catholic Bishop for Catholic women began at a state institution … Continue reading

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The Only President Born on the 4th of July. And He’s a Phi Gamma Delta!

Calvin Coolidge, a Phi Gamma Delta, and Grace Goodhue Coolidge, a Pi Beta Phi, were both natives of Vermont. They married in the Goodhue family home in Burlington. Although they spent their married life living in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. … Continue reading

Posted in Amherst College, Calvin Coolidge, Grace Coolidge, Northampton. Massachusetts, Phi Gamma Delta, Pi Beta Phi | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Only President Born on the 4th of July. And He’s a Phi Gamma Delta!

Calvin Coolidge, Pride of the Amherst College Phi Gamma Delta Chapter

1920 was a very busy year for Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge, a Phi Gamma Delta from Amherst College’s Class of 1895. On April 8, he was one of the speakers at a dinner meeting of the College’s Central Massachusetts Alumni … Continue reading

Posted in Amherst College, Calvin Coolidge, GLO, Grace Coolidge, Greek-letter Organization, Phi Gamma Delta, Pi Beta Phi | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Fun Time for Fraternal Archivists!

The Student Life and Culture Archival Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of my favorite places to visit. I just returned from a conference for fraternity and sorority archivists. Being among kindred spirits is always a … Continue reading

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The History of Women’s Fraternities at Northwestern University through 1902

  Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois is another of the campuses where the seven founding NPC members had established chapters prior 1902. Northwestern University was established under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal church.  It was chartered by the state … Continue reading

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