This is one of those half-truths that people extrapolate into full blown myths so they can boast of our relationship (or debt to) a fraternity.
From HQ's site:
Quote:
|
To be sure, there were societies for women before 1867, and some of these had secret rituals with badges, passwords, mottoes, and other symbols. But in 1870, Theta became the first women's Greek-letter fraternity because its primary founder, Bettie Locke, wanted full membership in a male fraternity. When the men asked her to wear their fraternity badge as a "mascot," she responded, "If you won't initiate me into your fraternity, I'll start my own."
|
Every history I've read says that although Bettie and the other three may have been inspired or egged on by relatives and friends in Beta and Fiji, the ritual, the badge, the symbolism, the organization of the Fraternity all came from the founders and later members.
Edited to add this link to a similar discussion (you can see I'm a little prickly about the subject):
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...threadid=31055
Only Zeta Phi Beta and Phi Beta Sigma are "officially" or "nationally" brother-sister organizations.
Threaded Mode