Categories
-
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.
Subscribe to Blog via Email
Pages
- #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
Founders Who Were Sisters First and Then Became Sorority Sisters
Sisters, Sisters! Six of the 26 National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) women’s fraternities/sororities have a pair of real sisters among their founders. Marguerite and Estelle Shepard were students at Syracuse University when they helped found Alpha Gamma Delta. The sisters were … Continue reading
Recruitment, OK! New Members, OK! Where? Oklahoma, OK!!
The University of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma State University Panhellenic Associations have completed sorority recruitment. Congratulations to the new members of these organizations. Enjoy your time as a collegiate member and cherish the fact that membership is for a lifetime. … Continue reading
Q. “Which Is the Best Fraternity? A. “And There You Are!”
The academic year is gearing up on campuses all across the country. For some, it means that fraternity and sorority recruitment time is near. Best wishes to the young men and women making decisions as to which organization they will … Continue reading
Women’s Fraternities, Sororities, and Dr. Frank Smalley
“Why are some National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) groups women’s fraternities and some are sororities?” is a question I am often asked. It’s a tough one because the 26 NPC organizations are typically referred to as sororities in everyday conversation (i.e. … Continue reading
“Baconian Biliteral Cipher, on the Estate of Colonel Fabyan,” National Security, and Elizebeth Smith Friedman
“Elizebeth Smith, ’15, and Wm. F. Friedman, Cornell, ’13. May 21, (1917). At home. Riverbank, Geneva, Ill.. where both are engaged on the Baconian Biliteral Cipher, on the estate of Colonel Fabyan,” is the notice of the marriage of a … Continue reading
1839 – on the Eighth Day of the Eighth Month at Nine in the Evening – Happy 174th Birthday, Beta Theta Pi!
August 13, 1839, was Commencement Day at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Five days earlier, on August 8, at the first official meeting, eight young men established Beta Theta Pi, the first men’s fraternity founded west of the Allegheny Mountains. … Continue reading
Sorority Members Rush To and Fro in the Summer of 1910
Has Fran finally lost it? Why is she using this picture? It looks like a hot mess all the way around. In 2013, taking a candid picture is not at all noteworthy. But back in the summer of 1910 when … Continue reading
“The Best Man/Woman in the Chapter” With Thoughts of Thomas Arkle Clark
One of my all-time favorite magazines is Banta’s Greek Exchange. Sadly, it has not been published since 1973. For 60 years Banta’s Greek Exchange printed information from fraternity and sorority magazines along with feature articles and other items of interest to … Continue reading
8/3/1923 Calvin Coolidge, ΦΓΔ, and Grace Coolidge, ΠBΦ, Their First Full Day as President and First Lady
Ninety years have passed since Grace Goodhue Coolidge went to bed the evening of August 2, 1923, as the wife of the Vice President. She was awakened in the middle of the night, dressed and went downstairs to join her … Continue reading
E. Jean Nelson Penfield, KKG, and Carrie Chapman Catt, ΠΒΦ, the Monmouth Duo of Suffragists
Eliza Jean Nelson (Penfield), who was born and raised in Greencastle, Indiana, graduated from DePauw University in 1893. While a student, she became a member of the Iota chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. She attended the 1891 Panhellenic meeting in … Continue reading
