Happy Founders’ Day Alpha Sigma Tau

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. Alpha Sigma Tau was the name they chose. The organization became a national one in October 1925.  In 1926, Alpha Sigma Tau joined the Association of Education Sororities (AES). Alpha Sigma Tau became a full member of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) when the merger of AES and NPC was formalized in 1951.

In 1945, Alpha Sigma Tau chose the Pine Mountain Settlement School in southeastern Kentucky’s Harlan County as its philanthropy. Pine Mountain Settlement School was founded in 1913 by Katherine Pettit and Ethel DeLong Zande. William Creech Sr., a local citizen, donated the land in order to help provide education and other opportunities to local children and their families. Kansas City architect Mary Rockwell Hook designed plans for the campus and its buildings.

From 1913-20, Pine Mountain was a boarding school. It became a boarding high school in 1930 and a vocational component was added at that time. In the early years, the school included a working farm, print and wood shops, and a sewing room, as well as a medical clinic. Emphasis was also placed on traditional crafts.

Harlan County took on joint responsibility for the operation of a community elementary school by 1949. Environmental education became the school’s focus in 1972 when the Green Hills Elementary School in nearly Bledsoe opened. Classes in Appalachian culture and native crafts are also offered.