The first sorority to demand equal rights

[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.

[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!

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by NutBrnHair

I think you use "Ms." for all if you don't know their marital status.

Originally Posted by ThetaDancer

Ahhh ok thanks! I have to admit that I never quite knew the proper use.

I would say the proper use is more that one uses Miss, Mrs. or Ms. depending on the preference of the woman in question. Using Ms. is usually a safe bet if one doesn't know whether the woman in question is married, and Ms. is almost universal in business situations now, but I know plenty of women -- married and unmarried -- who do not like being addressed as Ms. (As I said earlier, though, in many parts of the South, it's not really much of a difference when spoken, since Mrs. is usually pronounced miz.)

I do, though, think it is very odd to use Ms. for someone who lived before the word was even coined. I was wrong, though, when I said that it was coined in the 1960s or 70s. I checked, and apparently it dates back to the early 1950s, although it was not popularized until the 70s.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by ThetaDancer

Why is it inaccurate to use Ms.? I thought that was perfectly acceptable for married and unmarried women alike. Am I mistaken?

Of course, since the "word" Ms. wasn't coined until the 1960s or 70s, she might have been confused to see herself called Ms. Collins. (On the other hand, if she was Southern, she probably wouldn't be confused to hear it, since "Mrs." is typically pronounced "Miz" in the South. )

[NutBrnHair]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Of course, since the "word" Ms. wasn't coined until the 1960s or 70s, she might have been confused to see herself called Ms. Collins. (On the other hand, if she was Southern, she probably wouldn't be confused to hear it, since "Mrs." is typically pronounced "Miz" in the South. )

Just to add more info:

MLC hailed from Pennsylvania -- Loveville, PA to be exact.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by NutBrnHair

Just to add more info:

MLC hailed from Pennsylvania -- Loveville, PA to be exact.

Actually I googled, and the only Loveville I found is in Maryland. Pennsylvania has Intercourse instead of Love.

[tld221]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Actually I googled, and the only Loveville I found is in Maryland. Pennsylvania has Intercourse instead of Love.

Who needs love when you have intercourse?

[NutBrnHair]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Actually I googled, and the only Loveville I found is in Maryland. Pennsylvania has Intercourse instead of Love.

Mary Love Collins was born in Loveville, PA in 1882. She attended Conway Hall Preparatory School and Dickinson College where she earned a B.A. in 1902 and an M.A. in 1908. Mrs. Collins graduated from the University of Kentucky Law College in 1915. In 1918 she taught courses at the University of Kentucky and from 1919 - 20 she was an attorney in the solicitor's office of the U.S. Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Mary Love became president of Chi Omega Fraternity in 1910 and served in this capacity until 1952 when she became administrative councilor until her death in 1972. She was buried in Tyrone, PA.

[Cutie_Hootie]

Originally Posted by oldu

Chi Omega was run by a very strong-willed executive who also happened to be an attorney and a strong feminist... Many have wondered why a sorority as strong as Chi Omega has no chapter at University of Maryland. Now you know.

Thank you, oldu, for another fascinating bit of history!! I had always wondered why we weren't at U of Maryland anymore.

Many thanks, especially, for more information about our beloved sister, Mary Love Collins--she was one heck of a woman (not to mention one heck of a Chi Omega!!).

[Senusret I]

But NPHC sororities focused on both (macro and micro)....so they did more. Nothing is wrong with that.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

But NPHC sororities focused on both (macro and micro)....so they did more. Nothing is wrong with that.

LOL.

We weren't even trying to say we did more, though. I asked the Theta a question and provided the Delta Founders involvement as an illustration of what I was talking about. But it is important to note that macro and micro involvement from a group of black women who experienced racial and gender structural and interaction-level constraints is definitely discussion-worthy. So I assumed that women who didn't have to deal with the same types of constraints would've been even MORE adamently involved. I guess I was wrong.

I wanted to celebrate what all sororities did to demand equal rights. This thread is about the first well publicized case (I guess?) but there was stuff going on before this that folks may know of--or not but we could share info. Afterall, the first NPC sororities were founded in the mid to late 1800s and the first NPHC sororities were founded in the early 1900s, right?

[Senusret I]

Race War 2008:
Panhellenic vs Pan-Hellenic - The Hyphen Drawn in the Sand

[tld221]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

Race War 2008:
Panhellenic vs Pan-Hellenic - The Hyphen Drawn in the Sand

LOL you always had a way with words. (though im SURE this thread is just a battle of said war)

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

Race War 2008:
Panhellenic vs Pan-Hellenic - The Hyphen Drawn in the Sand

Only if they insist. I'm actually baffled at the responses.

They act like we're some white people who are chastising the majority of blacks for not having wealthy great grandparents. Or that we're white people chastising blacks for not going to white schools during the de facto segregation era. Is what we're asking so unrealistic and unreasonable?

[33girl]

If this thread would have had the more accurate title "the first sorority to tell school administrators they were jagoffs" we would have had a lot less confusion.

Plus, if you want to get technical, the group of women were demanding equal rights before Chi Omega or MLC ever got involved. The only reason they became a chapter, apparently, was to piss the administration off. You could argue that MLC could have supported them just as much without their being Greek affiliated.