The Elementary School Named for a Women’s Fraternity ΠΒΦ

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Gatlinburg, Tennessee, is a gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is nothing like the small isolated community it was a century ago when Dr. May Lansfield Keller, Grand President of Pi Beta Phi, traveled there to explore sites for the Settlement School authorized by the organization’s 1910 convention.

Pi Beta Phi was committed to bringing education to the children of the community. The Pi Beta Phi Settlement School opened in February 1912. A second school was established at Sugarlands a few miles away, but it was closed when the National Park Service purchased the land in the Sugarlands and the residents relocated. In addition to providing education, Pi Beta Phi  established a Health Center named in honor of one of its founders, Dr. Jennie Nicol. For decades, it provided health care to the local citizens.

After some of the teachers noticed the woven articles and baskets made by the locals, a cottage industry was created. It was named Arrowcraft (Pi Beta Phi’s badge is an arrow). Arrowcraft provided local citizens with the opportunity to sell handcrafted items through Pi Beta Phi alumnae clubs and chapters. The Arrowcraft Shop opened in the 1920s to take advantage of the tourist trade.

In the summer of 1945, the first Craftsman’s Fair was held. Arts and Crafts education became a priority. By the early 1950s, Sevier County had assumed more of the educational responsibilities and the Fraternity’s responsibility in educating the students was lessening. In 1967, the School of Arts and Crafts became the Fraternity’s Centennial Project. Today, Arrowmont is one of the premier Arts and Crafts schools in the country and although it is only a few hundred feet from the Parkway, it is worlds away. Vestiges of the Settlement School are everywhere, from the Red Barn that is now Arrowmont student housing but was once a working barn, to the Teachers Cottage built as a model home a few years after the school opened. It, too, houses Arrowmont students.

The Pi Beta Phi Elementary School is on property adjacent to Arrowmont. Pi Beta Phi deeded to Sevier County the land on which a new school was built and Pi Beta Phi issued a long-term lease $1 a year lease for the playground.

Pi Beta Phi was the first National Panhellenic Conference organization to have its own philanthropy. It may very well be the only men’s or women’s fraternity to have its name attached to a school. In early November, Pi Beta Phi will celebrate the centennial of the establishment of the Settlement School and ensuing legacy of philanthropy with a celebration in Gatlinburg. The original school sign pictured below will find a place in the celebration. Happy 100th Pi Beta Phi Elementary School!

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Jane Marie Bancroft Robinson, Alpha Phi, Active in Deaconess Work

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

In the fall of 1876, when Jane Marie Bancroft Robinson enrolled at Syracuse University, she had senior standing. Born in 1847, she graduated from the Emma Willard School in Troy, NY in 1871. She then entered  the New York State Normal School (now the New York State College for Teachers) and graduated as class valedictorian in 1872. She taught for several years. After she entered Syracuse University, she became a member of the Alpha Chapter of Alpha Phi and graduated with a Ph.B. degree in 1877.

Bancroft moved to Evanston, Illinois where she replaced Frances Willard, an honorary initiate of the Alpha Phi’s Alpha Chapter, as dean of women at Northwestern University. She also taught French; while pursuing her interest in old French law, she wrote a monograph on the subject. While at Northwestern, she helped found the Western Association of Collegiate Alumnae, which later became a part of the American Association of University Women. Upon the advice of several historians, including Andrew D. White, she went abroad and  studied at the University of Zurich in 1886-87. In 1887, she became the first woman to be admitted to the Ecole des Hautes Etudes at the Sorbonne in Paris.

Jane Bancroft Robinson

For nine years the Alpha chapter at Syracuse stood alone until “she sought out as Beta chapter, seven girls at Northwestern, who had cemented already, their friendship. . . by wearing uniform rings” ( McElroy, 1913, p. 141).   The motto “Toujours Fidele” was inscribed on their rings.  Minnie Moulding, Claire Lattin, and Adele Maltbie were the core group.  Upon their return to campus as sophomores, they sought an organization similar to the men’s fraternities then at Northwestern.  The three consulted Dean Bancroft. She encouraged them to enlarge their circle and they asked four other female students to wear their rings, seniors Emma Meserve and Jennie Marshall, and sophomores Lizzie Hill and Eva Lane.  Three members of the Syracuse chapter visited Evanston upon Bancroft’s invitation and before the three left Evanston, the Beta chapter of Alpha Phi had been installed.  The installation took place on June 6, 1881, at Meserve’s home on the corner of Orrington Avenue and Clark Street across from Willard Hall.  The following fall saw the initiation of three additional members.

Dean Bancroft was followed by Dean Rena Michaels, an Alpha Phi founder.  Although there were not many Alpha Phi alumnae in Evanston, the few who were there, most notably Willard, were important to the chapter.  Willard inspired the chapter “by her own noble life and giving them memorable intimate talks on her occasional visits to the Alpha Phi hall” (Alpha Phi Fraternity, 1931, p. 152).  In addition, “her famous ‘den’ was open to the Alpha Phis one afternoon a week – a rare privilege, for the room contained gifts and souvenirs from all over the world” (Thomson, 1943, p. 50).  Willard’s pew at the First Methodist Episcopal church was at the chapter’s disposal and the Northwestern University chapter members were asked to her receptions.

Bancroft was the author of two books, Deaconesses in Europe and Their Lessons for America and The Early History of Deaconess Work in American Methodism. On May 7, 1891, she married George Orville Robinson. He founded the National Training School in 1900. In 1908, she was elected president of the Woman’s Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Bancroft Robinson spent her life engaged in work for the church. She died in 1932.

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Citations are from Coeducation and the History of Women’s Fraternities, 1867-1902, by Frances DeSimone Becque, 2002. All rights reserved.

Posted in Alpha Phi, American Association of University Women, Northwestern University, Notable Fraternity Women, Notable Sorority Women, Syracuse University | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Jane Marie Bancroft Robinson, Alpha Phi, Active in Deaconess Work

Happy Birthday May Lansfield Keller, the Iron Dean of Westhampton College

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

May Lansfield Keller as a collegian. A charter member of the Maryland Alpha Chapter of Pi Beta Phi, she served as Grand President of the organization. Her arrow badge is somewhat visible in this photo.

“American Girl German Ph.D.” read the second page headline in a 1904 edition of the New York Times.   May Lansfield Keller, a Pi Beta Phi, had been awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Heidelberg.  The headline conveys both the esteem with which the German doctorate was held and the novelty of an “American girl” earning one.  The brief article mentioned none of the difficulties Keller faced as a woman in her quest for a doctorate.

May Lansfield Keller was born on September 28, 1877, in Baltimore, Maryland.  In 1894, she enrolled at the Woman’s College of Baltimore, now known as Goucher College.  Upon her graduation from the Woman’s College of Baltimore in 1898, it became clear to her father that Keller was adamant about pursuing graduate study.  Dr. Hans Froelicher, associate professor of French language and literature at the Woman’s College of Baltimore, was impressed by Keller’s ability and determination.  Froelicher was also the husband of Dr. Frances Mitchell Froelicher, a Woman’s College of Baltimore associate professor of German language and literature; she had earned her Ph.D. at the University of Zürich where she was the second woman to receive a Ph.D. (Knipp & Thomas, 1938).  Their influence was paramount in Keller’s decision to pursue graduate education at a German university.

Keller’s father was against her going to Germany and instead she entered the University of Chicago in the fall of 1898.  She did not appreciate the treatment women were getting at the University of Chicago.  According to Turnbull (1975), the final straw came when “A male professor cornered her and asked ‘Do you have to earn your own living?’ When she said no, he asked ‘Then why in heavens name don’t you stop and get married?’” (p. 19).

Keller won the argument and sailed for Germany in late 1900.  The excerpts of her letters are a glimpse into the German universities of the early 20th century and the difficulties encountered by the women students who dared enter that domain.  Her first stop was the University of Berlin, a popular spot for American students; of all American students in Germany between 1820 and 1920, about half spent at least one semester at Berlin (Thwing, 1928).

In a letter to her father she wrote, “Everyone has been extremely polite notwithstanding everything I have heard to the contrary.  It is understood, of course, in Germany — men first!”  In the same letter she noted that the men had been as polite if not more so than the men she encountered at the University of Chicago, “I don’t see how anybody in their senses could prefer Chicago after having studied any time in a German University” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, October 29, 1900).

The lectures were in German, and she stated that it was extremely hard to listen to five hours of German lectures.  The study was difficult and much was required of her.  During her first term in Berlin she had four grammars to study: Old Norse, Gothic, Anglo-Saxon, and Latin.  “I have literally swallowed a Gothic grammar and am working at present on Anglo-Saxon and Nordic which is the most difficult of all the Germanic dialects” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, November 4, 1900).  Later that month she wrote, “Old Norse will be the death of me yet.  It is the hardest thing I ever tackled and I wouldn’t flunk before 34 men for half America” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, November, 1900).

While at the University of Berlin, she was a member of the “Verein für studierende Frauen” [Woman’s Club].  The Berlin club was part of a larger group of several hundred women whose aim was better educational conditions for women.  The club at the University of Berlin had a secondary aim of bringing together the 374 women students to bi-monthly Tuesday night meetings in a beer hall.  “How strange it must sound to a western ear, and yet like most meetings of a similar character in Germany, the Woman’s Club finds its meeting place in a beer hall, the reason being, that no fixed sum is asked for the hall” (Keller, 1901, p. 209).

Keller decided to enroll at the University of Heidelberg, the oldest of the German universities; it was founded in 1386 (Heidtke, 1968).  During the 1890s, an average of 28 Americans were enrolled each year (Herbst, 1965).  Hence, Americans were in a minority.  Keller wrote about how frustrating an experience it was: “We interviewed the dean yesterday & he is hostile to women. . . .  I cannot tell yet what I am going to study as I have to interview every prof., have his permission to attend his lectures, a written permission from the philological faculty and also the dean before I can ever go near the univ.  Such red tape!” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, April 20, 1901).

The dean was not cooperative in her attempt to enroll. She kept her family informed, “I can tell you nothing about my work yet.  As I told you the dean is hostile to women and has been nasty — keeping all my papers, diploma, everything, and telling me I would have to wait and do nothing until he saw the faculty and returned them which he has failed to do” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, April 20, 1901).  Classes were to start the next day and Keller decided she was going to attend everything as if she had full permission.  She told her family that another female student was afraid to try that tactic “but I don’t care.  They are only German profs, not lords of the realm and I am an American citizen with a passport but no diploma at present.  It is awfully aggravating and I could kick the old gentleman for being so slow” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, April 20, 1901).

She evidently restrained herself as there is no mention of her having kicked the dean.  She was quite annoyed with him for he took her diploma and kept it for 10 days after the semester had begun and several days after lectures had started.  Keller, in what was considered to be a bold move followed through on her plan.  She went to the University on the first Monday of classes as if she had permission.  She, the “only woman visible in a perfect swarm of students,” returned triumphant.  By this gesture, she was so encouraged that she paid a visit to a professor, told her tale of woe about the dean and received permission to take his seminar and lecture work.  That semester, she had seven professors, 17 hours of classes, and two seminars.  This was in her estimation “enough to kill a mule, but never mind, I can stand it” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, May, 1901).

Keller told a story about one of the first professors she encountered at the University of Heidelberg: “Fischer Knus Fischer, the great Knus, the philosopher, the finest lecturer in any German university, and who hates women worse than he would a poisoned toadstool, was simply hateful.  He is ‘Exzellenz’ and must ever be called ‘Excellence’ on all occasions.  The prof. of hist. warned us not to go to call at his house for his signature but to tackle him at the univ., which we did on Friday afternoon.  The old fellow yelled, ‘Herein’ [come in] when we knocked, and we walked in to find him stretched comfortable on his back on a sofa.  All I saw was a pair of feet flying through the air, a vigorous jump, and there he stood positively glaring at us. Instantly he demanded, ‘Well, have you got permission?’ On assuring him that we had, he bawled ‘67’ at Miss Van M [her friend from the Woman’s College of Baltimore, Johnetta Van Meter], ‘68’ to me, then jumped on me and told me my paper was not made out properly.  That made me mad, and I responded very promptly that it was.  After a warm discussion he found what he was looking for in exactly the right place.  Then he sighed, pushed the paper forward, and grunted, ‘Here take them, good day.’  Wasn’t he a peach?  I laughed in the very room as it was all so perfectly absurd”  (M. L. Keller, personal communication, May, 1901).

In June, 1901, she wrote home “The novelty of being the only woman reciting before a class full of men is somewhat wearing off before the fire of questions which the beloved prof. hurl at my American head” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, June, 1901).

By November, 1901, she was entrenched in her studies, “There are four of us women here all working for the doctors and every one in trouble over her third minor because all Germanic or Germanic and English together is not allowed for a Ph.D. (M. L. Keller, personal communication, November, 1901).

Her father inquired about the requirements of her doctoral program.  She elaborated: “You asked me exactly what is required for my doctorate and in what I shall make it: Major – Anglo-Saxon, Middle English, New English. First Minor – Old Norse, including Gothic and Ur-Germanisch Grammar. Second Minor – Old French, Middle and New French, including Latin, of course. In Old Norse, of course, is included a thorough knowledge of German so that by the time you get the major and minors down with what they include, it means a study of every single branch of the Germanic language including its near relative the English and French from the present to the time of the Romans, including Latin” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, March 17, 1902).

In April of 1902 she apprised her family of her progress.  Keller had not yet received her dissertation subject.  She estimated that the quickest she could be done was July 1903, “but if I find another two or three months would give me better preparation and a higher grade I shall wait until Oct.” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, March 27, 1902).  She seemed apprehensive, yet determined when she told her father, “I have creepy sensations about my spinal column when I think of that exam and the worst of it is everybody here expects me to do something, so I can’t simply crawl out with the lowest number.  Oh, if there wasn’t such a thing as a Ph.D.  I should be happier I think, or rather the exam for the Ph.D.”  (M. L. Keller, personal communication, March 27, 1902).

It was difficult being one of the few women in the program at the University of Heidelberg.  Keller sometimes conveniently forgot to tell her parents news as this letter indicated, “I didn’t tell you beforehand because I didn’t know how the thing was going to turn out, but now that everything has turned out so well, I will tell you of my latest piece of audacity.  You know they are getting stricter over here all the time and the rules for women are as bad as they can be.  There has been an awful fuss about our being here so on the strength of that Hoops made a new rule demanding a thesis on a grammatical subject and an oral examination from every person desiring to enter his seminar this semester, who was not already an active member of the course.  Not a woman applied except myself, and not a single foreigner (not even the American men here with English as their major).  After I applied I was scared to death for I got an awful subject in a dialect I had never seen – that didn’t phase [sic] me, I worked like a trooper, and received notification last Tuesday that I would have to meet the gentleman after 6:30 to be examined – that was at 3:30.  I went, he put me through my paces, handed me back my essay and said, ‘I take great pleasure in admitting you unconditionally as a member of my seminar, furthermore I will tell you that you are the only one of the applicants unconditionally admitted and the others are men.’ I was tickled to death — he told me my grasp of the subject (dialect unknown until 7 weeks ago) and that all the other people would have to pass another examination at the end of the semester” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, May, 1902).

Dissertation titles were assigned rather than chosen freely, but Keller did have a choice of two subjects, either “Weapons in Anglo-Saxon” or the literary subject, “Paulo and Francesca in the Light of World Poetry.”  Although she started on the literary subject, she realized it would take her two years longer to finish.  She was quite concerned about finances, so she made the switch to the technical subject.  Keller kept her father informed about her dissertation research, “I can hardly tell you, for working it up involves handling it from 6 different sides:

“1st.  The etymology of all the words – thereby proving whether the weapons were of Indo-Germanic, West Germanic, Slavish, Celtic, or Anglo-Saxon origin, sometimes involving the use of 17 different languages.  Call it fun if you like!

“2nd.  An accurate knowledge of all the Latin and Greek historians who have handled the subject of Teutonic wars from Tacitus to the 9th Cent. writers.

“3rd.  Must give citations from the Anglo-Saxon poets — including every mention of every single weapon in the whole range of Anglo-Saxon literature; also all the Latin glossaries.

“4th.  A study of the Latin laws of Charlemagne and all the early Eng. laws.

“5th.  The architecture of the Anglo-Saxon and Teutonic peoples including all grave finds in Germany, Eastern France, Denmark, Switzerland, and England

“6th.  Accurate deductions from the above, descriptions of weapons and a culture history backed up by all the evidence.

“Is that a job or not?” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, May, 1903.)

In October, 1903 when she was almost finished with her research and dissertation, she wrote her family, “I have yet to turn it into German and to verify results, then copy it, which means several weeks yet of hard work.  Then Hoops will tear it all to pieces, find mistakes, make me do it all over again, and that will take still more time” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, October, 1903).

By November, 1903, the strain of completing her dissertation had become quite evident, “This is simply to announce the fact that I am still living and very well except for the fact that I have nearly written my eyes out this week trying to get my Arbeit [dissertation] ready to send in” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, November, 1903).  She told of having to copy and rewrite some 500 or 600 pages of manuscript.  The final copy for the printer would have to be typed, and she would find a professional to type it.  According to her letter, she had written five to seven hours a day from the first of September.

She did not tell her parents of the physical toll being exacted by her dissertation until she was almost done.  In mid-November, 1903, she was almost ready to hand her dissertation in; the introduction was 140 pages and the main part was over 300 pages, and that was in a single spaced handwritten copy.  She had copied the entire work by hand in two weeks time, attended classes, and prepared for recitations.  In the middle of this two week period, “I burst one of the blood vessels in my left eye . . . . and as I had to keep up with work, it took some time to get better” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, November, 1903).

And just as she was ready to hand the dissertation in, she “discovered three or four new books, everyone of which has to be gone through; it is really enough to drive me crazy” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, December, 1903).  But she made short work of those few books, for on December 20, 1903 she wrote, “Last Wed. I handed over my thesis, the result of one of the hardest years work I ever did, and if it is accepted it is NO CREDIT TO MY HEAD PROF., who didn’t give me one bit of advice, and doesn’t know one word that is in it.  That is German — he is too busy to bother with his students; if they have brains to work out something of their own — good! If not they must simply go under.  Will wait until and see how they flunk me, and let you know the result — anyway it is out my hands” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, December 20, 1903).

Her head professor, Dr. Johannes Hoops of the University of Heidelberg’s Department of English Philology, seemed to be shirking his responsibilities.  Early in 1904 she wrote, “Hoops has colossal nerve — the man, I am convinced has not looked at my Arbeit, and because it was so well written, and well divided into sections, etc., he concluded it must be good, and has allowed me to present it to the committee without a single correction” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, January, 1904).  She was concerned that others would find mistakes Hoops should have caught first.  Keller was also concerned because the other six women working on their Ph.D.s had to work the dissertations over two or three times, “How I ever escaped I don’t know, but my time will come later when Hoops reads the thing in order to give me my mark — then, ye gods & little fishes”  (M. L. Keller, personal communication, January, 1904).

She would take her doctoral exam in March, but would not tell her parents the date beforehand.  Ever frugal, she would cable “one word — Doctor — if I come through, and nothing if I fall through, which is very probable” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, January, 1904).  Several weeks later she wrote her mother, “Before very long. . . . you will hear whether the profs. have flunked me, in which case I shall go to Italy, and try it again in July.  It is largely a question of luck whether I get a text I have seen before or not” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, February, 1904).

She told her mother that she would be required to translate from three foreign tongues at sight, and answer dozens of questions.  She was to be examined by the pro-rector of the University, “a great honor, but the gentleman has the reputation of being the hardest examiner in Germany.  I have done my work under another prof. and I must say my chances are slim” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, February, 1904).

On February 24, 1904, she passed her doctoral examinations magna cum laude.  True to her word and conscious of every cent, she cabled her parents the next day.  Only one word was transmitted, “Doctor” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, February 25, 1904).

A letter outlining her ordeal followed, “The week before I lived in purgatory for two women had their theses refused. . . . and two days before her examination Fräulein Stroebe had her Arbeit thrown back on her hands, and has not yet been admitted to the exam” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, February, 1904).  By her own account, she “expected a ‘rite’ and I came out with feathers flying, congratulated by all the professors . . . . with ‘magna cum laude’ — the highest a foreigner ever makes” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, February, 1904).

If her exam proved to be successful, she had planned on hosting a Kneipe, a students’ celebration party.  She decided this wouldn’t be proper because her good friends had such misfortune with their pursuit of the doctorate, “that out of eight women, Frau Eckhardt and I are the only survivors, and she hasn’t yet been let in” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, February, 1904).  She did get to celebrate; a torch light procession was held for Keller and her friend Eckhardt, who was ultimately successful in completing her Ph.D.

In a March, 1904 letter to her father, the post script gave full information on the title and scope of her research, “Title of Arbeit — The Anglo-Saxon Weapon Names — with an Archaeological Investigation of the Weapons of Attack and Defense in use among the Anglo-Saxons from the 5th century to the time of the Norman Conquest — That’s for a starter.

“Scope of Arbeit — First an archaeological investigation of the grave fields of England, Germany and France, principally those of Kent in England, Letzen in Germany and Londonières in Normandy, followed by an etymological explanation of the words to their source in Indo-German and references to every passage as they occur in the entire Anglo-Saxon Lit.

“That meant reading all the Greek and Latin church fathers, all the old Psalters, and digging and poking around in most of the museums of Europe — Paris, Great Britain, Wien, Munich, etc., sticking my nose, too, into Slavish, Celtish, etc.  The exam included the entire range of English phil. and literature, Norse phil. and lit. (including Old Norwegian, Swedish and Icelandic), something of the Old High German, Middle High German, Gothic and Romance phil., Vulgar Latin, and a thorough knowledge of Old French with the necessary lesser acquaintance with Provencal and old dialects descended from the Latin together with French Lit. The philology of three peoples, their literature, and some dozen dialects in French and English . . . . will tell you more when I come home.” (M. L. Keller, personal communication, March, 1904)

May Lansfield Keller, Ph.D.

After she returned from Heidelberg in summer of 1904, Keller accepted a position as a professor of German at Wells College in Aurora, New York.  When, in 1906, Goucher College offered her a job as a professor of English, she made the move back to Baltimore (Turnbull, 1975).  In 1914, she was named Dean at the newly formed Westhampton College, the coordinate of Richmond College [now the University of Richmond] (Alley, 1977).

Westhampton College opened on September 17, 1914 with 82 students (Alley, 1977).  Keller spent the next 32 years at Westhampton and retired in June, 1946 (Alley, 1977).  Donaldson (1968) noted that Keller had a definite goal when she accepted the position at Westhampton College, “She was determined that Westhampton should be a liberal arts college in the true sense of the word.  Its entrance requirements, its curriculum, and its standards must be of the highest.  It must compare with the great women’s colleges of the East” (p. 383).

The eulogy by Florence Boston Decker, Westhampton College class of 1917, former Alumnae Association president and 28-year University of Richmond Trustee stated, “Dean Keller never lost sight of the needs of her student body and her faculty.  The students knew of her singleness of purpose.   They were conscious of her outstanding character — integrity! . . . Dean Keller was Westhampton” (Rosenbaum, 1989, p. 97).

 

REFERENCES

Alley, R. E. (1977). History of the University of Richmond: 1830-1971. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia.

Donaldson, J. O. (1968). A century of friendship in Pi Beta Phi 1867-1967. St. Louis, MO: Pi Beta Phi Fraternity.

Heidtke, W. M. (1968). An American looks at the University of Heidelberg. Heidelberg: Heidelberger Verlagsanstalt und Druckerei.

Herbst, J. (1965). The German historical school in American scholarship. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Keller, M. L. (July, 1901). The Woman’s Club of the University of Berlin. THE ARROW, pp. 209-213.

Knipp, A. H., & Thomas, T. P. (1938) The history of Goucher College. Baltimore, MD: Goucher College.

American girl German Ph.D. (1904, April 14). New York Times, p. 2.

Rosenbaum, C. M. (1989). A gem of a college: The history of Westhampton College 1914-1989. Richmond, VA: William Byrd Press.

Talbot, M., & Rosenberry, L. K. (1931). The history of the American Association of University Women 1881-1931. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Thwing, C. F. (1928). The American and the German university: One hundred years of history. New York: MacMillan Company.

Turnbull, P. (1975). May Lansfield Keller: Her life and letters. Verona, VA: McClure Press.

May Lansfield Keller’s letters are available in the Virginia Baptist Historical Society’s Archives which are located at the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia.

Posted in American Association of University Women, Fran Favorite, Goucher College, Notable Fraternity Women, Notable Sorority Women, Pi Beta Phi, University of Richmond (Westhampton College) | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Happy Birthday May Lansfield Keller, the Iron Dean of Westhampton College

Amy Burnham Onken, NPC Chairman 1945-47

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Amy Burnham Onken was a visitor to the 1917 National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) meeting. At that meeting, few could have imagined the influence she would have on her own organization, Pi Beta Phi, and on the NPC world itself.

In 1928, she served her first term as Pi Beta Phi’s NPC  delegate, a position she held until 1953. From 1945-47, she served as NPC Chairman. Several important changes were made during her term as Chairman.

The 30th NPC meeting was held at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on November 10-14, 1947. L. Pearle Green, Kappa Alpha Theta, served as Secretary and Edith Reese Crabtree, Kappa Kappa Gamma, was Treasurer. The acceptance of 11 organizations, including six from the Association of Education Sororities (AES), was the most important of the decisions made at the meeting. The Association of Education Sororities was founded in 1915 as the Association of Pedagogical Sororities.  In 1946, it was comprised of six national organizations, Sigma Sigma Sigma, Delta Sigma Epsilon, Pi Kappa Sigma, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Alpha Sigma Tau, and Theta Sigma Upsilon.  Its members had chapters at normal schools. In the 1940s, many of these teacher training institutions were evolving into more comprehensive institutions.  The AES and NPC merger was meant to strengthen the entire women’s fraternity system by dissolving unnecessary lines of demarcation. The former AES organizations had two years before they would be faced with competition from the NPC groups.

The other groups admitted to associate membership in NPC, by a unanimous vote, were Alpha Epsilon Phi, Phi Sigma Sigma, Delta Phi Epsilon, Sigma Delta Tau and Theta Phi Alpha. A report of the conference noted that full membership was “contingent in each case, upon the elimination by June 1, 1948, of all chapters on campuses not meeting NPC requirements and of all dual membership involving NPC fraternities.”  NPC also voted that, “Not until January 1, 1949, shall any overtures leading to future chapters to be made by or given consideration by any member group of NPC, active or associate, on campuses now occupied by the present AES groups.”

It was also at this meeting that the unanimous agreement regarding dual membership was enacted. Women could be members of only one NPC organization.

Amy Burnham Onken was born in Chapin, Illinois on September 23, 1885, and she lived her life there. In the fall of 1904 she enrolled at Northwestern University and became a member of the Illinois Epsilon Chapter of Pi Beta Phi. She became Grand Secretary in 1912 and spent 8 years in that role. She then became Grand President and remained in that position for 31 years. She installed 38 chapters. She died in October 1963.

 

Posted in Association of Education Sororities, Fran Favorite, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, National Panhellenic Conference, Northwestern University, Notable Fraternity Women, Notable Sorority Women, Pi Beta Phi | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Amy Burnham Onken, NPC Chairman 1945-47

Katharine L. Sharp, Library Science Pioneer and Kappa Kappa Gamma Grand President

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Katharine Lucinda Sharp was a pioneer in the field of library science. In the University of Illinois Library, there is a bronze tablet of her done by Lorado Taft, whose best known work at the University is the iconic Alma Mater statue.

Sharp was a charter member of Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Upsilon chapter at Northwestern University. Kate, as she was known by her Kappa sisters, was initiated on April 18, 1882. As the first charter member to graduate, her sisters gave her a diamond badge. After her death it became the President’s official badge. The badge was retired in 2000 and it is now at the fraternity’s headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. Sharp was also an alumna initiate of Phi Beta Kappa.

From 1894-96, she served as Kappa Kappa Gamma’s sixth Grand President. It was her desire to establish a chapter at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. On April 28, 1899, the Beta Lambda chapter was installed and she was a support for the chapter during its early years.

As for her professional career, in 1888, she became the librarian at the Scoville Institute, an endowed free library at Oak Park, Illinois. In 1890, she enrolled in the country’s first library science school at the New York State Library School at Albany. She was charged with preparing and installing the Cooperative Library Exhibit at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. She was then appointed Director of the Department of Library Science at the Armour Institute of Technology.  In 1897, she headed to the University of Illinois. Sharp was the University of Illinois’ Head Librarian for 10 years. She founded and was the Director of its Library School, one of the country’s early library science programs. An original member of the Illinois Library Association, Sharp was the group’s President from 1903-04. She was also on the Council of the  American Library Association and served two separate terms (1898 and 1902) as its Vice-President.

In 1907, she left the University of Illinois and went to live in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State where she was an officer of the Lake Placid Club. The Club was founded and operated by Melville Dewey, a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and the creator of the Dewey Decimal System. It was there that she died on June 10, 1914, as the result of an automobile accident.

The bronze tablet by Lorado Taft is inscribed “Nobility of character and grace of person were united with intellectual vigor and scholarly attainments she inspired her students and associates with sound standards of librarianship and ideals of service.”

Posted in Fran Favorite, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Mount Holyoke College, Notable Fraternity Women, Notable Sorority Women, University of Illinois | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Katharine L. Sharp, Library Science Pioneer and Kappa Kappa Gamma Grand President

Destination Monmouth, Illinois, Home of the Monmouth Duo!

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Monmouth, Illinois, is a very special place. The Monmouth Duo, Pi Beta Phi and Kappa Kappa Gamma, were founded there in 1867 and 1870, respectively. If you visit Monmouth, you will be able to get a glimpse of what life was like when the two organizations were founded.

The home of “Major” Jacob Holt at 402 E. First Avenue, is the founding site of Pi Beta Phi. Today Holt House is open to the public. It  is decorated as it might have been in 1867, when Libbie Brook (Gaddis) and Ada Bruen (Grier), two friends from nearby Henderson County, rented the front southwest bedroom from the Holt family. It was there in that room that the organization was founded on April 28, 1867.

A Monmouth Duo Dance Card Cover, 1961

Kappa Kappa Gamma was founded on October 13, 1870. The former home of Mary “Minnie” Stewart, the Stewart House, is also open for tours.  She was the chapter’s first President and Kappa’s first Grand President. Kappa’s Constitution was written in the home and the charter was signed there as well. The chapter had many of its first meetings in the home.

What I find most amazing about both organizations is the they survived the dissolution of the chapters at Monmouth College. Both Kappa Kappa Gamma and Pi Beta Phi had to close their founding chapters in the early 1880s when the College yielded to pressure from the United Presbyterian Church to ban all the fraternities from campus. Both organizations expanded shortly after their formations and the younger chapters were able to keep the organizations viable and growing.

Evelyn Peters Kyle, a former Pi Beta Phi Grand Council member, graduated from Monmouth College in the 1930s. In 1993, she wrote about her alma mater, “Monmouth College, chartered in 1853, is six years older than the University of Illinois. Monmouth Academy was founded in November, 1853, by a group of influential local citizens; with $2,000 subscriptions from residents and $700 in borrowed gold, it opened its door in a dingy frame building with probably 20 students, though there is no definite record. On September 3, 1856, Monmouth Academy became Monmouth College in a rustic one room school building. By October of 1856, there were 50 students and a solid brick structure was ready for classes.”

Monmouth was a city in name only. In fact, it was very reminiscent of the Frontier. The streets were muddy lanes or dusty trails according to the season. Sidewalks were few, street lighting did not exist. Cows roamed over yards and prairie chickens flew around the town square. Dr. David Wallace from Boston became the College’s first president. In 1846, he graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, at the head of his class and was elected president of Muskingum College before he received his diploma. He had a strong desire to enter the ministry and after attending seminary in Oxford, he was ordained in 1851 and given a church in Fall River, Massachusetts.”

Just as funding is a problem for colleges today, so it was in the 1800s. “Money was a big problem at Monmouth College and there was a need for more space and a campus and buildings. Two friends of the college donated 10 acres and some funds to what was to become the center of today’s campus. The main building was completed in 1862 and college opened on September 2, 1862.”

Student life was quite different than it is today. “As the College was under the United Presbyterian Church it had strict rules against card playing, dancing, or any so-called frivolity; the students spent a good deal of time eating. According to the season, they had picnics, chafing dish parties, and lavish banquets at the slightest provocation. Oyster suppers were very popular and sleighing parties in the winter. In warm weather, there were boat trips on the Mississippi River from Oquawka, site of the first convention, up or down the river. There were several fancy tonsorial parlors which provided hot and cold baths of filtered rain water. There were student boarding clubs and several stores gave special discounts to students for groceries. But many of the students roomed and boarded with local families.”

In the years before intercollegiate sports, student activities were more cerebral. “Literary Societies provided cultural atmosphere. In 1857, the women organized the Amateur des Belles Lettres, later known as ABL, with the Latin motto translating to “Right and Forward.” Their main contribution of interest they promoted in debating and public speaking. These led to organization of contests between schools. All the cheers, songs, horseplay and razzle dazzle that became associated with football were present in these debates and oratorical contests. Banners of victory were brought home resulting in parades and yells not appreciated by the Monmouth Police Department.”

 

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The Second NPC Meeting – September 19, 1903

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

The second National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) meeting took place on September 19, 1903 with two additional groups, Chi Omega and Alpha Chi Omega, joining the original seven – Pi Beta Phi, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Alpha Phi, Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta and Delta Delta Delta – who had met on May 24, 1902. The locale, the Columbus Safe Deposit Vaults in Chicago, remained the same. The name of the organization changed several times throughout the early years, including calling it a congress rather than a conference.

Five by-laws were submitted to the national organizations by the first Conference body and the purpose of the second meeting was to receive the reports and to determine what additional action was needed.

Chi Omega did not have a representative at the first NPC meeting. Edith Warlaw, S.H. (National President), to whom the invitation had been sent in 1902, had been sick for months with typhoid fever. May Miller, an alumna of the Xi Chapter at Northwestern University who would later go on to serve as Chi Omega’s National Treasurer from 1904-14, was the delegate to the second meeting in Chicago. (The italicized quotes are from her report.) “One hot summer day the post-man brought a letter containing my appointment as Chi Omega’s delegate to the Inter-Sorority Conference, to be held September 19, in Chicago. Joy reigned supreme within my breast for the next few days, for I was again to visit my alma mater, and have another chat with my sisters of Xi.” 

Her account in the October 1903 Eleusis continued, “As the time came for my departure, I realized my responsibilities more than ever, and ‘my enthusiasm decreased in inverse ratio to the square of the distance.'”

She traveled to Chicago with Flora Boles, sister of Chi Omega founder Ina May Boles and a pledge of the Chi Omega chapter at Northwestern. “At 10:00 Saturday morning, the conference was called in the Columbus Memorial Building. So a few minutes before the appointed time I found my way into the assembly room, where I was cordially welcomed. A copy of the minutes of this meeting appears elsewhere in The Eleusis, so I shall not write much detail. The utmost informality prevailed throughout.”

She met the representatives of the other eight organizations. They were: Alpha Chi Omega, Mabel Siller; Alpha Phi, Ruth Terry; Delta Delta Delta, Alma Fick; Pi Beta Phi, Elizabeth Gamble; Gamma Phi Beta, Lillian Thompson; Kappa Alpha Theta, Laura B. Norton; Delta Gamma, Blanche Garten; and Kappa Kappa Gamma, Virginia Sinclair.

Lillian Thompson, a member of Gamma Phi Beta’s second chapter at the University of Michigan, was Gamma Phi’s National Panhellenic Conference Delegate for 34 years. She served as chairman of the 1913 meeting.

The meeting was called to order by Lillian Thompson, who was elected secretary. Laura Norton was elected chairman. “The conference could not make rules, only mere suggestions, as none of the delegates had power to bind their respective councils to any course of conduct as outlined in this meeting.”

Each representative gave a report and agreement was mixed on several points, but there was consensus about a single issue, “One idea seemed prevalent among the representatives, i.e., that there should be no pledging before matriculation. Next session will be something definite drawn up concerning the length of time after matriculation for bidding and pledging. One of the greatest influences in favor of a short period is the chapter house. In many colleges there are local compacts, which are working admirably, but many more have violent rushing seasons and take ‘what they can, as soon as they can.’

“Thus we considered questions until after hours; then went to lunch at Field’s. Of course fraternity matters were talked, but not along the lines of our meeting. The question of organizing alumnae chapters or associations was thoroughly considered, and it was the emphatic opinion of all that they should be formed, and that as soon as possible. But questions as to what shall be their vote in conference meetings, or just how much authority an alumna should be permitted to wield were left unanswered.”

The other great success of the meeting was the motion made to form Panhellenic Councils at every campus where two or more NPC groups had chapters. The council’s purpose was to “discuss and act on all matters of inter-sorority interest in the colleges and universities in which they exist.” The chapter first established in each institution was asked to organize the council. NPC asked that the councils be organized “as soon after Thanksgiving as possible.”

At the afternoon session, “a discussion of National Inter-Sorority organizations occupied our attention, and while they were not particularly sanctioned, it was thought advisable to urge all Greek girls to cooperate with college clubs in order to avoid narrowing influence, a result which occurs frequently where one confines too closely her work and time to one organization, or clique of girls. Moreover, besides breaking down this barrier of seclusiveness, an association with local clubs, literary and debating societies, and the Y.W.C.A., its work in the past and its work in the future, came in for a considerable portion of our attention. It was the consensus of opinion that every sorority recognized and felt the need of the good work of the religious society, and it was the determination of every delegate present to go back to her sorority with the cry and exhortation, ‘More active work among Greeks in the Y.W.C.A.’ Why should the Greeks leave this most important factor of college life almost entirely in the hands of the non-fraternity women? The religious features of the weekly ‘frat-meeting’ can not take the place of the weekly devotional services of the Y.W.C.A.. Nor does this apply to girls alone, but also to our ‘Greek heroes.’ Shall Chi Omega be more indifferent about this than others? No! That our Supreme Governing Council orders otherwise should of itself be sufficient stimulus. One seed sown at the conference, which is expected to take root and bear fruit, is a plan for impromptu inter-sorority meeting at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. This place is the center of Y.W.C.A. activity in this section. Every summer large numbers of college religious workers spend the season at Lake Geneva. Among this large gathering engaged in God’s work are many Greeks of different sororities. To get together, to talk over religious field of the various colleges, to plan and to outline work for the next school year, especially with the view of interesting more Greeks in religious work, is surely a desirable achievement.”

The delegates also voted on the future of the organization, “The last action of the conference was in reference to future inter-sorority meetings. A motion was carried that these conventions should be held annually. It was left optional with the sorority represented whether its delegate to the next conference be active or not. At this meeting all the delegates were inactive.”

The size of the group at this second meeting was limited to the nine representatives, “No visitors were present during the session of the delegates, for the reason that the latter occupied all the room. It is to be hoped that in succeeding years a larger assembly room may be had and that all visiting Greeks may be welcomed, and there will be many, for inter-sorority enthusiasm is growing rapidly.

“The conference will be called next year by Delta Gamma, as its representative was the only delegate present whose term of office on the Governing Board does not expire before next year. This matter settled, conference adjourned, all delegates declaring that the meeting had been highly successful and hoping that they might again be together in similar gatherings.”

The National Panhellenic Conference will be meeting shortly for its 2012 session, and just as it was at this meeting in 1903, cooperation and working for the success of the women’s fraternity system is its goal.

My thanks to Chi Omega’s Archivist, Lyn Harris, who shared with me May Miller’s account of the second meeting.

To find out what took place at the first NPC meeting, read the post at http://wp.me/p20I1i-7N

The 1911 NPC meeting is featured at http://wp.me/p20I1i-6C and http://wp.me/p20I1i-6l

Posted in Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Phi, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Fran Favorite, Gamma Phi Beta, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, National Panhellenic Conference, Pi Beta Phi, The Eleusis of Chi Omega | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Second NPC Meeting – September 19, 1903

The University of Nebraska Women’s Fraternity System through 1902

Posted on September 16, 2012 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

After autumn 1882, 12 female students at the University of Nebraska formed a club they called T. T. T., an acronym for the “The Tempest Tossed.”  The club disbanded at the end of the school year and two of the women decided to try to form a club for the following year.  Another person suggested they try to form a women’s fraternity.  The women corresponded with the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Through this correspondence, the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter was installed on May 19, 1884, making it the first women’s fraternity on the University of Nebraska campus (Walker, 1903).

The Kappa Kappa Gamma Chapter at the University of Nebraska. It is interesting to note the various locations of the Kappa key badge.

The University of Nebraska had been chartered by the state of Nebraska on February 15, 1869.  It took five years for the university to open its doors.  Although it was coeducational from the start, Nebraska’s experience with students unprepared for collegiate work mirrored the trend of other western universities during the same time frame (Manley, 1969).  When the University of Nebraska finally opened, the vast majority of the 130 students were in the preparatory department.  One of the five considered a collegiate freshman was a woman (Knoll, 1995).  The first woman graduate was Alice M. Frost who received her degree in 1876 (Manley, 1969).

On April 7, 1887, Kappa Alpha Theta joined Kappa Kappa Gamma on campus when its chapter was installed.  The chapter was inactive from June 1891 to February 10, 1896 (Wilson, 1956).

Delta Gamma’s chapter on the University of Nebraska campus was assisted by the men’s fraternity, Phi Delta Theta.  A local group, through the urgings of the Phi Delts, petitioned Delta Gamma for a charter.  The chapter was installed on October 19, 1888 (Stevenson, Carvill & Shepard, 1973).

The University of Nebraska Delta Delta Delta chapter owes its existence, in part, to a Delta Gamma from the University of Nebraska chapter who was visiting Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois.  While at Knox College she met a few of the Tri Deltas from that campus.  Upon her return to Lincoln, she told an unaffiliated friend about the Tri Delta women at Knox and she urged her friend to apply for a Delta Delta Delta charter.  It became the organization’s westernmost chapter when it was installed on November 28, 1894 (Haller, 1988).

A Pi Beta Phi chapter was installed on January 21, 1895, and the reorganized Kappa Alpha Theta chapter was reinstalled in February of 1896.

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From – Coeducation and the History of Women’s Fraternities 1867-1902, by Frances DeSimone Becque, Dissertation, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2002, pp. 116-7.  All rights reserved. The Bibliography will soon be available as a separate post.

 

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September 11, 2001 – A Day That Will Be Forever Etched on Our Minds

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

The weekend of September 8, 2001 was spent at a Pi Phi meeting in some Texas city. I can’t remember if it was Dallas or Houston. A few of us stayed until Monday to meet and discuss an updating of a program. There were two of us flying to St. Louis. We had decided to get to the airport early and then meet some more at the airport before we headed out. Sara, the other person heading to St. Louis, checked in before me. The TWA attendant told Sara there was a plane taking off in a few minutes and she could get on it. When she said she was going for it, I agreed to go too. We both got to the gate, the gate door was closed, but the attendant at the gate opened the door and we boarded. The rest of the committee went to their gates since we decided that we really didn’t need to meet again that day.

September 10, 2001 turned out to be the last day that you could go to a closed gate door and board the plane.

September 11, 2001 was a beautiful day in southern Illinois. The sky was a deep blue. I remember seeing deer in the backyard before I turned on the television and sat down at the computer to answer e-mails. I hadn’t talked to my sister Louise in a few days and calling her was one of the first things on my list.

Our mother had passed away that March after nine months of being in and out of hospitals dealing with a brain tumor and cancer. The day that we met in Florida knowing that the end was near for our mother, we were both in our private agonies. Her husband, a bond trader, had just left his job at Cantor Fitzgerald on the 103 floor of the north tower of the World Trade Center. When he was in Florida he was networking and by the time we had made our way to Long Island for a memorial service a few days later, he had another job lined up, this time in the 60s of the South Tower.

He had been there for the earlier attack on the Trade Center and had walked down 100 floors by the light of his wrist watch. Having him in the middle of the towers seemed better than being on the top of the world.

The phone was in my hand as I turned on the television. The shot I saw on the screen made the hair rise on the back of my neck. A plane had crashed in to the World Trade Center. There was no way I could call my sister. She would hear the fear in my voice. I walked around the house with a knot in my stomach. A few minutes later the phone rang. It was Louise. There was panic in her voice. I told her to calm down. I kept telling her that at the end of the day she would be one of the lucky ones. I kept saying it even though I didn’t truly feel it. All I knew was that I needed to get to the east coast as quickly as possible. I was trying to make flight arrangements to get there when I heard from the voice on the other end of the phone that the Pentagon had been hit.

I was on the phone with Louise when the first tower fell. I called my uncle and cousins. They made their way to Louise’s house so that she wouldn’t be alone when she left work and went home.

It was after noon when she finally heard from her husband. She said that when he looked out the window and saw debris falling, he said to himself “This will not end well.” He and a colleague left their desks and headed out of the building. That earlier experience was still fresh in his mind. They ignored the all clear that sounded and told people it was safe to go back to their offices.

He left and kept walking north. He knew he was one of the lucky ones. Nearly everyone he had worked with at Cantor was gone. The colleague who helped him get the new job perished. My brother-in-law’s life would always be pre- and post-9/11.

September 11, 2001 changed lives. The events of the day are etched in many minds. My sister and her husband’s lives were changed that day.

As the anniversary of 9/11 approaches, the day will play over and over again in my mind. My sister is gone. It will be a tough day for her husband. As we remember that day, let us not forgot all the lives that were lost. May they rest in peace. And may those who mourn their loss know that they are not alone.

There is another post with the names of GLO members who were lost. 

(c) Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2012. All Rights Reserved.

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Chi Omega’s National Achievement Award 1930-58

Posted on September 8, 2012 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

A guest post written by Chi Omega’s National Historian, Lyn Harris. Thank you, Lyn!

No celebration of culture is more evident in Chi Omega’s history than is the National Achievement Award. This prestigious honor, the brainchild of Mary Love Collins, National President of Chi Omega from 1910-52, was presented from 1930–58 to a deserving woman who excelled as a leader in the arts, politics, pursuit of human rights, or the theater. Established because women were not being recognized with the top honors of the day (e.g., the Pulitzer, the Nobel), the award was the first given by a national women’s organization for the outstanding achievements of a woman. The award helped dispel the myth that women cannot appreciate the distinguished accomplishments of women.

In lavish fashion, the award, never received by a Chi Omega, was often presented at the White House, as Eleanor Roosevelt herself served on the selection committee. On several occasions, the presentation was made at the Chi Omega Convention, in those days held at the fabulous Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, WV.

The medals were designed by Frances Grimes and were 14 K solid gold disks, 2.75 inches in diameter bearing the image of Demeter, the patron goddess of Chi Omega. Mrs. Collins insisted that Chi Omega’s name not be used in publicity. She repeatedly told the press, the committee and the recipients that it was not the Chi Omega Award, that Chi Omega “simply provided the mechanics.”

The Chi Omega medal is on the lower right. A menu on the left features Margaret Chase Smith’s signature under the seal. On February 18, 1949, Senator Smith became an Honorary Initiate of Sigma Kappa’s Alpha Chapter at Colby College. Senator Smith was the first woman to serve in both houses of the U.S. Congress.

The National Achievement Award recipients included internationally acclaimed anthropologist Margaret Mead and human-rights activist Madame Chiang Kai-shek. The only two National Panhellenic Conference organization members to receive the award were Carrie Chapman Catt, (Pi Beta Phi) women’s suffrage leader and United States Senator from Maine, Margaret Chase Smith (Sigma Kappa).

Mrs. Roosevelt and Madame Chaing Kai Shek, 1942

On February 23, 1951, in her column My Day, Mrs. Roosevelt wrote  “I had to leave Hyde Park right after lunch on Wednesday and in the evening I went to Washington. This morning I recorded a number of interviews but the real reason I am here is to attend a meeting at which the Chi Omega Achievement Award for 1950 will be given to Miss Edith Hamilton in the field of literature. Also, the award for 1951 will be presented to Mrs. Anna Rosenberg for her outstanding work in the field of public service.

“I am particularly happy that this award, which is given by women to focus the attention of college students on the achievements of women in various fields, should go this year to my friend, Anna Rosenberg. It is a recognition that women not only admire achievement but dislike certain methods that may be used to try to discredit a patriotic and able public servant.”

Mrs. Roosevelt presents the National Achievement Award to Carrie Chapman Catt. Mrs. Catt’s dress was navy and the corsage was given to her by Pi Beta Phi’s Grand President, Amy Burnham Onken. Miss Onken attended the presentation at the White House.

 National Achievement Award Recipients

1930 Frances Grimes,* Arts – sculptor

1931 Florence Rena Sabin, Science

1933 Frances Perkins, Public affairs

1934 Josephine Roche, Public affairs

1935 Alice Hamilton, Science – medical

1936 Katharine Cornell, Arts – actress

1937 Florence E. Allen, Public affairs – Judge

1938 Rachel Crothers, Arts – playwright

1939 Margaret Mead, Science – anthropologist

1940 Carrie Chapman Catt, Public affairs – women’s suffrage

1941 Mrs. August Belmont, Public affairs

1942 Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, Public affairs

1943 Florence B. Seibert, Science – medical

1946 Anne O’Hare McCormick, Arts – author/journalist

1948 The Dowager Marchioness of Reading, G.B.E., Public affairs – organized women in war effort

1948 Anna Hyatt Huntington, Arts – sculptor

1950 Anna M. Rosenberg, Public affairs

1951 Edith Hamilton, Arts author – Greek/Roman scholar

1954 Margaret Chase Smith, Public affairs – U.S. Senator

1958 Catherine Drinker Bowen, Arts – biographer/historian

*Mary Love Collins promised Frances Grimes, designer of the medal, in a letter that she would be listed as the first recipient.

My thanks to Lyn Harris, National Archivist of Chi Omega Fraternity, for being the first guest blogger. Lyn’s undergraduate degree is from Mercer University and she has a Master’s in history from Georgia College and State University. Lyn has served Chi Omega as both a staff member and a loyal volunteer.  I am fairly certain Lyn bleeds cardinal and straw.  I am grateful to her for her support.

 

 

 

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