On my campus the girls who eventually founded Phi Mu were originally Kappa Sigma's little sisters. The members of fraternities have unwittingly drawn a number of stand-up, take-charge women!

I think, though, that when they created their local they called it Omicron Delta Epsilon (Odie for short.) The Kappa Sig letters don't say anything cute inside out. :-D

The Gamma Upsilon chapter of ADPi began as an organization that formed in the 1930's called 'The Phoreffs".. eventually The Phoreffs became a local sorority and then we became a charted chapter of ADPi in 1953 (we are also celebrating our chapter's Golden Anniversary this year!)

To add to this is the P.E.O. Sisterhood, founded in 1869 at Iowa Wesleyan College.

Of its seven founders, some had been asked to join the I.C. Sorosis at IWC but some had not. They wanted to stay together so they founded "a society of [their] own." P.E.O. chose to retain English letters and to become a community, rather than a collegiate, organization [in the 1880's, IIRC]. Chapter Original A at IWC is Alpha Xi Delta; the I.C. chapter (Pi Phi for lo these many years--Iowa Alpha?) is still there.

P.E.O. is larger than any one NPC group in terms of initiated members and chapters. Probably also larger in terms of assets in the charitable foundation which funds P.E.O.'s projects. Many, many NPC members are also P.E.O.s. (www.peointernational.org will tell you more.)

AGDAlum (who is also a P.E.O.)

I've always thought that it was very interesting that the Beta Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta was actually older than Alpha chapter having been founded in 1869 and becoming Beta Chapter in 1902 and Alpha chapter being founded in 1893.

Here is an excerpt from an article in The Quill that speaks to the formation of Beta chapter:

The History of Alpha Xi Delta’s Nationalization and The P.E.O. Connection

Seven young women founded the P.E.O. Society at Iowa Wesleyan College on January 21, 1869. The Iowa Wesleyan P.E.O. chapter was known as Chapter Original A. (The first chapter to be founded received the letter “A,” the second chapter received the letter “B,” etc.) Later, the campus P.E.O. chapter took the name Chapter A-J to distinguish it from the P.E.O. chapter that had formed in town. In 1889, however, the college women and the older Mt. Pleasant members felt both groups would be better served by meeting separately. A new charter was granted, and the college P.E.O. chapter was named Chapter S, since it was the 19th chapter formed.

In 1902, the P.E.O. governing body reluctantly decided to withdraw the charters of all chapters at the college level. The college P.E.O. chapter was determined to affiliate with a Greek-letter organization, and through the influence of Mt. Pleasant resident Anna Gillis Kimble, an initiate of Alpha Chapter at Lombard College, Chapter S became Beta Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta.

edited bec I figured it out...

Congrats on a Golden Anniversary Texas*Princess!!!
pi love and mine!!!

I can't believe no Sigma Kappas have caught this one yet :D

Kitso
KS 361

Oh, i suppose you're right.

Well, thanks for takin the fun outta that one. ;)

Kitso
KS 361

Social vs. Literary distinction
 

Since this has been a bit of a history thread, I'll throw in this factoid about Fraternity/Sororities and the difference between being founded as a Literary Society and a Social society:

In the 1880s as you already know, women were not only beginning to attend college in larger numbers but also participating in politics. In particular, the suffrage movement and the temperance movement were hot topics.

In literary societies women would discuss intellectual topics and their studies in an environment free from professors. But like most "polite" conversations of the day, there were the three taboos: politics, religion, and death. Talking about the suffrage movement in unknown mixed company was potentially dangerous, or at the least "improper".

In Fraternities however, or secret social societies - such conversations would be acceptable. Also, social organizations had the potential to create an "old girls" network to parallel what the men had in fraternities. I.C Sorisis (PiPhi) was already on campus and of course a pioneering literary society. But for the feminists of the time, nothing short of a full fraternity was acceptable.

In fact, the founding members of Kappa were inspired to form a fraternity equal to that of Men's in part after hearing Susan B. Anthony speak on campus about equality for women. I gotta love it - the founders waited to announce themselves until they could have golden keys were made by a jeweler. Ha. Of course although Theta had been founded months earlier - at the time the founders of Kappa thought they were forming the first Fraternity for women.

But regardless of firsts, there is a connection between the creation of women's fraternities/sororities and literary societies and the feminist movement at the time and I think for all our organizations that is a remarkable heritage.

-paula

thank you ADPiZXalum!!! We are all extremely excited about it!!! :)


< / end hijack > :)

Official Statement from Kappa Alpha Theta Fraternity Headquarters
 

The following is an official statement from Theta HQ:

http://www.kappaalphatheta.org/forms...fromFormZone=1

(It's too much to retype here so I've posted the link)

If this link does not work for you, go to www.kappaalphatheta.org , click on "What is Theta" and then click on the link at the bottom titled "The Early History of Women's Greek Letter Fraternities"

:)

I read this and I have to admit I am more confused now. Is it bec Theta is larger and Phi Nu smaller?

Kappa Alpha Theta was to be a collegiate organization, whose
members joined as students. It was in this context the organization considered itself ‘the first Greek letter fraternity for women’. Behind the statement was the vision of a national
– and ultimately an international – organization, founded for college women to help them stay the course.

I thought this was interesting:

According to Bairds Manual of American College Fraternities, the Adelphean Society was founded in 1851 at Wesleyan Female College in Macon, Georgia. The Society became a national organization in 1905 and changed its name to Alpha Delta Pi in 1913. The Philomathean Society, founded in 1852 also at Wesleyan Female College became a national organization and adopted the letters Phi Mu in1904. Finally, in 1867 I.C. Sorosis was founded at Monmouth College in Illinois and adopted the Greek letters, Pi Beta Phi, in 1888.

DG was founded with greek letters in 1873, for example, before IC Sorosis became "pi phi."

Oh, I'm a trouble maker tonight!