Monmouth College is the birthplace of Kappa Kappa Gamma. According to an account by one of its founders, Kappa Kappa Gamma came about because the women of Monmouth College wanted a Greek-letter society like that of the men. These women were Mary Moore “Minnie” Stewart [Nelson, Field], Hannah Jeannette Boyd and Mary Louise Bennett [Boyd]. They were later joined by Anna Elizabeth Willits [Pattee]. At the 1930 convention, the names of Martha Louisa Stevenson [Miller] and Susan Burley Walker [Vincent] were added to the list of founders because they had been initiated prior to October 13, 1870. Some of the founders recalled that the organization was founded in March, 1870, but that the appearance was delayed until October 13, 1870, because the badges had been difficult to procure. Willet’s mother was the one who came up with the idea of using a key as the badge. The first badges were made by the Bennett’s family jeweler who was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In order to have the badges made, 12 had to be ordered at a price of $5 each. The Kappa Kappa Gamma’s first public appearance at chapel took place on October 13, 1870 and since the 1876 Convention, October 13 has been celebrated as Founders’ Day (Burton-Roth & Whiting-Westermann, 1932).
Owls made for the 1934 installation of the Alpha Deuteron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at Monmouth College. These owls are on display at Stewart House.
The Monmouth College Courier, a semi-monthly paper, noted the fraternity’s debut in an October 1870 issue, “They wear a little golden key, sometimes on their foreheads, sometimes on their little blue or red jackets. . . . It has three letters on it, KKG. . . We have been able to count only six of them” (“Kappa Kappa Gamma,” 1870, p. 4).
Four years after its founding, the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter suffered the same fate as the I. C. Sorosis (now known by its Greek motto, Pi Beta Phi) chapter when anti-fraternity sentiment at Monmouth College forced the chapters to disband. There is some evidence the chapter operated sub-rosa on a very limited basis (Burton-Roth & Whiting- Westermann, 1932).
Since the fraternity had expanded beyond the Monmouth College campus, it was able to prosper despite the demise of its Alpha chapter. In regard to expansion, little is known about the Beta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma, only that it is thought to have existed at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, from 1871 to 1874. It was later found that this chapter was actually at St. Mary’s Seminary in Knoxville, Illinois (Burton-Roth & Whiting-Westermann, 1932; Barry, 2000). In January, 1899, Boyd wrote to the Key of Kappa Kappa Gamma giving her account of the founding of the chapter at Knoxville. The Gamma chapter was also short-lived. It was located at Smithson College in Logansport, Indiana, and was formed in 1873 or 1874.
Stewart House, October 2013
Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Delta chapter at Indiana University was chartered on October 12, 1872, and it is surmised by Burton-Roth and Whiting- Westermann (1932) that because of the confusing dates of chartering, the Gamma chapter must have been planned for before it was chartered. A male student at Monmouth College happened to have a female cousin attending Indiana University, and in that occurrence is the beginning of Delta chapter’s
history. Willits was given the Indiana student’s name and correspondence ensued (Barry, 2000). Anna Buskirk-Hill, one of the charter members, described the founding, “When Delta was organized the whole procedure was very primitive. An oath was sent us in cipher, – later a “key” followed. After deciphering it, we signed it and returned it to Alpha. Then the Greek words of the name and motto were sent in cipher. Imagine the joy of untangling Greek words by cipher! The charter cost us $1.00 and our initiation fee was $1.00 also.”(Burton-Roth & Whiting-Westermann, 1932, pp. 23-24)
The University of Indiana chapter is the oldest continuous chapter in Kappa Kappa Gamma’s history. It has had a chapter house since the start of the fall 1892 semester (Walker, 1903). The Alpha chapter established the Epsilon chapter at Illinois Wesleyan
University in Bloomington, Illinois, on November 25, 1873. One of Epsilon’s charter members was the first woman to attend Illinois Wesleyan University (Walker, 1903).
Little is known about the sixth chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at Rockford Seminary in Rockford, Illinois. It evidently was in existence between 1874 and 1876. According to Burton-Roth and Whiting-Westermann (1932), only four women were initiated.
Kappa Kappa Gamma was the first women’s fraternity to establish a chapter on the University of Wisconsin campus. The Eta chapter was installed on February 2, 1875. Delta chapter at Indiana University sent a letter to Juliet Meyer, whose name was chosen out of a University of Wisconsin directory. The letter requested her to talk to her friends about starting a chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. There was some apprehension on the part of the potential Eta chapter members, “As nothing of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity or of college fraternities in general was known by the girls, the key to the duly subscribed cipher was awaited in considerable suspense, and a great relief was felt when the really harmless nature of the dark deed was revealed to the founders of Eta.” (Burton-Roth & Whiting-Westermann, 1932, p. 87)
On March 25, 1875, the Iota chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma was established at Indiana Asbury College (now DePauw University) in Greencastle, Indiana. The six charter members were initiated by the Indiana University chapter on March 13, 1875, in Bloomington, Indiana (Walker, 1903).
When the Theta chapter was installed at the University of Missouri in Columbia on April 2, 1875, the anti-fraternity sentiment was not as intense as it was five years later. In 1880, action was taken by the faculty to bar students from joining the secret societies, as the fraternities were called. During the early 1880s, the chapter operated sub-rosa. According to Burton-Roth and Whiting- Westermann (1932), “Invitations were issued only after a thorough and congenial acquaintance had been made with every prospective member. Since the older girls were well known as Kappas before the sub-rosa period, this acquaintance had to be gained gradually and unostentatiously. Accepting a bid in those days involved an element of risk, yet not a single invitation was refused during this entire period and no girl was initiated without the consent of her parents. One member resigned, and was afterward married to a member of the faculty. She now has a Kappa daughter. Initiations were carried on in the usual way, never being discovered nor interrupted, although certain sub-rosa girls tell harrowing tales of narrow escapes (p. 125).”
So Happy Founders’ Day to my Monmouth Duo friends. I still find it amazing that both Kappa Kappa Gamma and Pi Beta Phi were able to survive the demise of their Alpha chapters. It is an amazing story, but one that must wait for another day.
