Stories
A Unified Philanthropy Effort: Cardiac Care
Following the Fraternity’s united philanthropic work during World War II, Alpha Phi had hoped to have a unified cause to direct its charitable work towards. For years, the proposition had stalled with convention attendees unable to decide between the many worthy causes. After yet another show of philanthropic unity during World War II, the Fraternity was more motivated than ever to decide...
Alpha Phi and World War II
When World War II broke out in September 1939, it was again Alpha Phi’s Canadian chapters who first felt the sting of war. Many members began volunteering for war service and two Beta Eta (Manitoba) chapter members - Edna Leishman and Isabel Gillespie - began serving almost immediately as nurses overseas. When the Women’s Service Training Detachment, a branch of the Canadian Red...
Beta Tau Chapter House
Beginning in 1885, when Alpha Phi established the Alpha Chapter house at Syracuse University—the very first among women's fraternities—chapter houses have provided places for Alpha Phis to live, meet, and socialize. Beta Tau Chapter has resided in their home on the corner of Third and Woodlawn in Bloomington, Indiana, for over 70 years. This exhibit tells the story of the Beta Tau...
Chapter History #001: Alpha
The story of the founding of Alpha Chapter is also that of the beginning of Alpha Phi International Fraternity. From the first expression of their mutual need for “a circle of friends who could sympathize with one another,” our Founders envisioned that the circle would embrace far flung campuses. Among those 20 women entering Syracuse in the fall of 1872, there were six freshmen,...
Chapter History #002: Beta
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...
Chapter History #003: Eta
Martha Foote Crow (Alpha-Syracuse) sought out to begin another Alpha Phi chapter at Wellesley College, where she was working as the assistant to Alice Freeman Palmer, the President of Wellesley college at the time. Although Alice and Martha had a close relationship, they disagreed over the propriety of women’s fraternities. Over the next several years, faculty opposition at Wellesley to...
Chapter History #004: Gamma
“We have heard of your desire for a Greek Letter Society,” wrote Northwestern University senior Henrietta Coone (Beta-Northwestern) to Florence Hays in April 1887. “Would you like to join Alpha Phi and found a chapter at DePauw?” Delta Gamma was also in contact with Florence and her classmates in an attempt to come onto the DePauw campus. Alpha Phi turned to George Irwin...
Chapter History #005: Delta
At the 1888 Convention, it had been decided that the Alpha chapter would “keep a close watch upon her neighbor, Cornell University and should a suitable opportunity show itself, to put forward effort in securing a good chapter there during the current year.” When the 1889 term opened, there were 220 female students at Sage College for Women at Cornell University, with three...
Alpha Phi and World War I
Alpha Phi collegiate and alumnae members had engaged in philanthropic activities almost since the Fraternity’s beginning, but these efforts took on new meaning and new heights in time of war. During both World War I Alpha Phis took their altruistic responsibilities seriously, contributing to the war effort at both the individual and the group level. When World War I was declared in 1914,...
Chapter History #007: Zeta
Just days after the close of the 1891 Convention, a handful of students at the Woman’s College of Baltimore met with the purpose of joining a national fraternity, adopting the temporary name “Delta Sigma Chi.” After surveying the field of women’s fraternities, two candidates were chosen, and one was Alpha Phi. The students consulted with Dr. Goucher, who supported their...
