Delta Gamma history

The anchor badge was designed in 1877 by Corinne Miller, one of the first Psi chapter members and the sister of the principal of the Lewis School at the time.

Further correspondence among the chapters through the 1880-81 school year urged coming together for a convention, vital to the continued growth and success of a fraternity.

1881 - First Delta Gamma Convention was held in Oxford, Mississippi.

The most important action of the 1883 Convention, with six of nine existing chapters represented, was to establish a Delta Gamma journal.

Eta chapter at Akron agreed to accept editing responsibilities and the first issue of the ANCHORA, dated April 1884, followed the The Key of Kappa Kappa Gamma into circulation.

Delta Gamma’s cream-colored rose has been loved by members since it was selected by the 1885 Convention, but members expressed frustration at finding a rose they could call “cream colored.” The original rose selected was the “Marechal Niel,” a rose more yellow than cream.

After an investigation in 1889, Psi chapter was declared no longer in existence.

Though the word rush was just beginning to enter college vocabulary, it was becoming evident by 1890 that some attention must be paid to developing an orderly method of acquiring members, especially when a number of groups were in fierce competition with each other.

On one campus, seven women’s fraternities (Alpha Phi, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma and Pi Beta Phi) met in Boston in 1891 in an attempt to form an inter-sorority organization.

A permanent Panhellenic organization did not come about at this time, but communication among the groups continued and a second meeting was held at the World’s Fair (the Columbian Exposition) in Chicago in 1893.

Chapter delegates returned from the 1899 Convention to their universities determined to own homes in which they could meet and entertain as well as live, beginning the move toward the chapter house as it exists today.

Banta had studied law and practiced his profession, but in 1901, turned to the printing business and established the George Banta Publishing Company in Menasha, Wisconsin.

Delta Gamma and the six other charter members formally joined the National Panhellenic Conference in 1902.

She traveled to Oxford to visit them in person and procured a piece of wood from the building that housed the original Lewis School and had it made into a gavel for the 1905 Convention.

Garten continued to correspond with early Delta Gammas in Mississippi and through her efforts, the two living Founders, Mary Comfort Leonard and Eva Webb Dodd, were invited to attend the 1909 Convention as guests of the Fraternity in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

In June 1918, Delta Gamma extended its relief to the establishment of the Delta Gamma Orphanage at Marchienne, Belgium.

In 1922, two decisions were made by the Convention to add new dimensions to the Fraternity.

Delta Gamma has been granting student loans ever since, followed by fellowships in 1924.

Alpha Psi was destined to remain for only four years at this time when the chapter lost its “A” rating and the Depression caused few members of Alpha Psi to return to campus in the fall of 1931.

Six past presidents were featured on the program with Fraternity President Marcia Connell Strickland, Xi-Michigan, stepping aside at the opening meeting for the ranking past President Marguerite Winant, Omicron-Adelphi, 1932-40, to deliver the President’s address.

The actual reinstatement of the charter took place in February 1938 when a Delta Gamma Memorial House was also dedicated as the home of the newly formed Alpha Psi chapter.

The official international headquarters was not established until 1942.

The 1948 Convention at Swampscott, Massachusetts, marked the 75th anniversary of Delta Gamma.

The 1950 Convention reviewed this growing segment of philanthropic work and voted to establish the Delta Gamma Foundation, a channel for all charitable and educational programs and grants.

As the number of collegiate and alumnae chapters and their members increased, a uniform system of training for province officers and chairmen became even more important than in the past. It was held for the first time in June 1957 and continues each non-Convention summer.

In 1965, a small house next door to Executive Offices was converted into a guesthouse: The Anchor Inn.

The next volume appeared in the fall of 1966, again as an issue of the ANCHORA. At this time, The Shield also appeared in conjunction with the history as a type of new member handbook designed to provide a lifetime of Delta Gamma information.

The Delta Gamma Foundation had begun its Centennial observance in 1970 with a $50,000 gift to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City to provide funds for a five-year residence in pediatric ophthalmology.

The retirement of Delta Gamma’s first Executive Secretary, Roberta Abernethy, in December 1972 was a notable occasion.

The first seminar for advisory board chairmen was scheduled in Columbus, Ohio, for the last weekend in January 1978, and although it had to be rescheduled due to a blizzard, the attendance showed the need for concentrated training.

1989 - Delta Gamma established the Fraternity Housing Corporation to assist local house corporations.

In 1990, Fran received the prestigious Anchor Award for her continuous service to the Fraternity.

Through 1991, Collegiate Representatives provided Council with an added means of communication with collegiate chapters and campus thinking.

TEAM leadership program made its debut in 1995 and many collegiate chapter members attended its widely offered venues.

Fraternity officers, alumnae and collegians congregated in Kosciusko, Mississippi, on October 26, 1997, for the dedication of The Delta Gamma Memorial Room in the Mary Ricks Thornton Cultural Center.

Just last semester, the chapter’s GPA ranked first in the Greek community, and raised a record-breaking $2000 at their spring Putt-Putt tournament.

Stage one, implemented in 2001, introduced an eight-region structure to replace the eighteen provinces that would include changes within the regions as well.

Stage two, implemented at Convention 2002, included Constitutional amendments allowing for separate Foundation and Fraternity Boards as well as separate Executive Directors.

Delta Gamma’s National Panhellenic Conference Delegate Martha Cheely Brown, Gamma Nu-North Texas, was installed as NPC Chairman on October 11, 2003.

Beta Psi recolonized in the fall of 2011 extending bids to 224 women.