The first sorority to demand equal rights

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by ladygreek

That is good. But you are talking about one person and I am talking about one of the premises from which a sorority was founded.

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

Great info!

Was women's suffrage also a national and local initiative for Theta?

Delta Founders marched in the 1913 Women's Suffrage March in D.C. (during a time where there were huge racial inequalities to compound the huge gender inequalities).

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

Yet not every sorority was actively involved in national and local equality initiatives.

On an organizational level, it isn't enough to just exist. It isn't even enough to just be able to boast that one of your chapters was able to get equal ironing and smoking rights on campus.

Now, in some ways I agree with you, but remember that many of the NPC sororities were formed by very young women who were looking for equality but weren't capable of leading the campaign. Also, many people in the Women's suffrage movement disagreed on the appropriate path to obtain equality. While a few women were militant in their attempts to push change, many women believed that the race for equality was best won through education. This is the path chosen by the NPC sororities founded before 1920. Of course, some NPC groups were founded for other reasons including religious inclusion. NPC sororities, therefore, did participate actively in women's suffrage by encouraging women to get an education and become well rounded women who were interested in working in the community rather than just wives and mothers with no more than a grade school education.
NPHC groups however had a different mindset from the beginning. I think they should be commended for their activism, but downplaying the NPCs involvement in the equality movement is not fair.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

many of the NPC sororities were formed by very young women who were looking for equality but weren't capable of leading the campaign.

Really? Hmmmm.

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

While a few women were militant in their attempts to push change....

A few?

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

NPC sororities, therefore, did participate actively in women's suffrage by encouraging women to get an education and become well rounded women who were interested in working in the community rather than just wives and mothers with no more than a grade school education.

Yes, that was an approach taken by many women, in general. So was this part of a larger sorority initiative or did the women who ended up in college just so happen to found or join sororities? There's a difference.

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

downplaying the NPCs involvement in the equality movement is not fair.

Some of you are acting shortsighted and dense.

Once again, there were NPC, NPHC and nonaffiliated women involved in the equality movement in various ways at the local and national levels. Including and beyond their campuses. If that acknowledgement is "downplaying the NPC's involvement" rather than challenging us to acknowledge and discuss the NPC's (NPHC's and sororities', in general) involvement then you all are really special.

[bejazd]

I hope a nice Alpha Phi will chime in here on the contributions of Frances Willard and how she influenced Alpha Phi.

The women's movement for equality had the support of important and influential men as well. Of note to Gamma Phis is Dr. Erastus O. Haven, father of our founder Frances E. Haven. He was a senator from Massachusetts, a pastor, and educator who became the president of the Univ of Michigan. He left Michigan to become the president of Northwestern Univ, where Frances Willard was the Dean of the separate women's college. Dr Haven accepted the position of president at Northwestern on the condition that Northwestern become a co-educational institution, which it did, under the collaboration of Dr Haven and Frances Willard. In 1872 Dr Haven became the Secretary for the Board of Education for the Methodist-Episcopal Church and he fought for women to be allowed to enroll at the Methodist colleges. In 1874 he became the Chancellor of Syracuse University and enrolled his daughter Frances, who founded Gamma Phi Beta with three friends that fall.

The very earliest Alpha Phis and Gamma Phis at Syracuse must have been keenly aware of the activities of Susan B Anthony, who was tried and convicted in 1873 in New York for illegally voting in the 1872 presidential election.

[epchick]

Originally Posted by bejazd

I hope a nice Alpha Phi will chime in here on the contributions of Frances Willard and how she influenced Alpha Phi.

I hope this is what you are looking for: (taken from alphaphi.org)

Frances Willard's acceptance of membership in the Fraternity was not only a triumph for Alpha Phi, but a stroke of good fortune. She had graduated from Genesee College, a forerunner of Syracuse University, in 1860, and as Kate Hogoboom Gilbert recalls,

"In the autumn of 1875, a Woman's Congress was held in this city (Syracuse) in the old Wieting Opera House, and a famous gathering it was. I well remember the awe with which we few despised coeds of that long-ago time looked upon those wonderful women who dared to come before the public in the capacity of a congress, for consultation upon and discussion of the great topics relating to the advancement and uplifting of their sex.

"There was Julia Ward Howe, a constantly flitting, fluttering vision of silvery hair, dainty lace cap, and yards of purple ribbon; Ednah Dean Cheney, a most ideal presiding officer, with her ample, gracious presence, venerable white hair, and dignified demeanor; there were also many other remarkable women who had already made names for themselves in that day when 'making a name' for any woman meant fighting for it. Mary A. Livermore was there and made a grand speech; also 'Jennie June' Croly, Susan B. Anthony, and the ever-gracious and motherly Elizabeth Cady Stanton. (Parenthetically, we pause here to say that Miss Anthony and Mrs. Stanton were members of that original Women's Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848; were signers of the Women's Declaration of Independence, and presented a bill of grievances, as the colonists had against King George III, charging that men had monopolized the lucrative professions and employments, had closed the colleges to women, had taxed her to support a government in which she had no voice, had deprived her of property earned by her own labor, had assigned her a lowly place in the church . . . in short, had made of her a serf.)

"But the one whom we girls were looking and listening for did not take her place upon the stage to be gazed at and commented upon, although in her office of secretary of the congress she might very properly have done so. The reason for our eagerness to behold this elusive personage was that our good genius, Professor Coddington, had recalled to our minds that a prominent member of that congress was an alumna of our University, and would it not be a fine thing for both this wonderful woman and ourselves, if she could be made a member of our society? No wonder we were all agog with excitement over her appearance and were surprised that she did not seize her opportunity like the others, and appear before us with colors flying, filling the very atmosphere with a sense of something stupendous and of supreme moment.

"Instead, when the time came in the fulfillment of the program for Frances Willard to appear, from behind the scene stepped quickly and quietly a modest little person, with no fluttering ribbons, attired in a simple but neat traveling-gown, and with a manner absolutely devoid of arrogance, and at the same time restful and inspiring, on account of a sense of self-reliance and simple dignity which it imparted. From the beginning of her speech until its close, we hugged ourselves in infinite content that we had secured such a treasure for our sisterhood. For she had very readily consented to become one of us when approached on the subject by sisters Grace Hubbell, Martha Foote, and Alice Lee, the necessary introductions, explanations, and recommendations having been made by our ever-ready and loyal friend, Dr. Coddington. Just to think of having that wonderful woman with her brain power, her magnetic presence and winning personality, interested in and for Alpha Phi!"

In 1839, this diminutive auburn-haired woman urged and prophesied a living wage; an eight-hour day; courts of conciliation and arbitration; and justice as opposed to greed of gain. We are told that her blue eyes gleamed behind her beribboned nose glasses as she spoke on behalf of women's suffrage and social purity.

The spirit of the organization of women vaulted from America across the oceans to create the first international alliance of women in the thousands of years of history. The shape that this world-wide movement took was temperance, But, "Frances Willard's intellect was too strong and too sagacious not to perceive that temperance was not, after all, the main question. The main question was that of the home. This involved the lifting of women to the plane of political equality with men. It involved also the lifting of the masculine standard of morality."

One of her closest friends, Lady Henry Somerset, called the temperance cause only the "open door through which Frances Willard entered into the service of the world." In her defense of women - her main task - she belongs to no special cause. From her point of view, the blending of the temperance movement with that of women's suffrage and social reform was logical and inevitable. Quoting her own words, she worked for "a world republic of women without distinction of race or color; with no sectarianism in religion and no sex in citizenship. Whatever touches humanity touches us."

She was a brilliant student and distinguished teacher in the Northwestern Female College, which was succeeded by the Evanston College for Ladies, of which she was made president. The first woman president ever to give degrees to women! When this college merged with Northwestern University, she was the first dean of women. Syracuse University conferred upon her the degree of Master of Arts, and Ohio Wesleyan made her a Doctor of Laws.

The Congress of the United States broke all precedent and suspended its regular proceedings to receive from the State of Illinois and to dedicate the statue of a woman, Frances Willard. A woman honored equally with men by the men of the nation's Government. The only woman in Statuary Hall!

She was publicly honored many times during her life by persons of prominence in government and society in many lands. Carrie Chapman Catt, Pi Beta Phi, said of her, "There has never been a woman leader in this country greater than nor perhaps so great as Frances Willard."

She was called the "best loved woman in America," and her close friend, John Greenleaf Whittier, wrote of her:

She knew the power of banded ill,
But felt that LOVE was stronger still
And organized for doing good
The World's united womanhood.

[epchick]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

...but downplaying the NPCs involvement in the equality movement is not fair.

From what I've seen so far, DSTchaos or ladygreek (or the other NPHC greeks) have not put down the NPCs involvement in anything.

When you have a thread that states "the first sorority to demand equal rights" and then goes on to talk about one person in one sorority (and an NPC sorority), it is very misleading.

When I first saw this thread I thought it would be about an NPHC sorority... but of course I didn't notice that oldu was the creator.

[ladygreek]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

but downplaying the NPCs involvement in the equality movement is not fair.

Who is downplaying the NPC's involvement in the equality movement? If anything the OP did that by the title and substance of the post.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by ladygreek

Who is downplaying the NPC's involvement in the equality movement? If anything the OP did that by the title and substance of the post.

It appears that some of these NPC women feel that their sororities were not part of the equality (gender, race, or class) movements beyond a couple of members here and there trying to be active.

This is certainly news to me and probably to some other NPC women. Pardon me for crashing their thread in which they were able to celebrate the extent of their equality involvement.

[laylo]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

Now, in some ways I agree with you, but remember that many of the NPC sororities were formed by very young women who were looking for equality but weren't capable of leading the campaign. Also, many people in the Women's suffrage movement disagreed on the appropriate path to obtain equality. While a few women were militant in their attempts to push change, many women believed that the race for equality was best won through education. This is the path chosen by the NPC sororities founded before 1920. Of course, some NPC groups were founded for other reasons including religious inclusion. NPC sororities, therefore, did participate actively in women's suffrage by encouraging women to get an education and become well rounded women who were interested in working in the community rather than just wives and mothers with no more than a grade school education.
NPHC groups however had a different mindset from the beginning. I think they should be commended for their activism, but downplaying the NPCs involvement in the equality movement is not fair.

There has never been agreement on "the appropriate path to obtain equality" in any movement, but this is not a barrier to action. Improving the lives of women through education and community involvement applied to NPHC sororities as well, but they were not limited to it. And as critical as it may be, this kind of progress alone does not change unjust laws. It is not unfair to acknowledge the reality that NPHC sororities as organizations have focused more on equal rights.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by laylo

There has never been agreement on "the appropriate path to obtain equality" in any movement, but this is not a barrier to action. Improving the lives of women through education and community involvement applied to NPHC sororities as well, but they were not limited to it. And as critical as it may be, this kind of progress alone does not change unjust laws. It is not unfair to acknowledge the reality that NPHC sororities as organizations have focused more on equal rights.

I agree with you in theory, but this thread had gotten a little dismissive of the NPC.
This quote in particular was offensive, "On an organizational level, it isn't enough to just exist. It isn't even enough to just be able to boast that one of your chapters was able to get equal ironing and smoking rights on campus."

While stronger activism got women the right to vote, it did not automatically give us the respect of men as peers. Education, however, has proven to men that women are equal to them academically. NPC organizations were founded by women bent on getting an education. Many were in teacher's colleges because this was the only "appropriate" profession for women at the time. Later founders were the first to break into the male only facilities of higher education. They founded our groups to empower the women looking for equality to stand up for themselves against the all male faculty who often were not receptive to their appearance on the scene. Just because as groups we worked at the level of the individual woman does not mean that we were not activists in the equality movement. Marching and signing up for initiatives doesn't do the enitre job and you know it. There are many people in the women's rights and civil rights movements that worked for equality at home on the local level without marching in washington (for civil rights) or boycotting the White House (for women's rights.)

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

I agree with you in theory, but this thread had gotten a little dismissive of the NPC.

You all are dismissing yourselves. I asked a question and never got an answer. If NPC women were involved at a macro level, just share the dern info. I'd think you all would be proud to do so instead of making excuses.

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

This quote in particular was offensive, "On an organizational level, it isn't enough to just exist. It isn't even enough to just be able to boast that one of your chapters was able to get equal ironing and smoking rights on campus."

And I stand by my quote 100%. You all made it about the NPC as a whole because you feel that it applies to the NPC as a whole. Simple as that.

An NPHC sorority who had a thread in which they boasted on having the first tea on a college campus during times of great social inequalities and turmoil would get the same "but what else have you REALLY done" questions from us. If they couldn't answer for their sorority, they could at least remind us of what OTHER NPHC sororities did during those times. But the NPC women in this thread did not even do that.

I won't even get into the history behind the women's suffrage movement. Suffice it to say that the women's suffrage movement (and the women's liberation movement) far more impacted white middle class women than it did poor white women and racial and ethnic minority women. So how is that possible if a substantial percentage of college enrolled and college educated women who were also in sororities were not actually in the struggle on a macro level besides going to school? History lesson, anyone?

[tld221]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

You all are dismissing yourselves. I asked a question and never got an answer. If NPC women were involved at a macro level, just share the dern info. I'd think you all would be proud to do so instead of making excuses.



And I stand by my quote 100%. You all made it about the NPC as a whole because you feel that it applies to the NPC as a whole. Simple as that.

An NPHC sorority who had a thread in which they boasted on having the first tea on a college campus during times of great social inequalities and turmoil would get the same "but what else have you REALLY done" questions from us. If they couldn't answer for their sorority, they could at least remind us of what OTHER NPHC sororities did during those times. But the NPC women in this thread did not even do that.

I won't even get into the history behind the women's suffrage movement. Suffice it to say that the women's suffrage movement (and the women's liberation movement) far more impacted white middle class women than it did poor white women and racial and ethnic minority women. So how is that possible if a substantial percentage of college enrolled and college educated women who were also in sororities were not actually in the struggle on a macro level besides going to school? History lesson, anyone?

i'm being WAY presumptious here, but can we chalk this debate up to different priorities between NPC and NPHC? I'm sure particular members of NPC orgs had made contributions to the women's movement, as members of the NPHC did. It could be a difference of how well it was documented, the time difference (as DSTCHAOS mentioned, late 1800s vs early 1900s, were talking a difference of 20-30 years?) and what each group of women defined as what was important in the fight for "equal rights," from ironing after-hours (im not sure what that means exactly) to marching in the women's suffrage march in 1920 (which, as its noted that had SGRho existed then, my founders most likely would've been alongside DST).

im talking out of thin air here, but maybe this is borderline apples-oranges of an argument?

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by tld221

im talking out of thin air here, but maybe this is borderline apples-oranges of an argument?

I dunno.

The movement existed and there were women involved. Fact. I didn't know that the NPC sororities got together and as whole decided to focus on the individual woman. Learn something new everyday. Cool.

As far as documentation. People often find the info that they want to find. I find it hard to believe that none of the sororities would have that information available to anyone.

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

I won't even get into the history behind the women's suffrage movement. Suffice it to say that the women's suffrage movement (and the women's liberation movement) far more impacted white middle class women than it did poor white women and racial and ethnic minority women. So how is that possible if a substantial percentage of college enrolled and college educated women who were also in sororities were not actually in the struggle on a macro level besides going to school? History lesson, anyone?

I will! I think more and more, it's too easy for young women (and heck, old women) to forget how long and how hard women had to fight. March being Women's History Month, this discussion is particularly apropos.

The women's rights movement did cross efforts with the civil rights movment, but as DSTCHAOS mentioned in a later post, how much parity came out of it for caucasian vs. african american women is up for debate. Clearly, African American women face additional discriminations based solely on their skin color.

To the NPC/NPHC debate (LOL at Senusret he's just determined to have a full-on "race war" somewhere on this forum!), I think what you'll find in the history of NPCs are individual members who may have been active in the women's movement (ala my girl H.E. Butterfield), but working on behalf of the movement was not on the agenda of the NPC orgs themselves. Our founders, though, without a doubt, were pioneers on their campuses and did their own thing to promote women in their time and place.

NPHC orgs seem to have a much higher level involvement as a whole with the rights movements, so while I don't think it's necessarily an apples to oranges thing, I do think there are much different national directives about the role the national org should take in these larger national "causes".

Some interesting reads that provide info. on most of the above:
A Short History of the Women's Movement: http://www.legacy98.org/move-hist.html -- about halfway down, under "The Movement Expands", notable activists are named, among them are Ida B. Wells and Mary Church Terrell , the only 2 black women to sign the petition that led to the formation of the NAACP, and just overall kick-a$$ ladies. And here's an article from a 2002 edition of Black Issues in Higher Education entitled Did black folks gain from the women's movement?

[SWTXBelle]

All my NPC history books are packed, so I can't contribute as I would like now.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

While stronger activism got women the right to vote, it did not automatically give us the respect of men as peers. Education, however, has proven to men that women are equal to them academically. NPC organizations were founded by women bent on getting an education. Many were in teacher's colleges because this was the only "appropriate" profession for women at the time. Later founders were the first to break into the male only facilities of higher education. They founded our groups to empower the women looking for equality to stand up for themselves against the all male faculty who often were not receptive to their appearance on the scene. Just because as groups we worked at the level of the individual woman does not mean that we were not activists in the equality movement. Marching and signing up for initiatives doesn't do the enitre job and you know it. There are many people in the women's rights and civil rights movements that worked for equality at home on the local level without marching in washington (for civil rights) or boycotting the White House (for women's rights.)

(I missed this part of your post completely)

This is definitely worth discussing and thank YOU for highlighting this. Breaking the male hold on education was definitely important and that's different than saying "we thought education was important."

Marching and signing doesn't do the whole job but someone has to do it. Usually it's a result of multitasking and working on national and local initiatives as I said earlier.

So was your documented agenda that of the individual woman during these social movements? I'm not talking about opinion, I'm asking for what you all did as a whole. An interesting thing about social movements is that there is often a division of labor. But NPC sororities focused on what they saw as important. Focusing on educating the individual women and challenging faculty and administration on college campuses. I guess NPC organizations weren't involved at the organizational-level beyond that emphasis on the individual woman. Is that correct based on you all's records? If that's what you all are going on the record as claiming, I respect that.