In the early 1900s, Catholics were not always accepted in the other fraternal organizations. Theta Phi Alpha’s roots can be traced to the 1909 establishment of a local organization, Omega Upsilon, at the University of Michigan. Father Edward D. Kelly, a Catholic priest and the pastor of the student chapel at Michigan, felt that there should be an organization that could provide the Catholic women at Michigan with an environment that “resembled the Catholic homes from which they came.” This was in a time and place when Catholics were not always welcome in the other fraternal organizations on campus. Interestingly, Theta Phi Alpha birthplace was a state institution that was co-founded by a Catholic priest, Father Gabriel Richard.
After Father Kelly left campus and became the Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, Omega Upsilon was struggling. There were no alumnae to guide the organization. Bishop Kelly’s vision that the Catholic women at Michigan should have a place to call their own was still alive even though he was not on campus. He enlisted the assistance of Amelia McSweeney, a 1898 University of Michigan alumna. Together with seven Omega Upsilon alumnae, plans were made to establish a new organization, Theta Phi Alpha.
Theta Phi Alpha was founded on August 30, 1912. There are two sets of sisters among its founders, the Ryans and the Caugheys. The founders are Amelia McSweeney, Mildred M. Connely, May C. Ryan, Selma Gilday, Camilla Ryan Sutherland, Helen Ryan Quinlan, Katrina Caughey Ward, Dorothy Caughey Phalan, Otilia Leuchtweis O’Hara, and Eva Stroh Bauer Everson. Seven of them were Omega Upsilon alumnae and two were undergraduate members of Omega Upsilon.
Below are links to posts about previous #WHM profiles. I invite you to learn more about these interesting women.
Helen “Betty” McGarr Murtagh was an initiate of the Syracuse University chapter.
Helen “Betty” McGarr Murtagh, Theta Phi Alpha, #NotableSororityWomen, #WHM2024
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Florence Glassbrook Finn Downs was an initiate of the University of Illinois chapter.
Florence Glassbrook Finn Downs, Theta Phi Alpha, #NotableSororityWomen, #WHM2023
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Mary Antorietto McKay was a charter member of the Ohio University chapter.
Mary Antorietto McKay, Theta Phi Alpha, #NotableSororityWomen, #WHM2022
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Frances Best Watkins was an initiate of the University of Illinois chapter.
Frances Best Watkins, Theta Phi Alpha, #NotableSororityWomen, #WHM2021
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Ruth Katherine Byrns O’Meara, Ph.D., was a charter member of the University of Wisconsin at Madison chapter.
Ruth Katherine Byrns O’Meara, Ph.D., Theta Phi Alpha, #NotableSororityWomen, #WHM2020
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Rowena Harvey, was an initiate of the Indiana University chapter.
Rowena Harvey, Theta Phi Alpha, #NotableSororityWomen #WHM2019
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The Andersch Sisters, Ph.D.s, were initiates of the University of Iowa chapter.
The Andersch Sisters, Ph.D.s and Theta Phi Alphas, #WHM2018, #notablesororitywomen
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M. Esther Funke was an initiate of the University of Illinois chapter.
#WHM – M. Esther Funke, Theta Phi Alpha and Lawyer
