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There are many posts on this blog. Use the search button to find the posts about your organization.
Welcome!
Welcome! Chances are good you found this blog by searching for something about fraternities or sororities.
I was the last person anyone would have suspected of joining a sorority in college. I am sure I would have agreed with them, too.
When I made my way to Syracuse University, I saw the houses with the Greek letters that edged Walnut Park, and wished I could tour them. My roommate suggested I sign up for rush (as it was then called, today it’s known as recruitment) and go through the house tour round and then drop out of rush. It sounded like a plan. I didn’t realize that I would end up feeling at home at one of the chapters. And that I would become a member.
In this blog I will share the history of GLOs and other topics. I wrote a dissertation on “Coeducation and the History of Women’s Fraternities 1867-1902.″ It chronicles the growth of the system and the birth of the National Panhellenic Conference.
My Master’s thesis details the history of the fraternity system at Southern Illinois University Carbondale from 1948-1960. The dates are significant ones and the thesis is available on the top menu.
I have done research at the Student Life Archives and have written several histories of University of Illinois fraternity chapters for the Society for the Preservation of Greek Housing.
Thanks for stopping by.
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- #notablesororitywomen ALL IN ONE PLACE
- BIO AND PUBLICATIONS
- Fraternity and Sorority Members Competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics
- GRACE GOODHUE COOLIDGE – A LOYAL PI BETA PHI
- HERE’S TO THE FRATERNITY HAT BANDS!
- PANHELLENIC HOUSE TO BEEKMAN TOWER HOTEL
- POSTS ABOUT THE P.E.O. SISTERHOOD
- SORORITY WOMEN COMPETING IN MISS USA 2026 AND MISS TEEN USA 2026
- SORORITY WOMEN ON THE ROAD TO MISS AMERICA 2027 (2026 STATE WINNERS)
- SORORITY WOMEN WHO HAVE WON EMMY AWARDS
- SORORITY WOMEN WHO HAVE WON MISS AMERICA AND MISS USA
- STATE GOVERNORS WHO HAVE BEEN SORORITY WOMEN
- THE ILLINOIS STATE CHAPTER OF P.E.O. AND THE LULU CORKHILL WILLIAMS FRIENDSHIP FUND
- The State by State Tour of Graves, Founding Sites, and HQs for NPC GLOs
- U.S. PRESIDENTS AND FRATERNITY MEN – FIRST LADIES AND SORORITY WOMEN
Posts about #NotableSororityWomen
10 + 2 Sorority Women with Pulitzer Prizes
10 Authors Who Are Sorority Women (Hint – Caddie Woodlawn, Kinsey Millhone, Atticus Finch, Too)
10 GLO Authors for Children’s Book Week
10 Sorority Women from the Golden Age of Television
Doctors Who Wore Badges: Fraternity Women in Medicine 1867-1902
Female Senators and Their Sorority Affiliation – 2019 Edition
For International Women’s Day, Another 10 Amazing NPC Women!
Fraternity Women Who Were Lawyers, 1867-1902 (When Women Could Not Vote!)
Hidden Figures on Alpha Kappa Alpha Founders’ Day
Sorority Women Writing Stories Whose Characters Are Sorority Women
NPC
Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Delta Pi
Alpha Epsilon Phi
Ruth Bader Ginsburg and http://wp.me/p20I1i-1Mj
Alpha Gamma Delta
Alpha Omicron Pi
Grace Humiston
Alpha Phi
Alpha Sigma Alpha
Alpha Sigma Tau
Elsie Katherine Bergegrun, M.D.
Alpha Xi Delta
Chi Omega
Delta Delta Delta
Dr. “Mattibelle” Boger Shattuck
Delta Gamma
Carlotta Joaquina Maury, Ph.D.
Delta Phi Epsilon
Delta Zeta
Crown Princess Martha of Norway
Gamma Phi Beta
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Delta
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Meghan Markle, HRH The Dutchess of Sussex
Phi Mu
Phi Sigma Sigma
Pi Beta Phi
Mary Elizabeth Lasher Barnette
Marguerite “Peg” Lindsley (Arnold)
Sigma Delta Tau
Sigma Kappa
Sigma Sigma Sigma
Theta Phi Alpha
Mildred “Millie” Lonergan McAuliffe
Zeta Tau Alpha
NPHC
Alpha Kappa Alpha
Delta Sigma Theta
Sigma Gamma Rho
Zeta Phi Beta
Category Archives: Fran Favorite
Calling All Calling Cards!
This is a page I found in a 1960s scrapbook from a northeastern university (I’d offer a prize for guessing the campus, but it’s way too obvious!). The page is titled “Our Tea.” Each chapter’s representative left a card at … Continue reading
Happy Birthday Sarah Ida Shaw Martin!
Sarah Ida Shaw Martin holds a unique place in the women’s fraternity world. Not only was she a founder of Delta Delta Delta, but she was also an influential voice in the history of several other women’s fraternities/sororities, most notably … Continue reading
“Let Us Start This Year Right” – Timeless and Still True
“Start the year with a resolution to make scholarship paramount, and then do it. Fraternities are judged by the outside world more by their scholarship record than by their array of captains, managers, and social stars. An efficient chapter does … Continue reading
Sorority Hankies – “As the Late Queen Said: ‘We Are Not Amused!'”
While doing research for my dissertation I came across this newspaper ad; it was reprinted in a 1930s Key of Kappa Kappa Gamma. I made a copy and put it in a file. I had no idea that 12 years later … Continue reading
A Bishop’s Role in NPC History – Theta Phi Alpha, 8/30/1912
A few men have had roles in the founding of National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) women’s fraternities/sororities. Dr. Wellesley P. Coddington, George Banta, and Dr. Charles Richardson are some that quickly come to mind. Of that small fraternity of men involved in … Continue reading
ΘΥ, ΒΣΟ, ΦΩΠ, the 1939-41 NPC Executive Committee – Whatever Happened to Them?
The 1937 National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) meeting took place at the Beekman Tower (Panhellenic), the New York City hotel built by NPC women, originally for NPC women.* The meeting was chaired by Harriet Williamson Tuft, Beta Phi Alpha. The next … Continue reading
The West Baden Springs Hotel, the “Eighth Wonder of the World” and the Site of Several Fraternity Conventions
This past Saturday, August 24, a tweet from Phi Kappa Tau noted that “On this day in 1926, Phi Kappa Tau’s first convention at a resort hotel took place in West Baden, Ind.” In the 1920s, West Baden Springs was … Continue reading
U.S. Vice Presidents Who Belong to Fraternities and Sororities
How many U.S. Vice Presidents have been in a fraternity or sorority? A goodly number, it turns out. Here is a list of Vice Presidents since 1869,* when Schuyler Colfax became the first fraternity man to become Vice President. I’ve … Continue reading
Rah, Rah, Sis Boom Bah! The Birth of College Sports and the NCAA
A two-mile, eight-oared barge race between two teams in 1852 was the first recorded American intercollegiate competition. Harvard defeated Yale on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire and their athletic rivalry began. The College Rowing Association was founded six years later by Brown, … Continue reading
