Zeta Tau Alpha History

The Castle in the Sky: The History of Alpha Kappa of Zeta Tau Alpha, 1921-2002 Eric McKinley, Greek Chapter Housing History Project May 7, 2012 Information courtesy of University of Illinois Archives and the Society for the Preservation of Greek Housing This history was produced as part of the Society for the Preservation of Greek Housing’s Greek Chapter History Project. The Society was founded in 1988, with the goal of preserving the historic buildings that embody the history of the nation’s largest Greek system, and educating the public about the historical significance of fraternities and sororities on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus. Dues paid by member fraternity and sorority chapters and donations from chapter alumni fund the Society’s work. In keeping with their mission, the Society began the Greek Chapter History Project in May 2000 in conjunction with the University of Illinois Archives. The GCHP aims for nothing less than producing a complete historical record of fraternities and sororities on the University of Illinois campus by employing a graduate assistant to research and write histories of campus chapters. Making the work possible are the extensive collections of the University of Illinois Archives, especially its Student Life and Culture Archival Program. Supported by an endowment from the Stewart S. Howe Foundation, the heart of the SLC Archives is the Stewart S. Howe collection, the world’s largest collection of material related to fraternities and sororities. 2012 The Society for the Preservation of Greek Housing and the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. All rights reserved. 1 The Founding of the National Organization Zeta Tau Alpha (ZTA) was established on October 15, 1898, at the small teaching- oriented State Female Normal School (now named Longwood College) in Farmville, Virginia. Established as a fraternity for women (the term “sorority” at the time was more often used for “sister organizations” to established male fraternities; female fraternity was the preferred term), its origins at an all-female school were not uncommon. In fact, ZTA, along with Kappa Delta, Sigma Sigma Sigma, and Alpha Sigma Alpha, was part of the “Farmville Four,” referring to the four female fraternities established at the State Female Normal School between 1897 and 1901. The establishment of these four female fraternities at a southern school was a product of the time period. In the late nineteenth century, it was commonly held within Greek circles that southern fraternities had to “catch up” to their northern counterparts through an increased push to establish fraternities (let alone chapters) and secure the large population of unaffiliated women in southern schools. This was the context that allowed for the emergence and expansion of ZTA; however, the agenda they pointed to for the founding was to establish an organization designed to continue the friendships formed in college beyond those years and to spread this ideal to women at other colleges. 1 While this was certainly part of the motivation of the nine founders—Maud Jones (née Horner), Alice Bland Coleman, Ethel Coleman (née van Name), Ruby Leigh (née Orgain), Frances Yancey Smith, Della Lewis (née Hundley), Helen Crafford, Alice Welsh , and Mary Jones (née Batte)—the unstated context must also be considered. The interaction between circumstance and organizational ideals that do not always acknowledged at the everyday level is a major theme of the history below. 1 All sources are located at the University of Illinois Archives, unless otherwise noted. Jack L. Anson and Robert F. Marchesani, Jr., eds. Baird’s Manual of American College Fraternities , 20 th ed. (Indianapolis: Baird’s Manual Foundation, Inc., 1991), I-12 & IV-70. 2 While these nine women established the fraternity at the State Female Normal School in 1898, organizational meetings were held as early as 1897, and while the fraternity was established in 1898, it was not called Zeta Tau Alpha until 1889. Prior to Zeta Tau Alpha, the organization was known as “? ? ?” (The Three Question Marks). This early signification reflects the indecision regarding a Greek name while simultaneously gesturing toward the clandestine nature of early fraternities. Of course, secrecy could not be held very long at such a small school with a vibrant Greek culture. The nine founders held their first meeting known as “? ? ?” and, according to ZTA historian Shirley Kreasan Krieg, the non-members attending the first gathering told the future Zetas that they hoped “that [the nine] might soon be known by our real name.” 2 The way this story is related is telling: rather than saying that they hope the girls would soon find a name, they implied that the name was there, waiting to be discovered. This is probably reflective of fraternity culture at the time, wherein the mission and ideals are acted upon by the members in unison through initiation and appointment rather than individual impetus: they did not find Zeta Tau Alpha, Zeta Tau Alpha found them. The meaning behind the organization’s founding depends on the proportional weight given to circumstance and idealistic motivations mentioned above. The founding members of ZTA had additional assistance in their founding that was grounded in historical circumstance. Two brothers of founding members, Plummer Jones of Kappa Alpha and Phi Beta Kappa at William and Mary College, and Giles Mebane Smith of Phi Theta Psi and Phi Beta Kappa also of William and Mary College, helped the women in Farmville to organize, decide on yells (Mebane Smith is credited with establishing their first yell: Hido Kido/Siscum razzle dalpha/Here we 2 Shirley Kreasan Krieg, The History of Zeta Tau Alpha, 1898-1928 , 3 rd ed., 2 vols. Published by Zeta Tau Alpha, vol. 1, 39. 3 are/Here we are/Zeta Tau Alpha), and consider expansion. 3 This suggests that one of the things that made the national founding of ZTA unique was its initial ambitions. Upon its founding, and very likely prior to it, the nine founders of ZTA had expansionist aims, which were facilitated due to their familiarity with the Greek system through family members and the atmosphere in Farmville. While acknowledging this circumstance, Kreasan Kreig privileges a more idealistic image of the founding: “Through brothers and friends they had a knowledge of the system, but the existence of women’s groups, either in the North or South, was practically unknown to them. Their aim was, first and foremost, to band together, in a union providing lasting qualities, girls who were congenial companions and close friends, perpetuating these friendships beyond the period of college days.” 4 These real motivations notwithstanding, it is important to recognize the more practical circumstances of founding. Without existing or budding fraternities in Farmville and without assistance from family members, the form of maintaining collegiate bonds would have looked very different. One of the earliest photographs of the founding members and the very first rush class (women called “almost founders”) provides an interesting view into what female sororities might have meant to the participants beyond companionship. The photograph appeared in the school paper Normal Light , and it shows the women dressed in a variety of different costumes. The photograph had long caused confusion for interpreters, many of whom wrongly assumed that it represented esoteric ZTA ritual or ceremony. Kreasan Krieg, in her first of several definitive ZTA histories, tells her readers that by virtue of her personal contact with early members, in particular Odelle Warren (née Bonham), she has “solved” the riddle of the photograph. 5 3 Ibid, 33. 4 Ibid, 33. 5 The photograph appears in Kreasan Krieg, vol. 1, 44. 4 Kreasan argues that the picture was not “authentic” or “representative in any degree of the group at that time.” It was, Kreasan relates, only a joke, and they wanted the photograph suppressed because “in light of what they really stood for . they feared it might seem to indicate a lack of dignity or seriousness of purpose, not consistent with the past or the present.” 6 The joke was that every member dressed as her nickname. The names and roles are as follows: Alice Coleman acts the flirt with a flirtatious handkerchief; Della Lewis is the Judge; Maud Jones plays the Angel; Fannie Smith is dressed as the Preacher (“never would she have done it lightly, for even in those days she lived the life that could come only from an intimate acquaintance with the Book”); 7 Helen Crafford is the Teacher; Ethel Coleman and Ruby Leigh are the Lawyers; Alice Welsh performs the Poet; Cammie Jones is the Light; Grace Elcan is the Child of Nature; Odelle Warren acts out the Grandma; and Ellen Armstrong performs the Baby. 6 Ibid, 43. 7 Ibid, 45. 5 Kreasan Krieg takes pains to argue that the picture was meaningless and a product of the age of the women (most were only 18 or 19), but one can legitimately claim that it can be a joke while at the same time be invested with meaning. As Kreasan Krieg indicates that teaching, the focus of the State Female Normal School in Farmville, remained “practically the only genteel occupation open to [women] at the time.” 8 Hence it is important that these women were masking as lawyers, judges, and poets. These were not professions open to females, and the photograph can be read as a way of expressing dissatisfaction with this gendered convention at the time. It is easy to make this case for those dressed as lawyers and judges, professions largely closed to women, but it does not quite fit when recognizing that “child of nature” or “light” are obviously not professions. However, one might still claim that this type of masking is important.

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