Quote:
Originally Posted by pbear19
Love it! I'm a big fan of history stuff and am really enjoying your blog. I wonder if you might have an idea about something I noticed in the blog that you linked to? I realize you didn't write the article you linked to about Emma Harper Turner, but I'm curious about it. One line states: "At the 1893 Chicago Convention, she stepped down as Grand President and advocated for the creation of the Alumnae Association, the first for any of the women’s fraternities."
Is there a significance in Pi Phi to the term "Alumnae Association" that makes it distinct from an alumnae chapter? Gamma Phi used to have alumnae associations, which were alumnae groups that didn't have an installation ceremony the way the more formal alumnae chapters had. But our Chicago, Syracuse and Boston alumnae chapters were all chartered at the 1892 convention. And I have always assumed that there were already alumnae chapters in place at that time within some of the other sororities, since Gamma Phi was relatively small then. Now of course I'm totally curious!  |
Oh, I did write the article I linked to. I am Pi Phi Historian and I write about Pi Phi topics on the Pi Phi blog. I thought Emma might be of interest to more than Pi Phis and that is why I linked to it.
The Alumnae Association that Emma started oversaw all the Pi Phi alumnae clubs that had cropped up across the country. The Alumnae Association met as a part of convention for many years. Prior to the establishment of the Alumnae Association, conventions were gatherings of the collegiate chapters.