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, three sophomores and a junior who became the Founders of Alpha Phi. They were the Original Ten.
These Syracuse University women believed that their idea of a women's fraternity was original and that theirs would be the first college women's society. They were unaware that the same idea had occurred to four women at DePauw who founded Kappa Alpha Theta in January of 1870. Three months later the four founders of Kappa Kappa Gamma at Monmouth College in Illinois likewise believed themselves the originators of the first Greek letter college women's fraternity. While not the first women’s fraternity, Alpha Phi provided a sense of community , respect and camaraderie for its members, much as it continues to do today. On September 30, 1872 at the home of Ida Gilbert, with a ritual, symbols and a pledge, The Original Ten founded Alpha of Alpha Phi.
For twelve years, the members of Alpha Chapter used a suite of rooms in which to have their meetings. Then, in 1884 Alpha moved to a rented house near the university. In 1886, they purchased land with the intention of building a house. They secured a first mortgage from a bank and an Alpha Phi father lent them money for a second mortgage. A contractor was hired and in January 1887, the members dedicated their new chapter house. For years to come Baird's Manual held Alpha Phi in high regard because they had financed the first chapter house and were in possession of real property at a time where that was less common for women.
Other Chapter History
• First sorority house in America.
• It was decided that they would assemble on Monday evenings, and each week several members would be assigned a reading, recitation or musical performance. Every three weeks, they would hold a debate.
Housing
• A professor came up with the novel idea that the women of Alpha Phi should have their own house. Initially, the sisters thought the suggestion was a crazy idea, because no women had ever owned a chapter house. By the spring of 1885, the idea seemed possible. After talking it through, a plan was hatched; they would raise $1,000 to purchase a vacant lot, take out a mortgage loan to build a house and pay back the money over a ten-year period by renting chapter house rooms.
• Alpha chapter members Hattie Cobb and Jennie Thorburn Sanford were given the duty of visiting Ida Young’s father and asking him to support the project with a loan. Mr. Andrew Young agreed to meet with Hattie and Jennie. When they were finished laying out their plan, he explained that he was not in a position to loan them the entire amount they sought, but he suggested that they launch a campaign, asking for smaller subscriptions from friends and family. Mr. Young generously pledged one hundred dollars.
• Hattie and Jennie were overjoyed with this manageable plan. They left his office so excited that they had to sit right down on the stairs because they were “too weak to walk.” And so it was that a yearlong fundraising campaign was underway. Founder Kate Hogoboom Gilbert served as the campaign’s treasurer, and an advisory board was appointed to oversee the purchase of a lot and the application for the building loan. Asking donors for smaller amounts seemed to work, and people gave generously. The final cost of the house and the loan amount with a check for the staggering sum of $2,700.
• The sisters themselves designed the house floor plan and a Syracuse architect drew up the blueprints. As luck would have it, Chauncey Harrington, the father of Minnie Harrington, was a contractor. He not only offered his services without charge, but he also negotiated with suppliers for reduced costs on materials.
• On June 22, 1886, one day before commencement, the sisters invited scores of family members and friends, including all the members of the university’s fraternities and sororities, to the laying of the cornerstone ceremony. Two days later, The New York Times reported on the event and stated that “this was believed to be the first chapter house built for women.”
• 308 Walnut Place, Syracuse, New York
Notable Alumnae
• Caroline Shevelson Benjamin – International President
• Juliette Toll Blakely – International President
• Martha Churchill – International Executive Board
• Barbara Murray Collum – International Executive Board; NPC Delegate
• Martha Foote Crow – International President
• Marion Davis – International Executive Board
• Harriet Gramlich Dworshak – International Executive Board
• Marjorie Reeve Elliott - Musician and composer
• Bertha Holden Gilbert – International President
• Kate Hogoboom Gilbert – International President
• Cora Rhodes Henry – International President
• Frances Cottrell Hoefer – International Executive Board
• Nellie George Hollett – International President
• Bertha Sawyer Ives – International President
• Marian Wiley Keys – International President
• Frances Rauch Marti – International Executive Board
• Carrie Pitkin McDowell – International President
• Grace Latimer Merrick – International President
• Eloise Holden Nottingham – International President
• Laura Parsons – International Executive Board
• Ruth Stafford Peale - American writer, editor, and speaker
• Helen Weaver Phelps – International Executive Board
• Colette Tyrrell Rankin – International Executive Board
• Lucy Lewis Roe – International Executive Board
• Jennie Thorburn Sanford – International President
• Grace Sawyer – International Executive Board; NPC Delegate
• Elizabeth Hubbell Shults – International President
• Genevieve Coseo Stephen – International Executive Board
• Dorothy Campbell VanLeuven – International Executive Board
• Florence Davis Vose – International Executive Board
• Alice Wells – International President
• Electa Whipple – International President
• Genevra Gwynn Wiley – International President
• Frances Willard – International President
Award Winners
• Marjorie Reeve Elliott - 1972 Distinguished Alpha Phi Award Winner
• Dorothy Monnoyer Jordan - 1976 Michaelanean Award Winner
• Susan Work Russell – 1976 Michaelanean Award Winner
• Ruth Stafford Peale - 1976 Frances E. Willard Award Winner
• Eleanor Carroll Dye - 1986 Ursa Major Award Winner
• Margaret Locker Poole – 1992 Michaelanean Award Winner
• Jennifer Kennedy Queri – 2006 Michaelanean Award Winner
• Helen Zughaib – 2020 Ursa Major Award Winner
