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Alpha Chi Omega was formally celebrated in a Soiree Musicale performance on February 6, 1886 in the DePauw University Music Hall. Dean James Hamilton Howe performed, with the assistance of Founder Amy DuBois (later Rieth), soprano.
DATE OF BIRTH: September 10, 1870 DATE OF DEATH: May 23, 1932 CEMETERY Forest Hill Cemetery 2181 S County Road 50 W. Greencastle, IN 46135 Anna Allen Smith (Alpha, DePauw University) shares a headstone with her husband, infant son and other relatives (with last name Allen). The Smiths are located in Book 1, p. 356, Lot 11, Block 7, Range 11.
Eva Merideth Turley (Alpha, DePauw University), one of the first initiates of Alpha Chi Omega, provides her recollections of the founding.
Alpha (DePauw University) chapter members sit with men from Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity during a dance.
Four Alpha (DePauw University) chapter members and a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma pose together at Thanksgiving. They are: Sidelia Starr (KKG), Anna Hough, Maud Rude Link, Grace Paul Kerr and Olive Burnett Clark.
Founders (left to right) Estelle Leonard (Alpha, DePauw University), Nellie Gamble Childe (Alpha, DePauw University) and Olive Burnett Clark (Alpha, DePauw University) pose with Ruth Orndorff Darragh (Gamma, Northwestern University) at DePauw University on Homecoming Day of the 1935 National Convention.
The Founders' Bell Tower was constructed by Alpha Chi Omega as part of DePauw University's new performing arts building in 1976 and dedicated to the memory of the seven founders.
Nellie Gamble Childe (Alpha, DePauw University) studied piano from an early age and, after much deliberation, chose DePauw. She was described variously by her sisters as being gentle, energetic, earnest and friendly, leading a life of “quiet influence for good.” Later in life, she cultivated roses and loved to garden. She said that Alpha Chi Omega had a small beginning, but was built by loyal women with high standards who have achieved “marvelous results.”
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.
The 1985 National Convention marked Alpha Chi Omega's 100-year anniversary. The five-day convention packed in a ton of events, trips and meals, and saw more than 1,700 attendees. Play Day was added in the middle of the convention to sight-see in Indianapolis and offer some bonding time with sisters. This particular excursion was to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, home of the Indy 500 race, which was held the month before.
The 1985 National Convention was the 100-year celebration for Alpha Chi Omega. The five days were packed with activities, including a special DePauw Day, where attendees packed onto buses in groups and made their way to Greencastle, Indiana, for a tour of campus, a pageant of our founding, a concert by the Founders' Memorial and presentation by National President D'Alice Cochran.
A set of bells, dedicated to the founders of Alpha Chi Omega, sit on the ground as they wait to be installed in the Founders' Bell Tower in the new performing arts center at DePauw University.
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.”
This dance card was used by Dorothy Bell (Alpha, DePauw University) and her future husband Randall Booty.
This program is for Homecoming Day of the 1935 National Convention, which took place at DePauw University where the Fraternity was founded. It includes a poem by Founder Olive Burnett Clark (Alpha, DePauw University), the words to the Toast and a program of the day's events.
Alpha chapter (DePauw University, 1920. Hannah Keenan, daughter of Founder Bessie Grooms Keenan, is pictured in the fourth row, far right. Hannah went on to become director of central office from 1937-66 as well as archivist. Hannah identifed the chapter members on the back of the photograph.
