On Memorial Day – WAVES, Smith College, Grace Coolidge, and a ΠΦ Connection

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Seventy years ago, America was in the midst of World War II. Women had limited opportunities to be of service in the war effort. Some women became WAVES. Established by Public Law 689 on July 30, 1942, the official name of the WAVES, the acronym for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, was the U.S. Navy Women’s Reserve. It was authorized for the war and six months thereafter.

Smith College, in Northampton, Massachusetts, was the site of the first Naval Training School for women officers; 9,000 of them were trained there. Former First Lady Grace Goodhue Coolidge, a Pi Beta Phi alumna, lived in Northampton. From 1942-45, the Navy set up shop on the Smith campus, taking over several buildings for training. Mrs. Coolidge loaned her home, Road Forks, to Captain and Mrs. Herbert W. Underwood while he was in command of the program. Mrs. Coolidge accompanied the Underwoods when they went to Hunter College in New York to review the WAVES there.

In the Winter 2000 issue of The Arrow of Pi Beta Phi, Josephine Crook Rich, a Pi Phi from Knox College, recounted her experience as a WAVE.  She was recommended for the program and she left her job as an accountant with General Electric. She was sent to Smith College for training. While there, she discovered that there were Pi Phis among the members of her WAVE training class. The Pi Phis knew that Mrs. Coolidge lived in Northampton and they invited her to tea.

Mrs. Coolidge gave her account of the meeting in a Round Robin letter she wrote to her Pi Phi friends, “A couple of weeks ago, I had a note from a Pi Phi Wave saying that those whom they had been able to round up among the Waves were planning to have a tea to-gether at the Mary-Marg* tea room and would I  join them. I got me out my best bib and tucker and found about twelve of them on the door-step waiting for me. A friend of one who was here to visit her took our pictures and we went in to-gether for our tea. They came from the following chapters: California Delta (UCLA), Wisconsin Alpha (University of Wisconsin), Florida Beta (Florida State University), Iowa Gamma (Iowa State University), Florida Alpha (Stetson University), Vermont Beta (University  of Vermont) and Illinois Beta-Delta (Knox College). There were two from two of the chapters. A grand group of girls and Capt. Underwood and visiting Admirals from time to time have expressed themselves as well pleased with the way in which these girls take to the training.” Mrs. Coolidge, a prolific letter, writer sent the Pi Phis thank you notes.

A blurb on the Smith College website tells more about the program, “By the end of the war over 83,000 women were serving in the Navy, a number significantly over the original estimate of 11,000. They filled positions such as parachute riggers, pharmacist’s mates, instrument flying trainers, store keepers, radio dispatchers, clerks, mechanics, lab technicians, mail carriers, decoders, and navigators. Most of the officers were restricted to the rank of lieutenant with the notable exception of Captain Mildred McAfee (the president of Wellesley College) who was the director the WAVES. Soon after peace was declared in 1945, the WAVES and SPARS programs were dismantled and the women who had been in the Navy returned to their homes or civilian jobs.”

xcv

 

wave*The Mary-Marg was the Mary-Marguerite Tea Room at 21 State Street. It opened in 1920. Owners Mary W. Wells and Marguerite L. Hawks sold the business in 1952, and it continued under different ownership into the 1960s.

I admire and adore Grace Goodhue Coolidge and there are several posts about her on this blog. She has her own category and there is a also a page link on the header of the blog.

© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2013. All rights reserved.

Posted in First Ladies, Fran Favorite, GLO, Grace Coolidge, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, Pi Beta Phi, Smith College, The Arrow of Pi Beta Phi, Women's Fraternity History | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on On Memorial Day – WAVES, Smith College, Grace Coolidge, and a ΠΦ Connection

5/25/1928 – The Rebirth of the Monmouth Duo Begins

Posted on May 25, 2013 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Monmouth College, the birthplace of the women’s fraternity movement, is in Monmouth, Illinois, a small town about 15 miles from the Mississippi River in Warren County. The two organizations founded there – Pi Beta Phi in 1867 and Kappa Kappa Gamma in 1870 – are known as the “Monmouth Duo.”

Monmouth College was founded by the Second Presbytery of Illinois, a part of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, on April 18, 1853.

Vintage Monmouth College logo

On April 28, 1867, a college society of women modeled after men’s Greek-letter fraternities, was founded by 12 young women.  Its name was I. C. Sorosis and its grip, the secret handshake of its members, was accompanied by the secret motto Pi Beta Phi (Spring, 1936). In 1888, the name was officially changed to what its motto had been, Pi Beta Phi, although many of the collegiate chapters had taken to using the Greek-letter motto years earlier (Helmick, 1915). Issues of the Monmouth College Courier, the student newspaper, from the founding years have information about I.C. Sorosis included in the fraternity column and not the literary society column.

The preamble of the I. C. Sorosis constitution reflected the founders’ intention of finding fellowship and “kindred spirits” among the other college women, “Whereas it was deemed necessary, in order to cultivate sincere friendship, establish the real object of life, and promote the happiness of humanity, we, the undersigned ladies of Monmouth College do ordain and establish the following constitution” (Lewis, 1899, p. 4).

In the summer of 1868, the group met at the home of Fannie Thomson in Oquawka, Illinois, and had its first convention.  Founder Emma Brownlee Kilgore later described it, “Well laid plans were made of how we would extend the I. C. reputation of being the first woman’s secret society; how we would enter other colleges; no high schools were to be considered; and we also unanimously decided that no college fraternity among the young men should be better, wiser, or stronger than ours” (Helmick, 1915, p. 86).

Kappa Kappa Gamma’s founders are Mary Moore “Minnie” Stewart, Anna Elizabeth Willits, Susan Burley Walker, Hanna Jeanette “Jennie” Boyd, Mary Louise “Lou” Bennett,  and Martha Louisa “Lou” Stevenson. Some of the founders recalled that the organization was founded in March, 1870, but that the appearance was delayed until fall, because the badges had been difficult to procure.  Willet’s mother was the one who came up with the idea of using a key as the badge.  The first badges were made by the Bennett’s family jeweler who was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  In order to have the badges made, 12 had to be ordered at a price of $5 each.  The Kappa Kappa Gamma’s first public appearance at chapel took place on October 13, 1870 and since the 1876 Convention, October 13 has been celebrated as Founders’ Day (Burton-Roth & Whiting-Westermann, 1932).

The Monmouth College Courier noted the fraternity’s debut in an October 1870 issue, “They wear a little golden key, sometimes on their foreheads, sometimes on their little blue or red jackets. . . . It has three letters on it, KKG. . . We have been able to count only six of them” (“Kappa Kappa Gamma,” 1870, p. 4).

At a June 1874 meeting, the Senate of Monmouth College, under pressure from some sections of the United Presbyterian Church, passed the following resolution, “It shall be unlawful for any student of the college hereafter to become a member of any secret college fraternity or to connect with any chapter of any such fraternity, and also for an active member of such fraternity to be admitted as a student in the college” (Donaldson, 1967, p. 71).

At first the resolution had little impact, but pressure from devout United Presbyterians grew.  Some refused to donate money to the financially struggling institution.  In early 1878, the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter bowed to pressure and disbanded.  The I.C.s followed suit shortly thereafter as did the men’s groups on the Monmouth campus (Spring, 1936).

There are records that both Pi Beta Phi and Kappa Kappa Gamma chapters continued to exist sub-rosa. At the 1884 Pi Beta Phi Convention, the Alpha chapter was asked to give up its charter (Helmick, 1915). 

What is amazing to me is that both organizations were able to withstand the demise of their Alpha chapter. For Pi Phi it was seven years from the founding; for Kappa it was only four years. The Monmouth Duo eventually returned to Monmouth College.  On May 25, 1928, the Illinois Alpha chapter of Pi Beta Phi was reinstalled.  The Alpha chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was reinstalled on October 13, 1934.

A Monmouth Duo Dance Card Cover, 1961

 

© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2013. All rights reserved.


 

Posted in Fran Favorite, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Monmouth College, National Panhellenic Conference, Pi Beta Phi, Sorority History, Women's Fraternity History | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on 5/25/1928 – The Rebirth of the Monmouth Duo Begins

Happy 111th Birthday, NPC!!

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

The National Panhellenic Conference, the umbrella organization of 26 women’s fraternities and sororities celebrates its 111th birthday this year.

Here is the postcard Margaret Mason Whitney sent to the women who were scheduled to attend the first meeting on May 24, 1902.

It reads:

Inter-sorority Conference, Chicago

On May 24 (Saturday) at 2:30 p.m. (sharp) the following representatives of Greek letter national college fraternities will meet at Mandel’s Tea Room to discuss rushing and pledging.

Pi Beta Phi, Miss Gamble, Detroit, Mich

Kappa Alpha Theta, Miss Laura Norton, 2556 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago

Kappa Kappa Gamma, Miss Margaret Jean Paterson, 6117 Kimbark Ave.

Delta Gamma, Miss Nina F. Howard, Glencoe, Ill.

Gamma Phi Beta, Miss Lillian Thompson, 326 W. 61st Place

Delta Delta Delta, Miss Kellerman*

Alpha Phi, Miss Ruth Terry, 1812 Hinman Ave., Evanston

We trust nothing will prevent your being present.

Margaret Mason Whitney, President Alpha Phi

May 17, 1902

Lillian W. Thompson, Gamma Phi Beta, served as Chairman at the 1913 meeting. She also attended the 1902 meeting and shared her experiences in an article in the Crescent of Gamma Phi Beta. It was reprinted in many of the other magazines in 1913.

“This sort of meeting was quite new to me. I had only the vaguest idea of what the delegates were expected to do; and having been brought up in the good old school in which those who were not of were against us, I had no great desire to meet my friends the enemy. There was no time to debate, however, and nothing to do but to go, so one afternoon in September, I entered the lunch room at Mandels’ looking for a group of women wearing fraternity pins. I easily found them, introduced myself, and then racked my brains for topics of conversation which should be both polite and safe; for I had a most uneasy feeling that some fraternity secret might escape me unawares, and fall into hostile hands.”

Columbus Building, 31 North State Street, Chicago

The group moved from Mandels’ to the site of the meeting itself. “Miss [Minnie Ruth] Terry, the delegate from Alpha Phi, whose duty it was to make all the arrangements, had found a most appropriate place for our meeting — a safety deposit vault; and before long we were admitted through heavy iron gratings to a long passage way, which led at last to a director’s room, closed by a massive wooden door which seemed amply able to keep the biggest secrets from escaping to the outer world. We all sat down at the big table, and for the first few minutes there seemed to be a be a vague feeling of insecurity — of suspense. We were waiting, I think, for that illusive, and yet most potent thing, ‘the tone of the meeting’ to be established, and until some one supplied it we were ill at ease. This duty fell to Miss Terry, our chairman, and as I look back on that first meeting, I can plainly see that the whole Pan-Hellenic movement was given its successful start by her. Miss Terry is one of those calm, well balanced, fair-minded women, who state business in such a clear unbiased way that one feels impelled at once to consider things without prejudice.  Gradually we all warmed to the work, forgot our strangeness, and talked over Alpha Phi’s rushing agreement with the utmost interest and frankness. Before we left, a most friendly spirit had developed; we had enjoyed our afternoon, saw plenty of work ahead of us, and looked forward with pleasure to meeting again.”

Miss Thompson continued, “In a year or so, the director’s room became too small for us. A morning meeting was added to the afternoon session, and we decided to meet at a hotel and to take lunch together, that we might have more opportunity to get acquainted. By this time I had begun to discover a number of ‘typical Gamma Phis’ who had mysteriously strayed into other fraternities. The discussions, too, had been bringing out the strong points of the various societies….At each meeting we learned some scheme which we longed to try in our own fraternity, and went home full of plans for introducing it.”

With 11 years of experiences on which to reflect, she added, “As year after year went by, we were delighted to see the work of our conference succeeding, though slowly. Our own meetings seemed like the chapter meetings of some fraternity, rather than a gathering of delegates from so many different groups. It is astonishing to me, as I look back, to note the unruffled peace and good will of our conferences. Even when there were disputes to settle, there was no bitterness or suspicion. Everyone knew that every one else was trying to find out what was best and how to do it. This feeling of kindliness and confidence has been the greatest result of our meetings. If we can pass this on to the fraternity world, we shall have done the one thing necessary to remove all criticisms of fraternities.”

* Miss Kellerman, Delta Delta Delta’s representative in highlighted in a post at http://wp.me/p20I1i-dj

© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2013. All rights reserved.


 

Posted in Alpha Phi, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Founders' Day, Fran Favorite, Gamma Phi Beta, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, National Panhellenic Conference, Notable Sorority Women, Pi Beta Phi, Sorority History, Women's Fraternity History | Tagged , | Comments Off on Happy 111th Birthday, NPC!!

Congratulations Fraternity and Sorority Graduates and Welcome to Alum Life!!

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

On college campuses all across the country and Canada, young men and women are donning caps and gowns and walking across a stage. They are being presented with a diploma cover. Some of those diploma covers will have actual diplomas in them, but colleges and universities usually wait to make sure all is in order with grades, graduation requirements, and the bursar’s office before handing over the diploma itself.

The fraternity and sorority members among the graduates, who, when they first became members of their respective organizations, could not fathom the journey being over, now realize they are no longer collegiate members. The collegiate part of the journey has come to an end. A few lucky ones have been hired by their organizations as traveling consultants. They’ll spend a year visiting chapters, offering advice, and being ambassadors for the organization they represent.

Dear fraternity and sorority graduates – this is not the end of the membership journey. It is the beginning of your life as an alumna or alumnus. Seize the opportunity to be a part of the alum life of your organization. If there is an alum club/chapter where you’ll be heading, join it. Give to your organization’s foundation. I know you’re probably strapped for cash and don’t have much. Give up the cost of two grand venti coffees (make your own, it’s a lot cheaper!) and send it to your organization’s foundation. Give at least $10 this year, $15 next year. Get in the habit of giving.

Work for your organization. It can be as simple as being on the lookout for potential new members. Speak of the good things your organization does. Keep current – read the magazine, visit the web-site, sign up for tweets. Volunteer to work with a chapter, or put your name in the hat for committee work. Every national/international officer once was in the same place you find yourself today.

Best wishes for a happy and healthy life ahead. And remember when you speak of your membership in a fraternity or sorority, say  “I am an ABC” not “I was an ABC.”

simone and dan mhc

(c) Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2013. All rights reserved.


 

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Sisters Helping Sisters When Times Get Tough

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

In 2012, the 26 National Panhellenic Conference member groups (and/or their foundations) provided almost $3 million dollars in academic scholarships to their members to pursue undergraduate, graduate, and professional studies. In addition, most of the groups fund emergency grants to members. The recent tornadoes in Oklahoma bring this kind of philanthropy to the forefront.

Since 1922, the Rose McGill Fund has helped Kappa Kappa Gamma members in need. The same can be said for Kappa Alpha Theta’s Friendship Fund, created in 1926. Two members who remain anonymous, write on the behalf of a sister and secrecy surrounds the Friendship Fund gifts. Pi Beta Phi’s Emma Harper Turner Fund began in 1946 as a way for Pi Phis to help other Pi Phis confidentially and anonymously; more than $100,000 is given annually to Pi Phi collegiate and alumnae members. In 2012, Tri Delta’s Crescent Fund awarded $116,700 to Tri Delta alumnae experiencing unforeseen events. 

Among the programs available for collegians and alumnae members in need are:

Alpha Chi Omega’s Member Assistance Grants

Alpha Delta Pi’s Abigail Davis Emergency Grants (for collegiate members) and Clasped Hands Fund Grants (for alumnae)

Alpha Epsilon Phi’s Cheryl Kraff Cooper, M.D, Giraffe Fund

Alpha Gamma Delta’s SIS Grant Program

Alpha Omicron Pi’s Ruby Fund

Alpha Phi’s Forget Me Not Fund

Alpha Sigma Alpha’s Janice Adams Membership Assistance Fund

Alpha Xi Delta’s Heart Fund Grants

Chi Omega’s Sisterhood Fund

Delta Delta Delta’s Crescent Fund

Delta Gamma’s Anchor Grants 

Delta Phi Epsilon’s Harriette Hirsch Sisterhood Fund

Delta Zeta’s Elizabeth Coulter Stephenson Grants (providing financial help for sorority expenses)

Gamma Phi Beta’s Grant-In-Aid

Kappa Alpha Theta’s Friendship Fund

Kappa Delta’s Alumnae Crisis Fund

Kappa Kappa Gamma Rose McGill Fund

Phi Mu’s Leona Hughes Hughes Heart & Hand Fund and the Betty Nell Wilkinson Emergency Scholarship

Pi Beta Phi’s Emma Harper Turner Fund

Sigma Kappa’s Alumnae Heart Fund

My best guess would be that more than $500,000 is given to each year to NPC women in need. I suspect many applications from those affected by the Oklahoma tornadoes will be filled out in the coming days. I’m also fairly certain that contributions to these funds would be very welcomed, too. These funds display a wonderful message of sisters helping sisters.

Emma Harper Turner, Pi Beta Phi's Grand President. She started her fraternity life as a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter at Franklin College (there is a post about her on this site.)

Emma Harper Turner, Pi Beta Phi’s Grand President 1890-93. She started her fraternity life as a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter at Franklin College (there is a post about her on this site.)

(I have tried my best to cobble the information together. If I have misrepresented any of these funds or have forgotten others, please send me a message and I will revise. Any errors and omissions are unintentional.)

(c) Fran Becque, fraternityhistory.com, 2013. All rights reserved.


 

 

Posted in Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Epsilon Phi, Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Phi, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Alpha Sigma Tau, Alpha Xi Delta, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Delta Phi Epsilon, Delta Zeta, Fran Favorite, Gamma Phi Beta, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, National Panhellenic Conference, Phi Mu, Phi Sigma Sigma, Pi Beta Phi, Sigma Delta Tau, Sigma Kappa, Sigma Sigma Sigma, Sorority History, Theta Phi Alpha, Women's Fraternities, Women's Fraternity History, Zeta Tau Alpha | Tagged , | Comments Off on Sisters Helping Sisters When Times Get Tough

A Vermont Graduation Brings Thoughts of Grace and Calvin Coolidge

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Being in Rutland, Vermont, mere miles away from the Coolidge Homestead in Plymouth Notch, brings thoughts of the President and First Lady who were native Vermonters. Calvin Coolidge, a Phi Gamma Delta, and Grace Goodhue Coolidge, a Pi Beta Phi, spent their formative years in Vermont. Calvin attended Amherst College; Grace graduated from the University of Vermont. The couple met in Northampton when Grace was teaching at the Clarke School for the Deaf and Calvin was a lawyer.

Calvin Coolidge State Forest is in the area and the library at Castleton State College is named in his honor. Some of the doors in the hotel in which I  stayed had pictures of the Coolidges on a train leaving Rutland  after he took the oath of office in the parlor of his father’s home.

The Coolidges married in the Goodhue family home in Burlington (the home is now part of Champlain College). Although they spent their married life living in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. , Vermont seemed to be always in their hearts.

In September of 1928, the Coolidges traveled to Vermont to survey damage from the prior year’s devastating flood. They stayed at the Coolidge homestead in Plymouth Notch and visited family graves, including the one of their son Calvin, Jr. who died at age 16 in July, 1924. At the last train stop in Vermont, the President spoke eloquently and from the heart:

Vermont is a state I love. I could not look upon the peaks of Ascutney, Killington, Mansfield, and Equinox, without being moved in a way that no other scene could move me. It was here that I first saw the light of day; here I received my bride, here my dead lie pillowed on the loving breast of our eternal hills.

I love Vermont because of her hills and valleys, her scenery and invigorating climate, but most of all because of her indomitable people. They are a race of pioneers who have almost beggared themselves to serve others. If the spirit of liberty should vanish in other parts of the Union, and support of our institutions should languish, it could all be replenished from the generous store held by the people of this brave little state of Vermont.

The Calvin Coolidge Library at Castleton State College

The Calvin Coolidge Library at Castleton State College.

© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2013.


 

Posted in Calvin Coolidge, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, Phi Gamma Delta, Pi Beta Phi, Presidents | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on A Vermont Graduation Brings Thoughts of Grace and Calvin Coolidge

Happy Founders’ Day, Alpha Delta Pi!

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Alpha Delta Pi was founded as the Adelphean Society on May 15, 1851 at Wesleyan Female College in Macon, Georgia. In 1905, the Society changed its name to Alpha Delta Phi and installed its second chapter at Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. A third chapter was founded at Mary Baldwin Seminary, in Staunton, Virginia, in 1906.

The Delta Chapter at the University of Texas was installed on June 6, 1906. It is the oldest, continuous Alpha Delta Pi chapter. It was the sixth sorority chapter on campus. Alpha Chapter member Jewel Davis (Scarborough) went to the University of Texas as a graduate student with the intention of creating a chapter there. Davis, a Delta Chapter charter member, installed the chapter all by herself. She composed the first whistle and served as National President from 1913-17. Dean Helen Marr Kirby was an Adelphean and proved herself as a valuable friend of the chapter. During 1908-09, the chapter lived in an eight-room house with a professor and his wife as chaperons and the chapter owned most of the furniture in the house. Mabelle Fuller (Sperry), who served three terms as National President from 1921-27, was an early initiate of the chapter. During 1911-12, the non-sorority women were “the cause of considerable disturbance throughout the year, finally petitioning the state legislature to put the Greek letter societies out of school. The move was unsuccessful and was voted down at a special session of the legislature.” (History of Alpha Delta Pi, 1930).

Mabelle Fuller Sperry

Alpha Delta Phi joined the National Panhellenic Conference in 1909. The installation of the Sigma Chapter at the University of Illinois in 1912 came shortly after the installation, on the same campus, of the Illinois Chapter of Alpha Delta Phi, a men’s fraternity whose chapters were primarily in the northeast. Alpha Delta Phi, the men’s fraternity, was founded in 1832 at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. The women made their organization aware of this duplication of name and the problems that surfaced because of it. In 1913, the convention body voted to change the name  to Alpha Delta Pi.

© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2013.


 

Posted in Alpha Delta Pi, Founders' Day, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, National Panhellenic Conference, Sorority History, University of Texas, Wesleyan College, Women's Fraternity History | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Happy Founders’ Day, Alpha Delta Pi!

Grace Coolidge, Pi Beta Phi and First Lady, Speaks!

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

By now, readers of this blog know that Grace Goodhue Coolidge is one of my favorite First Ladies. She was a charter member of the Vermont Beta Chapter of Pi Beta Phi and the chapter was installed in the Goodhue home. She attended two Pi Beta Phi conventions, one as a chapter delegate and the other as an alumna.

She was a founder and first president of the Springfield, MA, Alumnae Club of Pi Beta Phi and she served as a Province Vice-President. In 1924, the Eastern Conference of Pi Beta Phi, an event that took place only once, had as its cornerstone the dedication of the First Lady’s official White House portrait. Mrs. Coolidge greeted all of the 1,200+ attendees and a picture was taken on the White House lawn.

How I wish I could have been among those in attendance on that April day in 1924! I just located this talking movie clip of the First Lady from Historian Carl Anthony’s collection. I urge you to watch and listen. I love her smile at the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DknJzlhmEg

Posted in GLO, Grace Coolidge, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, Pi Beta Phi, University of Vermont, Women's Fraternity History | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Grace Coolidge, Pi Beta Phi and First Lady, Speaks!

Mary E. Gladwin, R.N., Winner of the Florence Nightingale Medal and a ΔΓ

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

In 1920, Mary Elizabeth Gladwin, an 1881 initiate of Delta Gamma’s Eta Chapter, was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal by the International Committee of the Red Cross “For great and exceptional devotion to the sick and wounded in peace and war.”

Gladwin was born on December 24, 1861 in Stoke-upon-Trent, England. Her parents moved the family to Akron, Ohio, in 1868. Gladwin graduated from Buchtel College (now University of Akron) in 1887. She taught chemistry and physics in Norwalk, Ohio, for several years. She then enrolled in a nursing program at Boston City Hospital and graduated in 1896.

The second Delta Gamma Convention, 1883. Mary E. Gladwin served as Assistant Secretary of the Convention.

During the Spanish-American War, Gladwin served as the chief nurse in the U.S. Army. In 1899, she served with the American Red Cross in the Philippines and was awarded the Spanish-American War Medal for service. She then returned to nursing school and in 1902, she again graduated from the Boston City Hospital School of Nursing.

In 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War, she served for six months as a Red Cross nurse in Hiroshima, Japan. She was again honored for her service with several awards. Afterwards, Gladwin returned to her previous job as Superintendent of Beverly Hospital in Beverly, Massachusetts. In 1907, she became Superintendent at Woman’s Hospital in New York City.

In 1910 she returned to Akron and was employed by the Goodrich Company. She served as the chief American Red Cross nurse during the Dayton, Ohio floods of 1913. She also organized Akron’s School and Visiting Nurses Association.

The November 1914, Anchora of Delta Gamma, noted the she “sailed in the Red Cross ship for active service as a nurse in the European battle fields.” Gladwin was among the first American Red Cross nurses to serve in Europe. She was stationed in Belgrade, Serbia where she was a supervisor of nurses and helped care for 9,000 soldiers in a hospital built for 1,000 patients She also served in Greece. She received many awards and accolades for her service.

After the war, Gladwin was involved with nursing education in Minnesota and Indiana. She died at the age of 77 on November 22, 1939 in Akron, Ohio. On September 21, 1979, the University of Akron dedicated a building named in her honor. Its College of Health Profession is located in Mary E. Gladwin Hall. 

Posted in Delta Gamma, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, Notable Fraternity Women, Sorority History, University of Akron, Women's Fraternity History | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Mary E. Gladwin, R.N., Winner of the Florence Nightingale Medal and a ΔΓ

The Graduation Edition – Alumna / Alumnae /Alumnus / Alumni

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

I love the pomp and circumstance of graduation ceremonies. After all, I earned a degree based mainly on the color of the hood (two of my favorite colors wine and silver blue, which just happen to be Pi Beta Phi’s colors).

The doctoral hood is wine and silver blue and, yes, that is a very big arrow, worn in the manner sometimes seen in late 1800s pictures of Pi Phis.

And free of charge, I will let you in on one of my pet peeves. I cringe when I hear a member of an all-women’s organization talk about the organization’s “alumni.”  I bite my native New Yorker tongue and don’t say what I’m thinking which is “News flash, honey! Your all female organization doesn’t have alumni. They are alumnae – alum-knee-knee-knee.”

If an organization is coed, or if a college or university is coed, the individual female graduate is still an alumna. If there is a male/female ratio greater than zero on the male side, the group of all graduates is called alumni. A lone male graduate is an alumnus. Graduate members of an all-women’s organization (a sorority/women’s fraternity perhaps) or an all-women’s college/university are alumnae. I will illustrate these points using family photos (after all, Mother’s Day is around the corner and I need all the brownie points I can get!).

Twin B and Twin A, Knox College alumni wearing Beta Theta Pi tassels, with their grandmother, a Goucher College alumna. Goucher College in Baltimore had been a women’s college, but it is now coed, making its graduates alumni, after years of having been alumnae. Her son, their father, graduated from Washington and Lee University when it was an all-male institution. The W&L Alumni Association remained the Alumni Association after W&L admitted women in the 1980s.

A Mount Holyoke College Alumnae Association (MHC is a women’s college) member minutes after she became a member of the Syracuse University Alumni Association. She is also an alumna initiate of Pi Beta Phi and is a member of a Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club.

© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2013.


 

Posted in Beta Theta Pi, GLO, Goucher College, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, Knox College, Syracuse University | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments