Olive Burnett Clark (Alpha, DePauw University) called “Ollie” by her friends, studied piano, violin, cello and double bass. She taught at DePauw for two years while carrying on her studies. In her junior year, she left school to take teaching positions in Anderson and Franklin, Indiana. “I have found no greater happiness in my life than in Alpha Chi Omega,” she said later in life. “All I have ventured to give toward the up-building and uplifting of our fraternity has been from the depths of my heart, and has been repaid in thousandfold by my girls.”
Olive Burnett Clark (Alpha, DePauw University) grew up in Greencastle, Indiana before eventually moving to Indianapolis, Indiana. She set the example for grace, civility and dignity that defined the Fraternity.
For the 1935 Golden Jubilee National Convention, Founder Olive Burnett Clark wore a reproduction of a dress she had worn while a student at DePauw University. The dress features some original lace.
Founder Olive Burnett Clark (Alpha, DePauw University) poses by a chair as she tells the story of the founding of Alpha Chi Omega at the 1953 National Convention in Banff, Alberta, Canada.
DATE OF BIRTH: June 10, 1867 DATE OF DEATH: April 18, 1957 CEMETERY Crown Hill Cemetery 700 West 38th Street Indianapolis, IN 46208 Section 73, Lot 334
Olive Burnett Clark (Alpha, DePauw University) writes to Ruth Tewinkel Suppes (Rho, University of Washington) about a recent Indiana State Day event that Suppes was unable to attend. Clark also writes that she is happy to speak about the founding at an event Suppes previously invited her to attend.