First, and I belive only GLO to have four Philanthropies: Alzheimer's Foundation, Gerontology, Inherit the Earth, and the Maine Sea Coast Mission.

Just re-stating what my sisters have already said and adding more...
 

Alpha Gamma Delta....

The widest spread of collegiate chapters than any other NPC group across the US

The first women's fraternity to establish a minimun GPA to attain for its chapters

Has the largest international presence

The first women's fraternity with the PURPOSE/INTENT (as Sarah said) of being International

The first women's fraternity to establish and international philanthropy

The first NPC to accept a MINORITY (not just black) member

The first to have an Executive Council

One of the first Central Offices established by an NPC (now IHQ) which was in NYC at the time

** We kind of have 2 Founders Days... Our initial Founder's Day, May 30th, and International Reunion Day which replaced Founders Day, the 3rd Sat in April. But I think we all celebrate both

First NPC to establish Life Membership Alumnae Dues

Purchase of first fraternity owned International Headquarters

First to make our hazing program, "See Through The Haze...To A Clearer Purpose " available to all Greek organizations and colleges/universities


We have 2 crest. One for our US chapters and one for our Canadian ones, b/c they cant have a helmet in honor of the Queen Mum


We have 2 big sisters, Alpha Phi (1872),and Gamma Phi Beta (1874). We make the Syracuse Three or Syracuse Triad

Our magazine, The Quarterly, is not only sent to actives and alumnaes homes, but also to colleges/universities and other womens and men fraternities and anyone else interested.

GO T Girl!!!!!!!

Quit hidden and post more~!:)

Very Informative! Good to see what other Greek Orgs Do and History!!:cool:

Don't forget one our founding AGD sisters, Emily Helen Butterfield, was the first licensed female architect in the State of Michigan!:)

Some Tri Delta Firsts
 

All these fun facts are from the website:
-Tri Delta was the first women's fraternity to be founded as a national organization with complete plans for governmental structure and expansion
-Tri Delta began regular publication of a quarterly magazine earlier in its existence than any other women's fraternity
-Tri Delta was the first to plan and perfect an alumnae system
-Tri Delta was one of the seven organizations founding the National Panhellenic School, now called National Panhellenic Conference.
-Tri Delta pioneered in chapter visiting by appointing in 1905 an officer to visit all chapters
-Tri Delta was the first to publish a book-length history: A Detailed Record of Delta Delta Delta, 1888-1907
-Tri Delta was the first women's fraternity to hold a national Leadership Conference
-Tri Delta was the first to establish a central office (now called Executive Office
-Tri Delta was a leader in financing proper housing for collegiate chapters and has a large investment in houses, lodges and suites
-Tri Delta has been chosen to participate in campus expansion programs at many fine institutions when they first opened to NPC fraternities
-Tri Delta has concentrated its national philanthropic efforts on higher education and has been praised by educators for these contributions through the Founders' Anniversary Fellowships, the Zoe Gore Perrin Scholarships and the endowment of the National Humanities Center.
-Tri Delta led NPC organizations in the number of members listed in the first edition of Who's Who of American Women, and many other members have been added in subsequent editions
-Tri Delta was the first NPC group to adopt a central accounting system for its collegiate chapters
-Individual Tri Deltas have made outstanding contributions in many fields. The History of Delta Delta Delta, 1888-1988 includes a chapter recognizing many "Distinguished Deltas," and The Trident regularly features articles on our outstanding Tri Deltas.


We were also taught (by various members of EO) that Tri Delta was one of the few women's GLO that did not have a male found or help with the rituals, symbols, etc. I also remember that Sarah Ida Shaw, who wrote all our rituals, helped write rituals for other organizations (but we weren't told who).

As one of the ten founding fraternities of the National Panhellenic Conference, it was Alpha Xi Delta's first NPC Chairman who wrote the Panhellenic Creed, which is still recited on college campuses today.

-Taken from Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity Headquarters website

oh yeah:

Jim Henson, creator of the 'Muppets', named 'Fozzi' Bear after his wife's Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity mascot... our own BetXi Bear!

Famous people i have heard about being an AZD:

Carol Lawrence (Alpha Theta) - Maria in the original Broadway cast of Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story.

Verna Kay Gibson (Gamma Beta) - Former president of The Limited clothing stores.

Jan Davis (Gamma Eta) - NASA astronaut, first woman to take her badge into outer space.

Judith Moss (Psi) - Appointed by President Reagan to National Advisory Council of Women's Educational Programs.

Karen Tumulty (Beta Alpha) - White House Correspondent for Time magazine.

Laurie Lea Schaefer (Pi) - Miss America 1972.

Goldie Hawn - Actress

Meg Ryan - Actress

Hazel Benninghoven was the only women to serve as grand president of two NPC glos....Alpha Delta Theta and Phi Mu (1954-1956).

Alpha Delta Theta merged with Phi Mu in 1939.

April 1999- National councils of ADPi and Phi Mu met for the first time ever to plan their upcoming 150th anniversaries. ADPi held theirs in Atlanta June 28-30, 2001 and Phi Mu's was held July 4-8, 2002 in Atlanta.

Osborne Lewis Smith (a professor at Wesleyan) helped the founders of the Philomathean Society to create a constitution which was used until 1904.

Mary Ann Dupont (Lines)- one of Phi Mu's founders- roomed with Eugenia Tucker (Fitzgerald)- one of ADPi's founders.

The Philomathean Society was 52 years old before it was charted as Phi Mu Fraternity (August 1, 1904).

The petition of the Adelphean Society to be incorporated was granted on the same day.

At its highest, there were 31 orgs in the NPC.

-All facts taken from the history of Phi Mu 150.

Divine 9
 

In response to an earlier post, the Divine Nine [formerly the Great Eight, before Iota joined in the 90's] are the historically African American GLO's in the NPHC. There are numerous other African American GLO's, but either they do not want to join the NPHC, or are unable to satisfy the membership criteria [including longevity, sustatined chapters, and chapters in numerous locations].

The D9 are listed below with founding dates, and location:

1906 Cornell University Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity

1908 Howard University Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority

1911 Indiana University Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity

1911 Howard University Omega Psi Phi Fraternity

1913 Howard University Delta Sigma Theta Sorority

1914 Howard University Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity

1920 Howard University Zeta Phi Beta Sorority

1922 Butler University Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority

1963 Morgan State University Iota Phi Theta Fraternity

Some Theta Delta Chi fun facts:

(this is our seven firsts)
1. Theta Delta Chi is the first fraternity to publish a fraternity magazine - The Shield, 1869 (ceased after couple editions, then started again in 1884)
2. Theta Delta Chi is the first fraternity to adopt colors: black (secrecy), white (purity), blue (loyalty)
3. Theta Delta Chi is the first fraternity to design and fly a characteristic flags, 1870
4. Theta Delta Chi is the first fraternity to adopt a precious stone - Ruby
5. Theta Delta Chi is the first fraternity to adopt a patron saint - the Roman Goddess Minerva
6. Theta Delta Chi is the first fraternity to adopt the use of pledge pin
7. Theta Delta Chi is the first fraternity to adopt a flower - the red carnation

Our Kappa Charge (Tufts University, Mass.) is the longest continous existance, founded 1856 and operating smoothly since.

Theta Delta Chi is amongst the few that have "Charges" instead of "Chapters" due to our believe for each individual brotheren to control their own operation (charge)

Theta Delta Chi is one of the four fraternities/sororities that uses the Greek nomenclature of hierarchy for our Charges, using word of "Deuteron" (second) and "Triton" (third) after all first letters used. For example, Iowa State University is Beta Deuteron Charge, Michigan State University is Gamma Triton Charge.
We honor Alpha Charge as the first Charge, therefore, there is no other Charges using any "Alpha"s.
We use Omega Charge for brothers who passed away, and they are united in Omega Charge. No other Charges using the name "Omega"

We are small fraternities by choice, in any given historical moments, we never have active Charges more than 35 in numbers. Petition to join the bond of Theta Delta Chi is prestigious, and in the past, we turned down so many petitions and we only accepted petitions from prestiguos schools: all 8 Ivy League Schools (Penn, Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth, Yale, Princeton, Brown), MIT, Stanford, William and Mary, Berkeley, Wisconsin to name a few.

Theta Delta Chi is founded in Union College in 1847, and besides Theta Delta Chi, there is five other fraternities founded in the same college: Kappa Alpha Society, Sigma Phi, Delta Phi, Psi Upsilon, and Chi Psi.

Theta Delta Chi went International with our Charge installment in McGill University in Montreal, in 1901.

My favorite alums:
Robert Frost, poet
Gonzalo de Quesada, founder of the Cuban Republic
Raymond Hood, architect of Chicago Tribune and Rockefeller Center
Walter O'Malley, owner of Dodgers, who moved the whole team from Brooklyn to LA. NY people really hated him
Frank Thomas, creator of the Disney's Thumpers (Bambi) and the romantic scene of Lady and the Trump, with the spaghetti :D
Myford Irvine, the city of Irvine, CA is named after him

Go this from national site
 

The National Fraternity

Founded on November 1, 1901, at the University of Richmond.
Composed of 240 chartered chapters and 17 chapters in the process of meeting chartering criteria (Sigma Epsilon Chapters) across the United States.

Boasts the largest undergraduate membership, presently over 14,000, of any men’s collegiate fraternity for the last two decades.

For 21 consecutive years, SigEp has been selected as the fraternity of choice by college males through their decision to join.

5,300-5,600 men choose to join annually (based upon the last 10 years).

Maintains the highest first-year member retention rate, over 90%, of any national fraternity.

246,000 lifetime members rank SigEp in the top four among national fraternities despite founding 38th in chronological order of 64 national fraternities; presently boasts the largest living alumni population.

Governed by the Grand Chapter, which is composed of undergraduate delegates (by an 85% margin), District Governors, and National Board of Directors.

Guided between Grand Chapter meetings by volunteers known as the National Board of Directors.

Maintains a full-time professional staff of over 35 people.

Publishes quarterly magazine, The Journal of Sigma Phi Epsilon, which is distributed to all members for life upon joining.


A Fraternity of Firsts

First major national fraternity to abolish membership restrictions based upon race, religion, or creed, five years before America’s civil rights movement.

First national fraternity to establish a housing trust for all chapters and separate National Housing Corporation aimed at supporting housing excellence.

First national fraternity to establish a traveling staff to assist chapters in effective operations.

First fraternity to charter a chapter in all fifty states.

First national fraternity Educational Foundation to build an endowment greater than $11 million.

First national fraternity to receive a grant from the federal Department of Education to enhance member development programs.

First national fraternity to provide financial assistance to brothers for graduate school through the Resident Scholar program.

First national fraternity to partner with the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy in order to create substance abuse education programs for members.

I have been confused by this for a while now. I had learned that Kappa issued the 1st invitation in 1890 (meeting held in April 1891) to the 7 sororities in existence at the time: Alpha Phi, Gamma Phi Beta, Delta Delta Delta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Gamma, and Pi Beta Phi. Even though a permanent Panhellenic was not created then, it did set the stage for the creation of one in 1902 when Alpha Phi did call another meeting.

First few Chairmen (as listed in The History of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity):

1891 KKG
1902 Alpha Phi
1903 Theta
1904 DG
1905 Tri Delta
1906 Alpha Xi Delta
1907 Chi O
1908 Pi Phi
1909 Theta
1910 KKG
1911 DG
1912 Alpha Phi

Here are some firsts from the same history:

1881--1st of women's fraternities to turn from Grand Chapter to Grand Council form of gov't
1882--1st women's fraternity magazine published
1922--1st women's fraternity to establish a Central Office
1928--1st to adopt the Graduate Counselor system
1952--1st women's fraternity to establish a permanent Fraternity HQ

Little E, your right....I don't think AST was first in anything....:( but

I remember learning as a pledge that....
~Kappa Alpha Theta was the first GREEK LETTER society for women
~I.C. Sororsis (Pi Beta Phi) was the first something for women....and
~Adelphian Society (Alpha Delta Pi) was the first something for women

Now, I can't remember if PBP was the first organization for women and Adelphian was the first secret organization for women or what....but there is a difference there.

This actually came up in conversation the other day, so now I have to dig out the manual and find the answer!!! It's bugging me!!!!

Alpha Delta Pi is the first secret society for college women, and Phi Mu is the second. Pi Beta Phi is the first secret society to use the word "sorority". Hope that helps you out. :)

Actually, I think that Gamma Phi Beta was the first group to use the word "sorority." I.C. Sorosis (later re-named Pi Beta Phi) was the first women's fraternity to expand beyond the campus of its founding, if I remember correctly.