October 15 is the founding day of both Alpha Chi Omega and Zeta Tau Alpha. Alpha Chi Omega was founded at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, in 1885, Thirteen years later, in 1898, Zeta Tau Alpha was founded at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood College) in Virginia. Alpha Chi Omega is first in the alphabetical listing of the 26 National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) organizations and Zeta Tau Alpha is the last. Isn’t it fun that they were founded on the same day of the year?
Music has been an important part of Alpha Chi Omega since its very beginning. In an 1885 issue of Brianard’s Musical World, it was noted that in Greencastle Indiana, “Mr. James H. Howe gave a recital on October 18 at the Music Hall. The recital was devoted to Schumann and the programme was made up from this master’s works. We are glad to see such a good programme and hope to hear from the Alpha Chi Omega Fraternity again. Success to DePaw (sic) and her musical interests.”
According to the 1928 Alpha Chi history, “Following the custom of the majority of Fraternities at that time, the founders of Alpha Chi Omega placed a clause in the constitution providing for Honorary Members.” In all, 15 women were initiated as Honorary Members. The women were well-known in their day, although much of their renown has faded with time.
On April 23, 1886, the Alpha chapter initiated Julia Rive-King as an Honorary Member and the chapter gave a reception in her honor after the initiation. Rive-King made her debut in Cincinnati in 1874, officially debuted the next year with the New York Philharmonic. In 1876, she married her manager and added composer and teacher to her resume.
Two years later, on April 3, 1888, the Alpha chapter initiated Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler. “The girls were all delighted with the genuine interest she took in their work. The reception given in her honor was in every way a success,” according to a chapter report. At the age of six, Bloomfield-Zeisler began picking out tunes on the piano. At the age of 11 she made her playing debut. She then went to Vienna for study. In January 1885, she debuted in New York City. Bloomfield-Zeisler was Jewish and she is perhaps Alpha Chi’s first Jewish member.
The chapter at the University of Michigan reported on the May Festival which took place in Ann Arbor from May 18-21, 1894, “Among the artists were several Alpha Chis most notable of whom was Madame Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler. The ovation she received was the event of the festival.”
The History of Alpha Chi Omega gives this information about Honorary Members, “From time to time the various chapters initiated other Honorary Members, which practice gave rise to the inevitable question of specific qualifications for such membership. Consequently the 1898 Convention voted that only musicians of national repute should be initiated as Honorary Members, while musicians of local reputation could be initiated by the chapters as Associate Members.”
In 1908, the Grand Chapter ruled that Honorary Members could be initiated only upon the unanimous vote of all the chapters, and that Associate Members would no longer be allowed. In the end there were 15 women, talented musicians and patrons of the arts, who were initiated as Honorary Members. Below is a list of the other 13 Honorary initiates.
Neally Stevens was a talented pianist.
Teresa Careno, a Venezuelan pianist, singer, composer and conductor, performed for Abraham Lincoln at the White House. She also worked with Edward MacDowell, early in his career.
Adele Aus Der Ohe was a friend of Tchaikovsky. She performed his First Piano Concerto at the inaugural concert at Carnegie Hall. During her stay in Ann Arbor in 1904 she was made an honorary member. (The chapter was acquainted with her from 1894 when she played a concert in Ann Arbor – the one where Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler performed).
Amy Mary Cheney Beach was the first woman whose work was performed by the Boston Symphony.
Marie Decca was identified in the 1921 history as a member of the Alpha chapter; I suspect she was a member of Delta chapter. I found this in an 1893 Allegheny College magazine, and it speaks to the 1890s and Alpha Chi Omega. “Now, though but two years old, our active membership-roll shows sixteen names; our alumnae, nine, and our honorary, three, among the latter Marie Decca, the famous concert singer. Our work is primarily musical, as shown by the programs rendered, otherwise Alpha Chi Omega differs not from college fraternities—our rites are as mysterious, our vows as binding, and our goat quite as ferocious. The name of the fraternity is now commonly shortened into Alpha Chi, but for some time we were dubbed ‘The Conservative Old Maids,’ a title we bore with patience, feeling sure that Time, the great wonder-worker, would change all that. Even so already are there deserters from this ‘sisterhood of spinsters,’ but the majority have clung to their art. Of the graduates of ’92, seven are Alpha Chi’s, and this year seven more will receive diplomas. Two of the charter members are now included in the faculty, and several others are teaching at their homes. Thus through its members the aim of the fraternity, which is the advancement of music, is being carried out.”
Helen Hopekirk Wilson, a Scottish concert pianist, resided in Boston. One of her most valuable works was a volume of Scottish folk songs.
Mary Howe Lavin was a Brattleboro, Vermont, native. It was written that “There is something indescribably fascinating in the singing and personal appearance of this charming woman.”
Margaret Ruthven Lang studied violin first in Boston and then in Munich. She also studied orchestration and was Edward MacDowell’s composition student.
Maud Powell was a violinist. During the 1893 Columbian Exposition she and another Alpha Chi Honorary initiate, Mary Cheney Beach, played Beach’s romance for piano and violin for the first time in public at one of the concerts of the musical congress.
Antonette Szumowska Adamowski, a Poland born pianist, was on the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music. She played in Europe until 1894 when she came to the US. She served as a judge for a musical competition that the Alpha chapter sponsored. In the November 1917 Lyre, it was reported that “On the afternoon of November 22, 1917 occurred the debut of Miss Helenka Adamowski the daughter of Madame Szumowska Adamowski at their home in Cambridge Massachusetts.” As an aside, Madame Adamowski’s daughter, Helenka, married a man named Pantaleoni. Her granddaughter, the Alpha Chi Honorary member’s great-granddaughter, is actress Tea Leoni.
Adele Verne was considered one of the greatest woman pianists of her era. She performed the first television performance of Mozart’s Concerto for 2 Pianos.
Ellen Beach Yaw Cannon was known as “Lark Ellen.” She had an extraordinary vocal range and could produce unusually high notes. Some say she was the only soprano of her era who could sing and sustain the D above high D. She was also a philanthropist. In the November 1920 Lyre, an article told of Epsilon chapter’s effort to help Lark Ellen’s philanthropy, “There is in Los Angeles a home for boys from the ages of seven to twelve years called the Lark Ellen Home. This home is financed by Ellen Beach Yaw, an honorary member of Epsilon Chapter. This year we thought it would be a fine plan to do something for the little fellows. It was decided to spend the afternoon of the eleventh of November there. Eighteen girls met that morning and saw the Armistice Day parade. Then after lunch we drove out to the home. The twenty boys in the home had not been informed of our coming and they were quite surprised to see us. Each of the girls had brought either jam jelly or canned fruit. The two matrons in charge invited us into the children’s little play house. Here we sang songs and recited for them. The little fellows were very happy and seemed to enjoy it all. But the crowning feature occurred when bananas, cookies and bright sticks of candy were presented to them. After all this pleased them the most. The girls enjoyed the day and we are sure the boys were made a little happier by our coming.”
The last Honorary initiate was Marion MacDowell, wife of Edward MacDowell. She was initiated on January 5, 1916 in Boston. At the 1926 National Convention at Lake Louise, Alpha Chi Omega’s awarded her its Distinguished Service Medal for “her incomparable service to the world in establishing the MacDowell Colony at Peterboro (sic) and in every way her command promoting the American world of the arts.”
Alpha Chi Omega’s devotion to the MacDowell Colony has been long and endearing. For more about the MacDowell Colony see this post from last year http://wp.me/p20I1i-oM . (I would love to mention that I just noticed that my favorite composer Stephen Sondheim, a member of Beta Theta Pi, was awarded the 2013 Edward MacDowell Medal on August 11, 2013. And thanks, too, to Alpha Chi Omega’s Sigma Sigma Alumnae Club for asking me to speak at Founders’ Day. This material is from my talk.)
On October 15, 1898, Zeta Tau Alpha was founded at the State Female Normal School, now Longwood University, in Farmville, Virginia, by Alice Maud Jones Horner, Frances Yancey Smith, Alice Bland Coleman, Ethel Coleman Van Name, Ruby Bland Leigh Orgain, Mary Campbell Jones Batte, Helen May Crafford, Della Lewis Hundley, and Alice Grey Welsh.
One of Zeta’s symbols is the strawberry. Founder Mary Campbell “Cammie” Jones (Batte) was sent a gift of strawberries by an admirer. Today, strawberries can be found in any American supermarket at any time of the year. In the 1890s, they were a rare and very special treat. This gift of strawberries was the inspiration for the first purely social gathering called a “Strawberry Feast.” It was Zeta’s first social event and it proved a turning point in the history of the organization. For Zeta Tau Alpha members the world over, the strawberry has become a symbol of inspiration.
For more about Zeta Tau Alpha and Dr. May Agness Hopkins, one of Zeta’s early Grand Presidents, see http://wp.me/p20I1i-pj
©Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2013. All Rights Reserved.
