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Fall of 2019, 15 women from Alpha, DePauw University gathered to celebrate their 50th year of sisterhood.
July 24, 1946 founder Estelle Leonard's (Alpha, DePauw University) voice can be heard describing a (violin) piece she composed for a student. This video was created in celebration of MacDowell month 2016. Filmed in Meharry Hall, DePauw University where the musical piece would have been performed.
The only original badge known to still be in existence, this badge belonged to Founder Bertha Deniston Cunningham (Alpha, DePauw University) and was created in 1885. The 3/4-inch badge features 28 pearls and seven garnets. Unlike many later badges, which feature twisted lyre strings, the strings on this badge are flat. Each new chapter is presented a replica of this badge for the chapter president to wear during her term. The president's badge is then passed from president to president.
Established in 1914, the Award of Distinction was to recognize the 29 sisters who served overseas in World War I. In 1924, the criteria was broadened to include sisters who had given “constructive service to the Fraternity.” Marian McDowell was the first to receive the new award in 1926. At the 1935 National Convention, each of the four living Founders were presented an award. Nellie Gamble Childe's award was donated to the national archives upon her death. The award was designed by Hungarian-American sculptor Julio Kilenyi.
DePauw Day was a special excursion during the Centennial Celebration, the 44th National Convention. With more than 1,700 attendees, members had to be led in groups so everyone could enjoy the experience. This keychain was supplied in the registration packet and indicated which group each member would travel with to DePauw that day.
The New York Central Lines provided 1935 convention attendees with "The Water Level Route," where guests traveled three different places by train: Greencastle, Indiana; White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia; and Washington, D.C. Trains were considered elegant and formal in this time period, so the menu included was served in a fine dining atmosphere. While the service was formal, the sleeping conditions may not be perceived as such to a modern-day viewer; attendees slept in bunk beds! One interesting fact to note about the context of the increased number of alcohol ads in the menu: this convention took place two years after Prohibition was lifted, so these companies increased their advertising in any way possible.
This dance card was used by Dorothy Bell (Alpha, DePauw University) and her future husband Randall Booty.
Alpha (DePauw University) chapter members pose together for a formal portrait. Altah Devore Evans (Alpha, DePauw University) is identified as the woman second from the left in the back row.
A group of six pose together at the groundbreaking ceremony for a new Alpha (DePauw University) chapter house. They include Hannah Keenan (Alpha, DePauw University, left), Ardath Yates Burkhart (Alpha Beta, Purdue University, third from left), Olive Burnett Clark (Alpha, DePauw University, third from right) and Harriette Dresser Crabill (Alpha Beta, Purdue University, right).
Anna Ryan (Wells) (Alpha, DePauw University, left) poses with Alpha Chi Omega Founders Olive Burnett (Clark) (Alpha, DePauw University, center) and Bertha Deniston (Cunningham) (Alpha, DePauw University, right).
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.
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.
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.
Anna Allen Smith (Alpha, DePauw University) lived her entire life in Greencastle, Indiana, and was childhood friends with Bessie Grooms Keenan (Alpha, DePauw University and Olive (Ollie) Burnett Clark (Alpha, DePauw University). She was always interested in music and was the youngest student to do advanced work at DePauw's School of Music. She was just 15 years old when Alpha Chi Omega was founded. Anna was the Founder most associated with Alpha chapter and until her untimely death in 1932, she knew every initiated Alpha (all 700 of them).
When Bertha Deniston Cunningham's (Alpha, DePauw University) parents decided their musically advanced daughter should continue her studies at DePauw, she had to play for Dean Howe to determine just how advanced she was. She went on to become the envy of the school’s music students because of her composing skills. She also was an accomplished performer and successful teacher in the School of Music for 10 years. Hers is the only one of five original badges that exists today.
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.