Alpha Xi Delta was founded at Lombard College in Galesburg, Illinois on April 17, 1893. Its founders are Cora Bollinger (Block), Alice Bartlett (Bruner), Bertha Cook (Evans), Harriett Luella McCollum (Gossow), Lucy W. Gilmer, Lewie Strong (Taylor), Almira Lowry Cheney, Frances Elisabeth Cheney, Eliza Drake Curtis (Everton), and Julia Maude Foster. At age 15, Alice Barlett Bruner was the youngest of Alpha Xi Delta’s founders; Eliza Curtis, a 25-year-old widow, was the oldest.
P.E.O. was founded as a collegiate organization at Iowa Wesleyan University on January 21, 1869. Between 1869 and 1902, the P.E.O. members who had been initiated while enrolled at Iowa Wesleyan University stayed active in the college chapter even though they were no longer enrolled in the college. Many remained in or near Mount Pleasant. Others formed chapters in towns and communities where they moved after graduation. The early P.E.O. chapters that had been formed at nearby schools did not survive and P.E.O.’s growth was in community chapters. The chapter at Iowa Wesleyan University was finding it difficult to operate on a college campus with the rules put forth by the community chapters.Â
The Alpha Xi Delta Chapter at Lombard, having made the decision to become a national organization, and the collegiate members of P.E.O., having decided to become a chapter of a Greek-letter organization, discussed the decisions that needed to be made on both sides if there was to be a resolution to these wishes.Â
Anna Gillis (Kimble), a member of the Alpha Xi Delta chapter at Lombard College, hailed from Mount Pleasant. Her influence helped the Iowa Wesleyan women make the decision to become the Beta Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta. That event took place on June 9, 1902.Â
Below are links to posts about previous #WHM profiles. I invite you to learn more about these interesting women.
Marcia Malone Slavin was an initiate of the West Virginia University chapter.
Marcia Malone Slavin, Alpha Xi Delta, #NotableSororityWomen, #WHM2024
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Ella Lillian Wall Van Leer became a member of Alpha Xi Delta at the University of California-Berkeley.
Ella Lillian Wall Van Leer, Alpha Xi Delta, #NotableSororityWomen, #WHM2023
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Vetabelle Phillips Carter was an initiate of University of Washington chapter.
Vetabelle Phillips Carter, Alpha Xi Delta, #NotableSororityWomen, #WHM2022
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Dr. Bessie and Anne Pierce were members of the University of Iowa chapter.
Dr. Bessie and Anne Pierce, Alpha Xi Delta, #NotableSororityWomen, #WHM2021
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Mabel Hartzell was a member of the Mount Union College chapter.
Mabel Hartzell, Alpha Xi Delta, #NotableSororityWomen, #WHM2020
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Theo Fenton Bird was a member of the University of Wisconsin chapter.
Theo Fenton Bird, Alpha Xi Delta, #NotableSororityWomen #WHM2019
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Alice Babb Ewing was a member of the Iowa Wesleyan University chapter.
Alice Babb Ewing, Alpha Xi Delta, #WHM2018, #notablesororitywomen
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Blanche Grand-Maitre was an initiate of the University of Minnesota chapter.
Blanche Grand-Maitre, Alpha Xi Delta, #notablesororitywomen, #WHM2017
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Persis Dwight Hannah was a charter member of the Tufts College (now University) chapter.
#WHM – Persis Dwight Hannah, Alpha Xi Delta and Reporter
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Lulu Runge was a charter member of the University of Wisconsin chapter.
Lulu Runge on Alpha Xi Delta Founders’ Day #NotableSororityWomen
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Alice Bird Babb was an alumnae initiate of the Iowa Wesleyan University chapter.
Alice Bird Babb, P.E.O. and Alpha Xi Delta
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Anna Gillis Kimble was an initiate of the Lombard College chapter.
