The first sorority to demand equal rights

[barbino]

Pi Beta Phi had a famous early feminist, Carrie Chapman Catt, who founded the League of Women's Voters. I know that she was quite well known at the University of Iowa; I believe that there is a building named after her. I did a paper on her a few years ago, I should remember more because it impressed my fem theory prof. I was just excited to know that there was a Pi Phi involved in the movement.

[nittanyalum]

I've brought her up before and I'll bring her up again, Emily Helen Butterfield, an Alpha Gamma Delta Founder, was all about breaking down boundaries. She was just a super cool lady. Excerpts from wikipedia (I know there are other sources, this one's quickest): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Helen_Butterfield

Emily Helen Butterfield (b. 1884, Algonac, Michigan - d. March 22, 1958, Neebish Island) was a pioneer in the Michiganwomen's movement.

Butterfield had a big impact on her fraternity and Greek life, as noted in the 2004 Alpha Gamma Delta Centennial Keynote Address:
"In the United States in 1900, three-quarters of the states forbade married women to own property in their name. In 1909, the members of Alpha Gamma Delta overlooked the statistic and planned ahead by starting a house fund in hopes of purchasing their own home. In 1928, they challenged the societal constraints once again by not only purchasingbut building the first house — and we all know the name of the architect — Emily Helen Butterfield."[4]

[epchick]

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

Butterfield had a big impact on her fraternity and Greek life, as noted in the 2004 Alpha Gamma Delta Centennial Keynote Address:
"In the United States in 1900, three-quarters of the states forbade married women to own property in their name. In 1909, the members of Alpha Gamma Delta overlooked the statistic and planned ahead by starting a house fund in hopes of purchasing their own home. In 1928, they challenged the societal constraints once again by not only purchasingbut building the first house — and we all know the name of the architect — Emily Helen Butterfield."[4]

Question--when you say the first house, do you mean the first chapter house?

I thought the story interesting because it was the first widely publicized case

Maybe I'm going out on a limb, a stretch or whatever, or even missing the idea of the topic altogether (which might be the case, lol) but Im pretty sure this wasnt the first "widely publicized" event of equal rights. Alpha Kappa Alpha started in 1908, DST started in 1913...or do these not count to you oldu?

[violetpretty]

Originally Posted by epchick

Question--when you say the first house, do you mean the first chapter house?

Probably the first AGD house. Alpha Phi had the first sorority house as I recall.

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by violetpretty

Probably the first AGD house. Alpha Phi had the first sorority house as I recall.

Yes, you're probably right about the reference being to the first Alpha Gam house, you're absolutely correct that Alpha Phi had the first sorority house. The thing I was more focused on at that point in the conversation was along the lines of trends being bucked, that plans for a building fund were started in 1909, before women even had the vote.

[ISUKappa]

Originally Posted by barbino

Pi Beta Phi had a famous early feminist, Carrie Chapman Catt, who founded the League of Women's Voters. I know that she was quite well known at the University of Iowa; I believe that there is a building named after her. I did a paper on her a few years ago, I should remember more because it impressed my fem theory prof. I was just excited to know that there was a Pi Phi involved in the movement.

Psst - Carrie Chapman Catt was a member of Iowa Gamma (chartered as Mu chapter of IC Sorosis/Pi Beta Phi) at Iowa State Agricultural College, now known as Iowa State University. Catt hall is a lovely old building that houses Liberal Arts and Sciences and has a beautiful engraved brick "Plaza of Heroines."

Definitely *not* the University of Iowa, as any good Iowa State grad will tell you.

[barbino]

Originally Posted by ISUKappa

Psst - Carrie Chapman Catt was a member of Iowa Gamma (chartered as Mu chapter of IC Sorosis/Pi Beta Phi) at Iowa State Agricultural College, now known as Iowa State University. Catt hall is a lovely old building that houses Liberal Arts and Sciences and has a beautiful engraved brick "Plaza of Heroines."

Definitely *not* the University of Iowa, as any good Iowa State grad will tell you.

Thanks-
I did not do the research over before I posted & thought that it might have been Iowa State - I checked with Wikipedia later & knew that it was wrong- but at least I got the state right. It also seems that Carrie Chapman Catt was an associate of Susan B. Anthony.

[oncegreek]

I couldn't any reference to this anywhere else in this thread, but Kappa Alpha Theta has a very famous, and influential, early member. Julia Morgan was a famous architect in the early twentieth century,and she was a member of the Berkeley Theta chapter. Morgan studied architecture at Berkeley, and later in Paris. She designed the Theta house at Cal (I read this somewhere), and most of the buildings at Mills College in Oakland. Julia Morgan is best known for designing Hearst Castle.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by barbino

Pi Beta Phi had a famous early feminist, Carrie Chapman Catt, who founded the League of Women's Voters. I know that she was quite well known at the University of Iowa; I believe that there is a building named after her. I did a paper on her a few years ago, I should remember more because it impressed my fem theory prof. I was just excited to know that there was a Pi Phi involved in the movement.

Thanks for the info! I wish I had read page 3 earlier.

I love Pi Beta Phi. Was Catt able to influence Pi Phi's initiatives to incorporate some League of Women Voters stuff?

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

I've brought her up before and I'll bring her up again, Emily Helen Butterfield, an Alpha Gamma Delta Founder, was all about breaking down boundaries. She was just a super cool lady. Excerpts from wikipedia (I know there are other sources, this one's quickest): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Helen_Butterfield

Emily Helen Butterfield (b. 1884, Algonac, Michigan - d. March 22, 1958, Neebish Island) was a pioneer in the Michiganwomen's movement.

Butterfield had a big impact on her fraternity and Greek life, as noted in the 2004 Alpha Gamma Delta Centennial Keynote Address:
"In the United States in 1900, three-quarters of the states forbade married women to own property in their name. In 1909, the members of Alpha Gamma Delta overlooked the statistic and planned ahead by starting a house fund in hopes of purchasing their own home. In 1928, they challenged the societal constraints once again by not only purchasingbut building the first house — and we all know the name of the architect — Emily Helen Butterfield."[4]

Cool beans. AGD started a house fund and that rocks!