Is there a connection between Alpha Delta Pi and Phi Mu?
 

Hi there,
I was wondering a few things about Alpha Delta Pi (started out as "The Adelphean Society") and Phi Mu (started out as "The Philomathean Society"), partly because I noticed several commonalities:

1) Both were founded at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia and within a very short time period of each other
(ADPi in 1851, Phi Mu in 1852)

2) Both have the lion as their mascot.

So, my question is....did any members of The Adelphean Society "defect" and start up The Philomathean Society?
I was just wondering.....

ADPi's and Phi Mu's, if you have any interesting historical information from your New Member Education materials, I would be interested to hear it. Thanks!

___________________
PS This is a bit of a stretch, but I can sort of see "common themes" in the their badges, too...(please disregard the very first one...it was stuck in the jpg):
http://www.alphadeltapi.org/imagelib/BothBadges.jpg
http://www.phimu.org/Facts/images/badge_thumb.jpg

Phi Mu and Alpha Delta Pi have some wonderful connections to each other.

We were both founded at Wesleyan College - ADPi in 1851 - as The Adelphean Society and Phi Mu in 1852 as The Philomathean Society. One of Phi Mu's founders - Mary Dupont Lines was roommates with the President of The Adelphean Society.

Both sororities are well remembered at the college still. There are iron gates at the college with both represented. We share space at The Cannonball House in Macon, Georgia. They have re-created the original meeting rooms of each society, displaying wonderful memorabilia of each group. You can see the rooms by going to the Cannonball website: http://www.cannonballhouse.org and then look under Tour Info

Shannon

What a beautiful home! I love it!
I wonder if other orgs have similar connections since so many schools have been the home to more than one sorority founding?

Re: Is there a connection between Alpha Delta Pi and Phi Mu?
 

well let's see... i don't know alot about the philomathean society, but, this is what i do know

it was started by a roommate of one of our founders of adpi, i'm not sure of what kind of relationship they had, but she was never involved with adpi.

while our first badge were satin ribbands of azure blue and white with adelphean society and "we live for each other" written on them, when coming up with a design for our more familiar badge, the philomathean founders were also trying to come up with a badge at the same time, and the founders of each org ended up consulting the same professor. the prof suggested, "make one a diamond and one a square" which is how each was influenced with our diamonds and phi mu's quatrefoils...

as for the lions i know that alphie (our lion mascot) wasn't adopted until later on so that wasn't something they had in common from the very beginning, although i guess both orgs had lions in their coat of arms from the beginning, but i don't think that is uncommon since lions are fairly common in a heraldic coat of arms and expressed an aspect of each org...

How interesting!:)

Thanks ladies for your posts - I found them to be quite interesting! :D

Isnt it amazing how some 150 plus years ago that this could happen back then.

Look at what we have in some cases come to today.:(

This is a very inlightening post, thank you for putting the question forward and the answers given.
This just once again proves the type of people on GC who an relate and work together for the common good!:cool:

The two societies were founded for different purposes. There wasn't any hard feelings between the two roommates ~ it's like one roommate founding a music society and the other founding a literary society.

If I can dig up a quote by a Pi Phi at Monmouth College from around the time that Kappa was founded, I will... I've seen one before... I know that Pi Phis were present when the founding Kappa sisters were presented to the college, and the two organizations were close from the start...

Please do that, BreathesGelatin! I was actually getting curious about Pi Phi and Kappa reading this thread, since I know they were founded fairly close together.

It's exciting- with the founding of my chapter, UCF now has the Monmouth Duo! :D

A lot of sororities started up because of different reasons. I know that my sorority was founded because one founder went through rush and didn't get into anything because she wasn't of the same religious persuasion as the rest of the girls. So, she decided to start her own.
AND THIS IS WHY MY SORORITY ROCKS!!!
We are the only NPC sorority that is not based on scripture ritual. The foundation of our sorority and it's members screams that DIVERSITY IS WELCOMED.

i heard that there was a connection between ZBT and TKE, from a ZBT alumnus that i worked for. i never bothered to research the connection though. any ZBT's out there to comment?

WhiteChocolate, I think that is very interesting! Although all NPC organizations now welcome diversity among their sisterhoods, most were not founded with that purpose specifically in mind.

That is something for you and your sisters to be very proud of! :)

The Triad
 

I'm interested in knowing what connection, if any, exists between the sororities that make up the "Syracuse Triad" - Alpha Phi, Alpha Gamma Delta and Gamma Phi Beta.

Re: the diversity topic....I was told that one of the reasons AOII was founded was because one of their founders was not able to join the same sorority as her friends, so her friends, in a show of support, left the other organization and went on to form Alpha Omicron Pi.

Any AOIIs who want to elaborate on this are free to do so. :)

Sistermadly,
That is absolutely true about AOII's non-sectarian origins....

One girl was Jewish (Stella Stern) and was not extended a bid, so her 3 friends dropped the sorority that excluded Stella and the 4 of them created AOII.


http://www.alphaomicronpi.org/conten.../founding.html

How cool is that! :)

What sorority was it at Barnard that did not extend Stella a bid? Does anyone know?:confused:

I remember reading somewhere that KKG was also at Barnard at that time but I don't know if that was the sorority that didn't give her a bid. I could be wrong.

<Last time I checked, many NPC sororities (at least up here) welcome diversity.

Can we please stick to the topic of Phi Mu/ADPi, and other organizations being somewhat "related"? >


I believe what white chocolate was pointing out is that although all NPC orgs pretty much welcome diversity now, Phi Sig was one of the first to be founded on a principle of inclusiveness..(one of our core values) which, appearantly is the reason Phi Mu was founded because this woman saw what her roommate was doing with A D Pi and wanted to do something that reflected what she felt was important and valued...while not directly related I do not believe she deserved this trite response.

some more facts....

this one I did not even know and this is not in Phi Mu's New Member manuals, but I found while looking at a ADP site:

1898 Chi Omega, a national sorority, attempted to enter Wesleyan Female College. Wanting the best women on campus, the Chi Omegas tried to incorporate the Adelpheans and the Philomatheans into their sorority. Instead of being absorbed, the Adelpheans and Philomatheans both decided to become a national organizations. (Which they both became in 1904)

this was also on that website...

1911-17 The convention produced committees on developing the whistle, symbols, and insignia and adopted a regulation flag. The unicorn was adopted as a symbol and mascot of Alpha Delta Phi. I am ONLY asssuming after the name was changed to Alpha Delta Pi in 1913 the mascot may have changed with it too? or just added... I am only guessing here guys! help me ADP's!

now... this came off a ADP website I have no reason to think it is false, however if something is wrong...correct me!

I've always wanted to know this, but I think it's not publicized in the spirit of greek unity.

Re: The Triad
 

Yes, my dear, there is a very special connection between the Syracuse Triad!

Here is a very interesting article from the Alpha Gamma Delta Quarterly which discusses it: One Under The Badge?

Happy reading! :D

What an interesting article. Thanks greeklawgirl!

Crystal

Another interesting tid bit about ADPi and Phi Mu...

I was looking at the Phi Mu History book a while back...

and it tells about how at the school once a month the societys would take turns hosting intellectual confrences where they would invite family faculty and the other organization...

a little competion is always fun so the girls always did thier best to make thier conference a little better than the last...

also in the history book it gives commentaries from the original philomatheans...and there is also one from an adelphian who was speaking about a phi mu who had helped her when she was found with a broken ankel or some injury while on a walk, and this phi mu helped her and she was talking about how she found it amazing how the bonds of different organizations would not hold her back from helping her fellow peer.

all of it very interesting..if any phi mu has a chance to sit and actually read the history book there are tons of interesting links between the two organizations..i think its great!! :)

Intersting subject.
Delta Upsilon was founded in 1834 as a protest against the Kappa Alpha Society (the Northern KA) dominating the literary societies and honors at Williams College.

Everything you mentioned is correct, but I believe our mascot did not actually change to the lion until later...And we changed our name from Alpha Delta Phi to Alpha Delta Pi in 1913 because we found at the time there was a fraternity by that name.

Wow!
 

Thanks for the article, Greeklawgirl! I've always admired Gamma Phi and AGD, and it's nice to know more about the special bond among "The Triad"

(wondering if there's an alumnae "Triad Tea" held in my town....)

I know that this has already been said, but I just wanted to say again how much I have enjoyed reading this thread. Every bit of information that everyone has contributed has been very interesting. Thank you for bringing up the issue, CutiePie2000!

Not to mention that they are both American Greek Letter Colliegete sororities. The Devil's in the details.

The only sorority that predated AOPi at Barnard College of Columbia University was Kappa Kappa Gamma, so I think that's probably your answer.

It's dangerous to conceal the little bits of our history that we aren't proud of, especially if we convince ourselves that the whitewash is for some noble sounding purpose like "greek unity".

Anyway, I seriously doubt this 106 year old episode is going to undermine our unity. Women do hold grudges a long time, but I think it's safe to say the statute of limitations has run out on this one.

wptw

What other reason can be behind it but Greek Unity? I'm sure AOII could say which fraternity it was at every opportunity - but they don't. If it's not out of greek spirit and/or greek unity (whatever you want to call it) then I have no other explanation for it.

Sistermadly, I'm sure the reason AOPis don't mention at every opportunity is because...

It was 106 years ago and nobody cares anymore!

But my point was, why gloss over it on this message board when the subject comes up? If someone asks the question (as GPhiBLtColonel did), and someone else says "I've always wanted to know this" (as YOU did), and someone knows the answer (as CutiePie2000 does), then I think it's silly not to just answer the darn question.

How exactly would answering this particular question undermine greek unity?

And even if we suppose this IS some dark chapter in the history of AOPi and KKG, why is it wrong to talk about it?

wptw

Because someone, maybe not you, and maybe not me, but someone would find a way to take this disclosure as slagging off the organization in question. THAT'S what I meant by greek unity/greek spirit.

Some people might care, even if it was 106 years ago. Some people really don't give a rip, and are only interested from a historical standpoint. And there are others -- and we all know people like this -- who will take any mention of unsavoury history and turn it into a personal attack against their organization. So, to keep the waters calm, I think it's best not to say.

But that's just the peacemaker in me, I guess. You're welcome to disagree. :)

So we're "keeping the waters calm" by not discussing a potentially embarassing or unpleasant subject.

That's a healthy approach. :rolleyes:

Hey, what's that big lump under the rug?

wptw

:cool:

I agree, it was 106 years ago, and I know it doesn't bother me at all! I think it just goes to show that as far as greek life goes, everything happens for a reason and you usually end up where you were meant to be. Imagine that if Stella hadn't been cut by another sorority, AOII might have never been founded, and that is just one scary thought... So bring on the Greek unity!

Maybe the solution is not posting, but just making it clear that anyone really interested in knowing could PM the person who knows? Hopefully, only someone philosophical enough not to make a big deal about it would ask- but inquiring minds would still get to know.

Heck, I'm a Kappa, and even though it seems like we were the culprit (gotta get to the library and check the Baird's Manual!) I really don't mind hearing it. I'm sure every GLO of similar age has at least one incident like this lurking in the past- as someone else already mentioned, those decisions were more a product of the era than the group in question.

Not posting and passing it on in a PM is a great idea. If people were really that curious to know, someone could have just passed it along that way. Public versus private disclosure.. the next topic on GreekChat Today! *lol*

I'm ending my thread hijack now. ;)

This started out as a very interesting sweet thread. Getting back to that....

I always think it is so cool to hear how different groups are linked to each other. We don't have a Phi Mu chapter here, but we have ADPi. They're awesome!