Yesterday, January 8, was spent in a car driving from Florida to Illinois. I sat in the back seat between our two dogs. For one day, they had my undivided presence and attention. Yesterday was also my birthday. It’s a day I share with honorary Tau Kappa Epsilon Elvis Presley, Kappa Sigma Dr. Charles Richardson, who is also a Chi Omega founder, and Kappa Sigma founder Frank Courtney Nicodemus.
Dr. Charles Richardson, Kappa Sigma, and a founder of Chi Omega
Today, January 9, is Phi Beta Sigma’s Founders’ Day and Pi Beta Phi’s Chapter Loyalty Day.
On January 9, 1914, A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I. Brown, students at at Howard University in Washington, D.C, founded Phi Beta Sigma. In 2009, William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States, became an honorary member of Phi Beta Sigma.
The fraternity also sponsors the Phi Beta Sigma Federal Credit Union. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. was founded January 16, 1920, at Howard University, Washington, D.C. and it is constitutionally linked to Phi Beta Sigma. The Phi Beta Sigma Federal Credit Union is open to members of both organizations, their families, and chapters.
Why would Pi Beta Phi choose January 9 for Chapter Loyalty Day when many chapters are not yet back in school? It’s to honor one of its most influential members, Carrie Lane Chapman Catt, an initiate of the chapter at Iowa State University. She was born on January 9, 1859. To read more about her, search for “Carrie Chapman Catt” in the search book at the top right of this page.
Pi Beta Phi’s 1890 convention took place in Galesburg, Illinois. Among the attendees was Carrie Chapman Catt, in the black shirt and bow tieto the left of the center.
© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2017. 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/
