Alpha Phi

Beta

Northwestern University

Jun 6th, 1881

Founding Date

In the fall of 1879, there were roughly 80 women students at Northwestern University. Among the entering class of 1883 were three young women: Claire Lattin, Adella Maltbie and eighteen-year-old Minnie Rachel Moulding Goodsmith. They were, as Minnie later described them, 'timid girls, strangers to everyone in Evanston.” Soon, the trio formed a friendship. They were well aware that four men's fraternities existed at Northwestern, but, since no such organization existed for women, they decided - in secret - to create their own. They had three plain gold rings made, engraved with the motto they chose for their secret group: 'Toujours Fidele.' After they asked to borrow a Greek-English dictionary from Dean Jane Bancroft, an Alpha chapter alumna, she suspected what they were after. She called the girls to her room and told them of her connection with the sorority of Syracuse, and suggested that instead of a small isolated circle of three, more be added to the number and a society be formed that should be allied with the one already established among college women of similar aims and interests. Jane made contact with the Alpha chapter sisters to alert them to this development, and it was not long before three delegates from Syracuse arrived in Evanston. National president Nellie George was accompanied by her sisters, Inez, and former national president, Eloise Holden. The Alpha chapter sisters informed the trio that four others must be added to their number to fill a chapter's required seven officer positions. After hearing assurances that the number would be reached, the three women returned to Syracuse. Later, when they traveled again to Evanston, this time bringing Alpha chapter sister Ida Young along, four more Northwestern students were there to greet them: Emma Meserve, Jennie Marshall, Lizzie Hill and Eva M. Lane. On June 6, 1881, as evening descended, the shades were drawn and the doors were locked at the Evanston home of Emma Meserve. The seven women were initiated into Alpha Phi, and the first women's Greek-letter organization at Northwestern University was established.

Chapter Information

• By the fall of 1881, the Beta sisters had rented and furnished their own “chapter hall,” and, at the Wilmette, Illinois, home of Elizabeth Hill Leek, they initiated the chapter’s first new member class

• Its expansion into Northwestern University was an indication not only of the staying power of the Fraternity, but also its effectiveness in helping members to realize their academic goals.

• The Beta Chapter House is a historical landmark in Evanston located at 701 University Place.

• There are two secret panels in the wood fireplace surrounding the living room/chapter room. In the 1980s, that is where members kept the candles for the tradition of candle passing.

• When the chapter house was being built in the 1920s, alumnae helped to raise funds by running a tea shop, called Cricket on the Hearth, which sold homemade sandwiches to passersby. It was located near the Orrington Hotel.

• Alumnae selected the site for the chapter house as the southeast corner of a block was prime residential property.

• 701 University Place, Evanston, Illinois

• Virginia Copeland Anderson – Foundation Board

• Margaret Whitlock Barton – International Executive Board

• Mary Maltman Bass – International Executive Board

• Mary Barthell Carroll - Community Service

• Paula Johnson Clancy – Foundation Board

• Toni Soreng Cobb – Foundation Chairman

• Henrietta Coone – International President

• Doris Ross Corbett – International Executive Board

• Luther Tittle Dearborn – Foundation Board

• Mary Miller DesJardins – International Executive Board; Foundation Chairman

• May Bennett Dyche – International President

• Elizabeth Edwards Fields – International President

• Marion Smith Forsyth – NPC Delegate

• Minnie Moulding Goodsmith – International President

• Inga Swenson Harris – Actress

• Charlotte Lowe Kittleman – International President

• Margaret Kingsley Long – International Executive Board

• Winifred Goodsmith Long – International President

• Cora Allen McElroy – International President; NPC Delegate

• Edna Rattray McGuire – International Executive Board

• Helen Kingsley McNamara – International Executive Board

• Mary Moore – International President

• Ida Staver Moulding – International Executive Board

• Anna Robinson Ridgway – International Executive Board

• Nan Robertson - American journalist, author and instructor in journalism; Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing

• Jeri Zimmerman Ryan – television and film actress best known for her roles in Star Trek, Boston Public, Dark Skies, Body of Proof and Bosch

• Elizabeth Duff Schogol - editor of Philadelphia Inquirer

• Edith Huey Shelton – International Executive Board; NPC Delegate

• Jean Sheridan – Foundation Board

• M. Finley Singleton – International Executive Board

• Dorothy Brown Slaughter - Real Estate Executive

• Mary Schroeder Smith – International Executive Board; NPC Delegate

• Ellen Soeteber - Editor of St Louis Post Dispatch

• Marion Murphy Strader – International President

• Minnie Terry – NPC Delegate

• Kathryn Hall Tobinson – Foundation Board

• Frances Staver Twining – International President

• Karen Stack Umlauf - Director of basketball operations for 20 years and later senior director of basketball administration for the Chicago Bulls. In 2017, she became the Bulls' first female assistant coach, combining that role with the role of director of team operations

• Frances Cutler VanPatten – International Executive Board

• Kimberly Williams-Paisley – Director, producer, and award-winning actress. She is best known for her roles in According to Jim, Nashville, Father of the Bride and Father of the Bride Part II

• Ruth Moulding Wooden – International Executive Board

• Mary Barthell Carroll - 1972 Distinguished Alpha Phi Award Winner

• Marion Becker Mitchell - 1972 Michaelanean Award Winner

• Patricia Oliver - 1972 Distinguished Alpha Phi Award Winner

• Dorothy Brown Slaughter - 1972 Distinguished Alpha Phi Award Winner

• Janet Linthicum Mizener - 1980 Michaelanean Award Winner

• Nan Robertson - 1984 Francis E. Willard Award Winner

• Nancy Zinns Johnson – 1990 Michaelanean Award Winner

• Rogerta Dickinson Julien – 1990 Ursa Major Award Winner

• Betty Attwood Collins – 1992 Ursa Major Award Winner

• Kimberly Williams-Paisley – 1998 Francis E. Willard Award Winner

• Ellen Soeteber - 2006 Francis E. Willard Award Winner