Facts & Firsts 

Pi Beta Phi Firsts:

  • The 1st organization of college women founded as a national fraternity 
  • One of the 1st of 7 founding groups of the National Panhellenic Conference
  • The 1st organization to see the value and the service of the alumnae by creating an alumnae department
  • The 1st to have a national philanthropic project
  • The 1st to use alumnae as guidance for the active members and created Alumnae Advisory committees for each collegiate chapter

Famous Pi Phis...

  • Susan Akin, MS Beta, Miss America 1986
  • Marilyn Van Derbur Atler, CO Alpha, Miss America 1958 and motivational speaker
  • Lisa Morgan Beaupre, CA Delta, Miss Teenage America 1988
  • Meredith Auld Brokaw, SD Alpha, author and wife of broadcaster Tom Brokaw
  • Carrie Chapman Catt, IA Gamma, founded the League of Woman Voters and led the fight for the passage of the 19th Amendment, allowing women the right to vote
  • Anna Turner Cook, TX Beta, the original Gerber Baby
  • Grace Goodhue Coolidge, VT Beta, First Lady
  • Tiffany Craig, Miss Oklahoma 1994
  • Margaret Truman Daniels, DC Alpha, author and daughter of President Harry Truman
  • Dianne DeWitt, TX Beta, Model and television fashion commentator
  • Faye Dunaway, FL Beta, Oscar winning actress
  • Anna Fisher, CA Epsilon, Astronaut
  • Courtney Gibbs, TX Delta, model, actress and Miss USA 1988
  • Kathy Graver, CA Delta, played Cissie on Family Affair
  • Ima Hogg, TX Alpha, philanthropist and daughter of Jim Hogg (governor of Texas)
  • Nancy Hogshead, NC Beta, winner of three Olympic gold medals for swimming
  • Marilyn Horne, CA Gamma, opera singer
  • Kay Bailey Hutchinson, TX Alpha, U. S. Senator for Texas
  • Nancy Kulp, FL Beta, played Jane Hathaway on "The Beverly Hillbillies"
  • Susan Lucci, Emmy winning actress
  • Patricia Pritzkau Maclachlin, CT Alpha, Newberry Medal Winn, author of 'Sarah, Plain and Tall'
  • Jennifer Maxwell, CA Beta, co-creator of the Power Bar
  • Ruth Walsh McIntyre, SC Alpha, journalist/news anchor
  • Patricia Neal, Oscar winning Best Actress and Broadway performer
  • Paula Ragusa Prentiss, VA Alpha, Actress
  • Jane Bryant Quinn, VT Alpha, financial columnist, author, and freelance commentator
  • Tracy Ruiz, AZ Alpha, Olympic Gold Medallist - Synchronized Swimming
  • Jane Sibbett, CA Delta, Actress (has appeared on "Friends")
  • Jacquelyn Mayer Townsend, IL Epsilon, Miss America 1963
  • Patricia Pulliam Upton, AR Alpha, President and Chairman of AROMATIQUE

Pi Beta Phi Dates of Interest

  • 1776: Phi Beta Kappa founded, the first Greek-letter fraternity
  • 1867: I.C. Sorosis (the original name of Pi Beta Phi) founded at Monmouth College, Monmouth, Illinois
  • 1868: First convention held at the home of Fannie Thomson in Oquawka, Illinois
  • 1868: Second chapter installed at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa
  • 1882: Colors and Motto adopted by convention
  • 1884: The Alpha Chapter of I.C. Sorosis chapter relinquished as a result of Monmouth College ban on secret societies
  • 1885: First edition of The ARROW published by Kansas Alpha.
    1888: Name changed from I.C. Sorosis to Pi Beta Phi
  • 1891: Two delegates met with representatives of seven other women’s fraternities in Boston
  • 1893: National Alumnae Department organized
  • 1902: Pi Beta Phi became one of the founding members of the national Panhellenic Conference
  • 1908: Ontario Alpha, Pi Beta Phi’s first Canadian chapter, established at the University of Toronto
  • 1910: Establishing a philanthropy in the Appalachian mountains authorized at Convention
  • 1912: Settlement School organized at Gatlinburg, Tennessee
  • 1913: Alumnae Advisory Committee organized
  • 1924: Portrait of Grace Goodhue Coolidge, Vermont Beta Pi Phi and First Lady, presented by the Fraternity to the United States. Her portrait hangs in the White House and shows her Pi Phi pin
  • 1925: Central Office established
  • 1928: Illinois alpha reestablished at Monmouth College
  • 1940: Holt House, founding place of Pi Beta Phi, purchased
  • 1946: Emma Harper Turner Memorial Fund established
  • 1948: Harriet Rutherford Johnstone Undergraduate Scholarships established
  • 1952: Canadian Project established
  • 1964: Plans for Centennial Project to be called Arrowmont
  • 1970: Arrowmont construction completed at Pi Beta Phi Settlement School
  • 1977: Collegiate and alumnae Departments combined for voting at conventions
  • 1979: Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts developed year-round programming
  • 1980: Friendship fund established for annual alumnae donations
  • 1984: Friend to Friend, Alcohol Awareness program, distributed to chapters
  • 1987: aiming Straight, Drug Awareness program, developed
  • 1990: Pi Beta Phi foundation established
  • 1990: Links to Literacy established as international service project.
    1991: directions, Pi Beta Phi’s mentoring and networking program, established
  • 1992: Marianne Reid Wild Society established
  • 1993: alumnae department celebrated its 100th year.
    1993: Groundbreaking ceremonies for new dormitory at Arrowmont
  • 1995: Pi Beta Phi assumed a two-year chairmanship of the national Panhellenic Conference. Jean Wirths Scott, Pi Beta Phi’s NPC Delegate and a Pennsylvania Beta, served as chairwoman.
    1995: Newest dormitory at Arrowmont dedicated
  • 1997: Fraternity web site launched
  • 1997: Woodturning Studio at Arrowmont dedicated

 

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