A guest post written by Chi Omega’s National Historian, Lyn Harris. Thank you, Lyn!
No celebration of culture is more evident in Chi Omega’s history than is the National Achievement Award. This prestigious honor, the brainchild of Mary Love Collins, National President of Chi Omega from 1910-52, was presented from 1930–58 to a deserving woman who excelled as a leader in the arts, politics, pursuit of human rights, or the theater. Established because women were not being recognized with the top honors of the day (e.g., the Pulitzer, the Nobel), the award was the first given by a national women’s organization for the outstanding achievements of a woman. The award helped dispel the myth that women cannot appreciate the distinguished accomplishments of women.
In lavish fashion, the award, never received by a Chi Omega, was often presented at the White House, as Eleanor Roosevelt herself served on the selection committee. On several occasions, the presentation was made at the Chi Omega Convention, in those days held at the fabulous Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, WV.
The medals were designed by Frances Grimes and were 14 K solid gold disks, 2.75 inches in diameter bearing the image of Demeter, the patron goddess of Chi Omega. Mrs. Collins insisted that Chi Omega’s name not be used in publicity. She repeatedly told the press, the committee and the recipients that it was not the Chi Omega Award, that Chi Omega “simply provided the mechanics.”
The Chi Omega medal is on the lower right. A menu on the left features Margaret Chase Smith’s signature under the seal. On February 18, 1949, Senator Smith became an Honorary Initiate of Sigma Kappa’s Alpha Chapter at Colby College. Senator Smith was the first woman to serve in both houses of the U.S. Congress.
The National Achievement Award recipients included internationally acclaimed anthropologist Margaret Mead and human-rights activist Madame Chiang Kai-shek. The only two National Panhellenic Conference organization members to receive the award were Carrie Chapman Catt, (Pi Beta Phi) women’s suffrage leader and United States Senator from Maine, Margaret Chase Smith (Sigma Kappa).
Mrs. Roosevelt and Madame Chaing Kai Shek, 1942
On February 23, 1951, in her column My Day, Mrs. Roosevelt wrote “I had to leave Hyde Park right after lunch on Wednesday and in the evening I went to Washington. This morning I recorded a number of interviews but the real reason I am here is to attend a meeting at which the Chi Omega Achievement Award for 1950 will be given to Miss Edith Hamilton in the field of literature. Also, the award for 1951 will be presented to Mrs. Anna Rosenberg for her outstanding work in the field of public service.
“I am particularly happy that this award, which is given by women to focus the attention of college students on the achievements of women in various fields, should go this year to my friend, Anna Rosenberg. It is a recognition that women not only admire achievement but dislike certain methods that may be used to try to discredit a patriotic and able public servant.”
Mrs. Roosevelt presents the National Achievement Award to Carrie Chapman Catt. Mrs. Catt’s dress was navy and the corsage was given to her by Pi Beta Phi’s Grand President, Amy Burnham Onken. Miss Onken attended the presentation at the White House.
National Achievement Award Recipients
1930 Frances Grimes,* Arts – sculptor
1931 Florence Rena Sabin, Science
1933 Frances Perkins, Public affairs
1934 Josephine Roche, Public affairs
1935 Alice Hamilton, Science – medical
1936 Katharine Cornell, Arts – actress
1937 Florence E. Allen, Public affairs – Judge
1938 Rachel Crothers, Arts – playwright
1939 Margaret Mead, Science – anthropologist
1940 Carrie Chapman Catt, Public affairs – women’s suffrage
1941 Mrs. August Belmont, Public affairs
1942 Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, Public affairs
1943 Florence B. Seibert, Science – medical
1946 Anne O’Hare McCormick, Arts – author/journalist
1948 The Dowager Marchioness of Reading, G.B.E., Public affairs – organized women in war effort
1948 Anna Hyatt Huntington, Arts – sculptor
1950 Anna M. Rosenberg, Public affairs
1951 Edith Hamilton, Arts author – Greek/Roman scholar
1954 Margaret Chase Smith, Public affairs – U.S. Senator
1958 Catherine Drinker Bowen, Arts – biographer/historian
*Mary Love Collins promised Frances Grimes, designer of the medal, in a letter that she would be listed as the first recipient.
My thanks to Lyn Harris, National Archivist of Chi Omega Fraternity, for being the first guest blogger. Lyn’s undergraduate degree is from Mercer University and she has a Master’s in history from Georgia College and State University. Lyn has served Chi Omega as both a staff member and a loyal volunteer. I am fairly certain Lyn bleeds cardinal and straw. I am grateful to her for her support.
