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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 2025 AND MISS TEEN USA 2025
- SORORITY WOMEN ON THE ROAD TO MISS AMERICA 2026 (2025 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
RIP Betty White, Not a Sorority Woman, but She Played One on TV
Yesterday, when Betty White’s death at nearly 100 years of age was announced, the rumors of her being a sorority woman were surfacing on the Focus on Fraternity History facebook page. The rumors of her being a member of Alpha … Continue reading
Congratulations, Elle Smith, Alpha Delta Pi, Miss USA 2021!
Congratulations the former Miss Kentucky USA, Elle Smith, Alpha Delta Pi, University of Kentucky, who is now Miss USA 2021! She’ll be competing in Miss Universe in two weeks! Hoping to add her name to this list soon! Sorority Women … Continue reading
Rest in Peace, Stephen Sondheim, Beta Theta Pi
Musical genius Stephen Sondheim died on November 26, 2021, at the age of 91. I can watch this clip from Six by Sondheim over and over. Sondheim makes an appearance in the middle of it. The priceless part starts at … Continue reading
Celebrating Tri Delta on Thanksgiving Eve
Delta Delta Delta was founded at Boston University on November 28, 1888, which fell on the day before Thanksgiving that year. Founders’ Day is celebrated on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. In the fall of 1888, four senior women, who had … Continue reading
Happy Founders’ Day, Alpha Sigma Alpha!
Alpha Sigma Alpha was founded on November 15, 1901 at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Its founders had been asked to join some of the other sororities on campus, but they wanted to stay … Continue reading
Gertrude Burch Murchison on Sigma Gamma Rho, Sorority, Inc.’s Founders’ Day
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. was founded on November 12, 1922, in Indianapolis, Indiana by seven young Black school teachers. Sigma Gamma Rho’s founders are Nannie Mae Gahn Johnson, Mary Lou Allison Little, Vivian White Marbury, Bessie M. Downey Martin, … Continue reading
Edith “Eli” Mahier on Gamma Phi Beta’s Founding Day #NotableSororityWomen
The first social event Frances Haven (Moss) attended after enrolling in Syracuse University in 1874 was a church oyster supper. Her father, Dr. Erastus Otis Haven, was recently elected Chancellor of the university. At that supper, she met the man … Continue reading
Happy Founders’ Day, Sigma Kappa!
Sigma Kappa was founded on November 9, 1874, by five young women. They were the only females enrolled at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. The group received a letter from the faculty approving the organization’s petition, which included a constitution … Continue reading
Zeta Chapter on Alpha Sigma Tau’s Founders’ Day
On November 4, 1899, eight young women, Mable Chase, Ruth Dutcher, May Gephart, Harriet Marx, Eva O’Keefe, Adriance Rice, Helene Rice, and Mayene Tracy, formed a sorority at the Michigan State Normal College (now Eastern Michigan University) in Ypsilanti, Michigan. … Continue reading
