Harper Lee, Chi Omega, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning To Kill a Mockingbird, announced the publication of her second book, Go Set a Watchman. She finished the book in the mid-1950s and it has the same characters and is set in Maycomb, Alabama, the same fictional town as her first book. In the soon to be released novel, Jean Louise Finch, otherwise known as “Scout,” visits her aging father making it a sort of sequel to her first book.
From my Chi Omega Archivist Friend, Lyn Harris’ facebook page dated July 23, 2014,
“50 YRS AGO… Wonder whatever happened to that 2nd book, Harper Lee?”
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Roberta Buffett Elliott, a Kappa Kappa Gamma, recently made a $100 million dollar gift to her alma mater, Northwestern University. Elliott, sister of Warren Buffett (Alpha Sigma Phi) is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Her gift is the largest single gift in the university’s history.
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On February 4, 1938, Thornton Wilder’s Our Town opened on Broadway. Wilder, an Alpha Delta Phi at Yale University, won the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for his play set in the fictional town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. Wilder wrote the play while residing at the MacDowell Colony near Peterborough, New Hampshire. Grover’s Corners is based upon Peterborough. The MacDowell Colony is one of Alpha Chi Omega’s philanthropies (see http://wp.me/p20I1i-oM).
Thornton Wilder at Yale University
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On February 2, 1942, Clinton A. Pierce, Kappa Sigma, became the first U.S. General wounded in action in World War II. He and his men were involved in the Battle of Bataan. He was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal. In 1945, Brigadier General Pierce was named Kappa Sigma’s Man of the Year. He was initiated into the chapter at the University of Illinois.
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Congratulations to Olympians Meryl Davis and Charlie White who were among the winners of the 35th Thurmon Munson Awards. Munson, Delta Upsilon, a baseball catcher, spent his entire 11-year MLB career playing for the New York Yankees. He won Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards. Munson died in a plane crash on August 2, 1979.
Hoda Kotb (left) and Meryl Davis (second from the right) are Delta Delta Delta sisters.
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Born on February 4 – former Vice President Dan Quayle and the late civil rights legend Rosa Parks, an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Quayle, a Delta Kappa Epsilon, will return to his alma mater, DePauw University, on March 31,2015 to deliver a Timothy and Sharon Ubben Lecture.
© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2015. All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed this post, please sign up for updates. Also follow me on twitter @GLOHistory and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/glohistory/
