Congratulations to the Class of 2018! Graduation is the beginning of one’s 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 ordering few coffees or other beverages and send what you would have spent to your organization’s foundation. Give at least $20 this year, $25 next year. Get in the habit of giving back to the organizations that helped shape you.
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 its social media accounts. 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 XYZ” not “I was an XYZ.”
And on a personal note it’s graduation weekend here in the ‘dale and this year we are celebrating. It’s most likely the last graduation of one of our offspring that we will have to attend. The third Dr. Becque will be hooded. I am not sure of her colors as the hood does not appear until she walks the stage and then it goes back as quickly as it came. I reminded her that I talked my way into borrowing a hood a few days before graduation so that I could get some pictures with the wine and silver blue hood that paid homage to Pi Phi’s colors.
When I graduated, my daughter gave me the plaque on the right, which she made herself. I made her my own version of the plaque on the left.
Although it is hard to see, my hood was wine and silver blue, Pi Phi’s colors.
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I read this in Southwest’s magazine last month. It struck me as funny – 41% of respondents would give up coffee for a year if someone would give them $1,000. If one spends $5 a day on coffee house brew, the total is $1,825 a year. Without going all Dave Ramsey on it, I can think of creative ways to save money on coffee without giving up coffee. And speaking of Mr. Ramsey, it might do graduates good to read one or two of his books or listen to his philosophy.
There are nearly 1,100 posts on this blog covering a goodly number of people, places, and events pertaining to Greek-Letter Organizations (fraternities and sororities). Some of the best posts are hidden under hundreds of other posts. (You can always search the posts for your own GLO – use the box on the right.)
Since it is #ThrowbackThursday, here are some of my favorite underappreciated posts.
Carrie Chapman Catt wearing her Pi Beta Phi arrow badge. In the 1880s, a standardized manner of wearing the badge had yet to be determined and it was common for members to wear it in all sorts of ways, including pointing downward.
Three fraternity badges – one a Psi Upsilon badge belonging to a Founder, and two I.C. Sorosis badges belonging to early members of Pi Beta Phi – have recently found new homes.
A Chi Psi from the University of Oregon posted that his great-great-grandfather, Edward Martindale, was “one of the original seven founders of the Psi Upsilon fraternity from his days at Union College. He was also a Colonel during the Civil War and credited with liberating the notorious Confederate Libby prison while commanding the black 83rd regiment. I’ve always admired him because he turned down promotions to brigadier general twice to stay with his troops. Just yesterday I finally got my hands on his Psi Upsilon founders pin, so here are a few photos and one portrait photo of him wearing the pin that I thought I’d share.” Colonel Martindale’s badge is now in the Psi Upsilon archives thanks to his Chi Psi great-great-grandson.
Psi Upsilon’s national convention in 1898 where Martindale was a keynote speaker. He is in the front row on the right.
The second badge belonged to a charter member of the Pi Beta Phi chapter at Iowa State University. I wrote about it in the latest issue of The Arrow of Pi Beta Phi.
For a readable copy of the article click here. It’s on page 21 in the digital file.
Shortly after that I.C. badge arrived at Pi Phi HQ, another one surfaced on eBay and it was purchased by a friend, Susan Bruch.
She promises that it will someday have a home in the Pi Phi archives. She wrote the Story Behind the Pin.
In February of this year I was fortunate to acquire an antique Pi Beta Phi pin when the pins were marked with I.C. rather than the Greek Letters of Pi Beta Phi. Many of you asked me about the pin, if I knew who owned it, and what was the story behind the pin and the original owner of the pin. Thanks to my fellow history mavens, especially Penny A Proctor, this is who we believed owned the pin, her story, and the story of her family. Nelly Peery Price was quite a pioneer in her day – the first woman to graduate from the law school at Iowa State University.
Nelly Peery Price As Original Owner Of The I.C. Pin
The pin, being an original I.C. pin, had to belong to someone initiated between 1867 and 1888.
The pin has initials on the back which seem to be “NP” in Copperplate script.
The N. P. engraved on the back of the pin.
There is only one listing in Sister Search of initiates between 1867 and 1888 with the initials “NP” – Nelly Peery Price, initiated into Iowa Zeta in 1886- which is the correct time for her to be the owner of the pin.
Nelly’s family was financially comfortable, if not wealthy, and could afford a pin.
Although she spent most of her adult life in Iowa, she moved to San Diego, California in 1938 and lived there until her death in 1948.
The pin was sold at an auction house in Beverly Hills, CA from the estate of Oriental Art collectors from San Diego.
The story of Nelly cannot be told without including the story of her sisters Bessie, June and Hortense. They were the children of Stephen Peery and Emma Hendrick Peery. Stephen was born in Virginia but after a brief sojourn in southern California relocated to Grundy County, Missouri, shortly before the Civil War broke out. He went into partnership with J.H. Shanklin, “one of the ablest financiers Missouri ever knew” and was credited with raising the money needed to extend the Missouri Pacific Railroad into Kansas City. He was active in local politics and was elected a judge. It seems clear from the family’s life style that he became quite wealthy by the standards of the day. He began suffering health problems in the early 1890s and moved to San Diego, and then Phoenix, for his health. In San Diego, he immediately formed a real estate development partnership with his nephew J.W. Walker and invested $250,000 in irrigation and similar improvement projects. For that, he is remembered as one of the architects of modern San Diego. Sadly, he committed suicide in 1896, apparently despondent about his failing health and intent on avoiding a lingering death.
His wife Emma Hendrick is also an interesting personality. She was born in Missouri, but by 1864 she had married, and her honeymoon apparently was a covered wagon journey to southern California with her siblings and some of Stephen’s family. Her first child, daughter Bessie Evans Peery, was born in California. It appears that only Stephen and Emma returned to Missouri, where they had Herbert, Nelly, Jennie June, and Hortense. Emma was a believer in education and women’s equality; she instilled in Bessie the idea that Bessie was to become a physician (according to a recollection by Bessie), and she probably raised Nelly with the idea of becoming a lawyer.
Bessie and Nelly both matriculated at the State University of Iowa in Iowa City in the mid-1880s, and in 1886 they joined the still fledgling Iowa Zeta chapter of Pi Beta Phi together. Bessie earned her medical degree in 1889 but remained in the area as part of the “Iowa Kappa” chapter, which was actually Iowa City alumnae. Nelly earned her bachelor’s degree and left for a year, but then returned to pursue a law degree, which she earned in 1893. She remained a member of the active chapter while in law school and served as the chapter president in 1892 and as the chapter delegate to Convention in 1890. After graduation, she married and settled in Elkader (Clayton County) Iowa, where she became a council member of the Alumnae Association. Nelly was the only female in law school at the time and has the honor of being the first woman to graduate from the State University of Iowa Law School.
Younger sister Jennie June (“June”) was initiated at Iowa Zeta in 1892 and it may have been only for the purpose of transferring to Stanford to help establish California Alpha chapter. She is credited in The Arrow with being one of two Pi Phis who organized the establishment of the chapter and immediately became the chapter’s Arrow Correspondent. She graduated with a B.A. in English from Stanford in the spring of 1897. She remained engaged in the Southern California Alumnae Club.
Despite earning her law degree, Nelly never practiced law. She married a fellow law student, Valmah Tupelo Price, around 1895. After his graduation, they settled in Elkader where he maintained a successful practice until his death in 1931. They had two children, Herbert Peery “Peery” Valmah, Jr. and a daughter who died as a toddler. While in Elkader, Nelly remained active as an alumna and in January 1897 wrote an extensive letter to The Arrow discussing a proposition to allow individual chapters to develop and manage scholarship and loan funds (she opposed the idea). By the time of her husband’s death, her son Herbert was already living in Los Angeles and her three sisters were living together in San Diego.
Nelly began to divide her time between Missouri, San Diego, and traveling with her sisters – they took extensive trips around the country and the world together – and finally, in 1938, made a permanent move to San Diego. San Diego papers show that Bessie, Nelly and June were often in attendance at events held by the Southern California Alumnae Club. Nelly died in 1948 and is buried back in Iowa with her husband.
None of the sisters pursued a paying occupation after 1900, corroborating the family’s wealth. San Diego newspapers show that the Peery sisters were of great interest to the society editors, and their luncheons, visitors, travels and “courtesies” were frequently reported. In 1910, sister Bessie was heralded as one of the best and most experienced motorcar drivers in the country, having logged more than 4,000 miles. She and sister June became the first women to successfully drive through the mountains surrounding San Diego. The Peery sisters are mentioned often at Pi Phi events, such as Founders Day or alumnae club meetings.
Special thanks given to the History Mavens who assisted with the research: Penny Proctor, Fran Becque, Cara Sutcliffe, and Betsy McCune.
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And while we are on the topic of jewelry, here is a new version of a white gold camphor glass crest ring, obtained by the Chi Omega Archives in 2016 has been reproduced under the careful guidance of Chi Omega Archivist, Lyn Harris. It is gorgeous!
Fraternity and Sorority Archivists met in Indianapolis last week. It’s always educational and fun to be among kindred spirits. But before I headed to the conference, I did a little touring on my own. My first stop was the new Sigma Tau Gamma headquarters.
The ribbon cutting took place on May 5.
A ribbon cutting took place on Saturday, May 5, but I was able to get a sneak peek on Thursday. A Pi Phi friend, Jill Carrel, is Sig Tau’s Director of Foundation Operations, was kind enough to indulge me. Jose Contreras, Alumni Engagement Coordinator, put together the historical displays, and he joined us at the Archivists Conference, too. He did a great job of presenting the organization’s history.
Sigma Tau Gammas Founders Fireplace, where the charter was signed.
For nearly 50 years, Sigma Tau Gamma’s headquarters, the Marvin Millsap Sigma Tau Gamma Headquarters, was located at 101 Ming Street in Warrensburg, Missouri, where the Fraternity was founded. The Founders’ Fireplace and bricks from the White Rose Garden were moved to Indianapolis.
Document cases in the Sig Tau Archives
Zippy the kangaroo is from the University of Akron ‘s Delta Chapter. He has no label, so I am not sure if he is a Personality Pet from a couple of posts ago.
I also managed to squeeze in a quick visit to the Alpha Xi Delta HQ. As I have mentioned many times previously, the second chapter of Alpha Xi Delta was the chapter of P.E.O. that was established at Iowa Wesleyan University in 1869.
Alpha Xi Delta display
The Archives Conference took place at the new Zeta Tau Alpha HQ on South Rangeline Road. It’s an impressive building. Patti Cords Levitte, Zeta’s Archivist, is busy planning an historical experience center. She also noted that this display is temporary and not what is planned for these display cabinets.
Zeta Tau Alpha’s HQ
Some of the sessions covered at this conference were managing digital collections, photo presentation and identification, and conducting oral histories. The last session was presented by Barbara Truesdell, Assistant Director of the Center for Documentary Research and Practice at Indiana University. It was phenomenal and I didn’t want the session to end.
We are trying to come up with a comprehensive list of archivists and historians for Greek-Letter Organizations. Any help in compiling a complete list is much appreciated. Use the contact form below to send names and emails of those responsible for keeping the archives and historical documents of your organization.
Wednesday was a fun day and be forewarned that this post might qualify as a travelogue. I had the opportunity to do research in a new-to-me collection, in a new-to-me library. The Carroll L. Lurding Library of College Fraternity and Sorority Materials contains 2,340 items ranging in publication date from 1840-2014. These items detail “the history of fraternities, sororities, colleges, and universities from all 50 states and the District of Columbia in the United States as well as some colleges in Canada,” according to the collection description on the Lilly Library website. It is an amazing collection but if you plan to use it, note that items must be requested in advance.
Afterwards I headed to the home of a very dear Pi Phi friend. We were assigned roommates at the 1987 Pi Phi Convention and I wish I knew who was responsible for bringing her into my life so that I could offer my gratitude. I am blessed and grateful for her friendship. and her warm and gracious hospitality.
On Thursday morning, when I left Bloomington, I headed to Plainfield, where I visited the headquarters of Triangle Fraternity. It combines two of my favorite things – a library and a fraternity HQ. The building housed a former Carnegie Library building and it was a private home before it became a fraternity HQ.
Later in the day, I headed to Founders Road in Indianapolis. The Fraternity and Sorority Archivists Conference opened with a reception at Kappa Alpha Theta headquarters. A fun time was had by all.
Lyn Harris, Chi Omega’s Archivist at Kappa Alpha Theta’s HQ
Lyn Harris, Chi Omega’s Archivist. and I had dinner together, and we laughed and shared stories. We both agreed that we’d love to have a piece of Newcomb pottery with connections to our respective chapters at Sophie Newcomb/Tulane should anyone have any lying around.
Wish us luck on making it the three miles from the hotel to the site of today’s meeting, Zeta Tau Alpha’s new HQ in Carmel. I am the driver and I am not enamored with the roundabouts we have to traverse to get there.
I’m headed to the Fraternity and Sorority Archivists Conference to meet with my people. I look forward to doing a little research in the Carroll L. Lurding Library of College Fraternity and Sorority Materials at Indiana University and touring a few new to me GLO HQ.
Here are some positive news stories that have appeared in the last week or so. Positive news about the majority of GLO chapters doesn’t get much press and we sometimes forget there are chapters full of members who do “get it.”
Read how a shoebox on a counter led to an impromptu fundraising effort by one of my favorite Pi Phi chapters.
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The Pi Kappa Phi chapter at Texas Christian University raised funds to make a young woman’s dreams come true.
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I am proud of the Delta Phi Epsilon chapter at Southern Illinois University in my hometown of Carbondale for raising more than $10,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. This post explains how the CFF became DPhiE’s philantrhopy.
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The Marshall University chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi held a canned food drive (and then had to move the 2.700+ cans of food somewhere else).
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The Illinois State University chapter of Chi Omega has been hosting a Dance Marathon for 42 years. That’s more than twice the age of current chapter members.
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And who doesn’t love a good Scrabble graphic on #NationalScrabbleDay! Well done Sigma Kappa!
On August 30, 1912, Theta Phi Alpha was founded at the University of Michigan. Although founded on August 30, Theta Phi Alpha celebrates Founders’ Day on April 30, the Feast Day of St. Catherine of Siena.* St. Catherine is the patroness of the organization and her motto, “Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring, ” is Theta Phi Alpha’s motto.
In the early 1900s, Catholics were not always welcome in the other fraternal organizations. Today, just as other organizations have accepted Catholic women, Theta Phi Alpha is open to women of all religions. When Theta Phi Alpha was founded, the Catholic hierarchy believed that Catholic women should attend Catholic institutions. Giving Catholic women the opportunity to join a Catholic sorority could keep them close to their religious roots at a secular institution.
In 1909, Father Edward D. Kelly, a priest and the pastor of the Michigan’s student chapel organized Omega Upsilon. He believed that the Catholic women at the university should have the opportunity to belong to an organization that “resembled the Catholic homes from which they came.”
Theta Phi Alpha Founders
After Father Kelly left campus and became the Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, Omega Upsilon was struggling. There were no alumnae to guide the organization. Bishop Kelly’s vision that the Catholic women at Michigan should have a place to call their own was still alive even though he was not on campus. He enlisted the assistance of Amelia McSweeney, a 1898 University of Michigan alumna. Together with seven Omega Upsilon alumnae, plans were made to establish a new organization, Theta Phi Alpha.
Theta Phi Alpha’s ten founders are Amelia McSweeney, Mildred M. Connely, May C. Ryan, Selma Gilday, Camilla Ryan Sutherland, Helen Ryan Quinlan, Katrina Caughey Ward, Dorothy Caughey Phalan, Otilia Leuchtweis O’Hara, and Eva Stroh Bauer Everson. Seven of them were Omega Upsilon alumnae and two were undergraduate members of Omega Upsilon.
Theta Phi Alpha remained a local organization until 1919 when the Beta Chapter was formed at the University of Illinois. In addition, chapters at Ohio State University, Ohio University and the University of Cincinnati were chartered that year.
The Zeta Chapter at Indiana University was installed in May 1920. It became inactive in 1931. Between those years, in 1925, Caroline Louise Kempf, a member of the chapter, wrote a song to the tune of Sweet Genevieve.
The Indiana University Song Book, 1921
Kempf was one of eight children born to Dr. Edward and Caroline Judy Kempf of Jasper, Indiana. After marrying Brantley Burcham, the couple moved to Orlando, Florida. She died in 1997 at the age of 95, and she saw Orlando grow from a sleepy little Florida town to the entertainment megalopolis it is today. She was active in the Orlando community and gave unselfishly of her time and talents.
The Zeta Chapter was reinstalled in 1949, but it closed in 1957. On January 17, 2012, 65 women were initiated as Zeta Chapter came back to the Indiana University campus.
* Saint Catherine was canonized in 1461. From 1597 until 1628, the feast of Saint Catherine of Siena was celebrated on April 29, the date she died. In 1628, due to a conflict with the feast of Saint Peter of Verona, hers was moved to April 30. In 1969, the Catholic Church reinstated her feast date as April 29.
Pi Beta Phi was founded on April 28, 1867, at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, by 12 young women. Ten of them gathered in the southwest bedroom on the second floor of a home owned by “Major” Jacob Holt. The two who could not make the gathering agreed to abide by whatever the others decided to do. Their intention from the beginning was to create a fraternity for women based upon the men’s fraternity model.
A second chapter was founded at Iowa Wesleyan University in December 1868. On April 1, 1873, a chapter was established at Kansas University in Lawrence, Kansas. For #WHM2018, I wrote a post about Flora Richardson Colman, a charter member of the chapter who was the first female graduate and Kansas University’s first valedictorian. Today, I am writing about Lucinda Smith (Buchan), an 1890s initiate of the chapter who served as Grand Treasurer of Pi Beta Phi from 1893-98. Today is Pi Phi Giving Day and Lucinda Smith Buchan is connected to one of the first instances of fraternity women, in their grief, pooling their “pin money” to help other women.
Lucinda loved a Phi Kappa Psi named Fred E. Buchan. He had graduated before her and was a member of the Twentieth Kansas Volunteers (akin to the National Guard of today). The United States became involved in the Spanish-American War. The war began on April 21, 1898. The men from Kansas headed west to fight on the Asia-Pacific front of the war.
Lucinda Smith
Lucinda Smith is in the middle and she is surrounded by her Kansas Alpha sisters.
If you look closely you can see Fred Buchan’s Phi Psi pin to the right of her arrow.
In June 1898, the Twentieth Kansas Volunteers were called to San Francisco for service in the Philippines. They had one day’s notice, according to an article that appeared in The Arrow. Ida Smith (Griffith) was appointed to fill her sister’s term as Grand Treasurer. Lucinda and Fred quickly married and the ceremony took place at the home of relatives in San Francisco.
An account in the November 2, 1899 Topeka State Journal told this story:
The officers were not permitted to have the company of their wives on the transports and separation seemed inevitable. But the Kansas girl had pluck. With the wife of another officer, she became a stowaway on the Indiana, and although the government tried to prevent it, she journeyed as far as Honolulu on the way to Manila before she was parted from her husband. Though compelled to leave the transport, she followed Capt. Buchan within a few day on the regular steamer and shared his lot up to the time of her death.
Lucinda Smith Buchan died in Manila on April 17, 1899. The Lawrence Pi Phis sent a telegram to Grace Lass Sisson to tell her the sad news.
It reads: “News received of Lucinda Buchan’s death in Manila no particulars.”
Captain Buchan immediately left Manila with his wife’s body hermetically sealed in a coffin. It took him more than a month to bring his young wife back to Lawrence. Funeral services were held at the Trinity Episcopal Church and she was buried in Oakhill Cemetery.
Edith Huntington Snow, a Kansas Alpha, wrote about Lucinda:
She possessed the qualities most needed in fraternity life – loyalty, enthusiasm, good judgement and tireless energy for work, with the sort of loyalty which is as unfailing in time of reverses as in the day of greatest prosperity….Forceful, reserved, and yet responsive, she was at once the dignified, efficient council member, and the interested, sincere and sympathetic friend.
The Arrow had several pages on her death including this account by a KU professor:
Tp honor her memory, her chapter established a $200 loan scholarship, at a time when these financial aid opportunities were few and far between. The amount is about $5,500 in 2018 dollars.
Captain Buchan became a career Army man, serving in two wars, and rising to the rank of Colonel. After his journey to Lawrence to bury his wife, he returned to service. In 1901, he married Laura Conger. They had two daughters and he died at the age of 58 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery along with his second wife. (The courtship of Laura and Fred is a fascinating story in and of itself – it involves the Boxer Rebellion and two young people who suffered tragic first marriages, but you’ll have to research that on your own.)
This is a lighthearted post because I need one. I think we all need one.
One day, when I arrived at the Pi Beta Phi Archives, a little stuffed dog was waiting for me. On another visit, the dog had a horsey friend. I put them on a shelf and didn’t give it much thought. Note that the label has been cut off of the dog and the horse, too.
When I visited the University of Kansas Pi Phi chapter last week, one of the decorations adorning the refreshment table was this cousin of the Pi Phi HQ animals.
And this doggie had the label attached.
It was made by Collegiate Manufacturing Company in Ames, Iowa.
My Chi Omega friend Lyn Harris just sent these pictures. How adorable!
And here’s one from a display at Kappa Delta HQ, courtesy of Lyn Harris (Chi Omega and Kappa Delta HQs are located in Memphis.)
If there are any other fraternity or sorority Personality Pets out there, please send me pictures and I will include them in this post.
I’ve been out of touch this weekend. It was spent in Lawrence, Kansas on a quick visit with family and old friends and some new ones, too. I celebrated Pi Beta Phi Founders’ Day with the University of Kansas chapter.
On the ride home, with my husband driving, I used my phone to catch up on the events I missed. For those of you who watched Barbara Pierce Bush’s funeral, either as it was happening, or as I did via Youtube, here are a few more Greek-related items.
Barbara Pierce Bush’s parents, Marvin Pierce and Pauline Robinson Pierce, met at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Her father was a Beta Theta Pi and her mother was a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma. Barbara Bush was made an honorary alumna of Miami University.
Pauline Robinson Pierce, Barbara Bush’s mother, a Tri Sigma
Marvin Pierce, Barbara Bush’s father, a Beta Theta Pi
Susan Garrett Baker, who spoke at the funeral service, is an alumna of the Texas Alpha Chapter of Pi Beta Phi. She was one of Barbara Bush’s Pi Phi friends. As an alumna initiate of Pi Beta Phi, Barbara Bush had the opportunity to choose which chapter she wished to be initiated into and she chose Texas Eta, the chapter at Texas A&M, where her husband’s Presidential Library is located.
Barbara Bush with Texas Eta members. What a great sport she was donning a t-shirt.
President George H.W. Bush, a Delta Kappa Epsilon, wore socks adorned with books to honor his wife’s advocacy of literacy.
A group of granddaughters did one of the readings during the service and Barbara Bush, the daughter of Laura and George W. Bush, read one alone. She and her sister Jenna are members of Kappa Alpha Theta, as is their mother Laura. George W., a Delta Kappa Epsilon, and Laura Bush, were the second President and First Lady initiated into Greek-letter organizations as college students. (Lucy and Rutherford B. Hayes were alum initiates. Grace Goodhue and Calvin Coolidge were the first President and First Lady initiated as college students.)
In the upper photo, Barbara Bush is pictured with Kay Brock, Sarah Ruth “Sis” Mullis, and Beth Beatty, Pi Beta Phis who served on Grand Council, when they attended a Houston literacy event. Barbara Bush was initiated by Sis Mullis in 2002, the lower photos are of a note written to a Texas Eta member.
There are many posts on this blog. Use the search button to find the posts about your organization.
Welcome!
Welcome! Chances are good you found this blog by searching for something about fraternities or sororities.
I was the last person anyone would have suspected of joining a sorority in college. I am sure I would have agreed with them, too.
When I made my way to Syracuse University, I saw the houses with the Greek letters that edged Walnut Park, and wished I could tour them. My roommate suggested I sign up for rush (as it was then called, today it’s known as recruitment) and go through the house tour round and then drop out of rush. It sounded like a plan. I didn’t realize that I would end up feeling at home at one of the chapters. And that I would become a member.
In this blog I will share the history of GLOs and other topics. I wrote a dissertation on “Coeducation and the History of Women’s Fraternities 1867-1902.″ It chronicles the growth of the system and the birth of the National Panhellenic Conference.
My Master’s thesis details the history of the fraternity system at Southern Illinois University Carbondale from 1948-1960. The dates are significant ones and the thesis is available on the top menu.
I have done research at the Student Life Archives and have written several histories of University of Illinois fraternity chapters for the Society for the Preservation of Greek Housing.
