“I am afraid those two young hearts would have been very much discouraged had they realized at that time what an herculean task it was to start a national fraternity, but fortunately for their peace of mind, and for the future happiness of the hundreds who have already learned to love the name of Delta Delta Delta, the two enthusiastic friends were unaware of the fact that there was something stupendous about the task they had set hands, heads and hearts to accomplish. They were working for a principle, and it never occurred to them that there could be such a thing as failure. Earnestness of purpose, energy and enthusiasm had brought them both success in college, and why should not these same qualities bring assurance of good fortune to the new venture? At all events they had faith in the power of these forces, and with light hearts turned their thoughts to the founding of a new fraternity,” wrote (Sarah) Ida Shaw Martin, years after she, along with Eleanor Dorcas Pond (Mann, M.D.), founded Delta Delta Delta.
The locale was Boston University and it was the evening before Thanksgiving. The date was November 28, 1888. Founders’ Day is celebrated on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
Both women graduated first from their respective high school classes. They along, with the two other female seniors, had not joined any of the women’s fraternities then at Boston University – Kappa Kappa Gamma, Alpha Phi, or Gamma Phi Beta. Pond talked to Shaw and they decided to start a society of their own. Pond suggested that they use a triple Greek letter and Shaw chose the Greek letter Delta. Shaw also developed the mottoes and passwords.
Shaw and Pond threw themselves into the details associated with the founding. All was finished by Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, 1888, but the two met again on Wednesday afternoon, before leaving for the holiday. They met in the Philological Library at the top of the college building. Shaw and Pond embraced and said “Tri Delta is founded.”
They were also intent on getting the other two unaffiliated seniors to join their organization. Florence Stewart quickly agreed, but Isabel Breed took a little more convincing due to her highly religious nature. When she was given the job of chaplain, she relented and joined her three friends. Although these two did not take part in the actual formation of Delta Delta Delta as Pond and Shaw had done, the four are considered founders. Soon three juniors pledged allegiance to Delta Delta Delta as well as five sophomores and six freshmen. These women were initiated at the Joy Street home of Emily F. Allen on January 15, 1889.
Ida Shaw Martin, as she was known after her marriage, published and marketed 11 editions of The Sorority Handbook, beginning in 1907. She spent 30 years as a consultant to Greek-letter organizations.
In 1896, Pond graduated from Tufts Medical College She became Mrs. Arthur Mann in July of that year. She then went on to a successful medical career. Although the Manns moved all over the world, she remained a loyal Tri Delta. In 1906, she attended her first convention. It was held in Syracuse, NY. “There facing the encircling square of the banquet tables, she looked into one hundred and seventy-five faces, representatives of a society fifteen hundred strong, and upon request repeated something of the story of the founding of Delta Delta Delta, and perhaps for the first time fully realized how great a momentum the movement had gained to which eighteen years before, in her girlhood days at Boston University, she had been a partner in giving it first impetus. Bright, unaffected, capable, successful, she was a present witness to each delegate of how good a thing it has been for Delta Delta Delta that from the first to the last, from the women on whose golden locks the finger of time has begun its tracery of silver to the newest pledge, all have remained to watch and to work.”
Tri Delta’s Alpha Chapter, 1888
Quotes are taken from A Detailed Record of Delta Delta Delta 1888-1907 by Grand Historian Bessie Leach Priddy.
