4,269
edits
Changes
→The Early Years (Excerpted from The History of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity: 1870-1976)
==The Early Years (Excerpted from The History of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity: 1870-1976)==
The frontier mining settlement of Boulder was still grazing land for wild game and hunting ground for the Arapahoe Indians when an act of the territorial legislature established the University of Colorado in 1861. It was not until 1877 that the university became a reality. No state university could claim more humble beginnings. On the windswept plain of sage and buffalo grass a lone four-story brick structure rose incongruously to mark the campus. Two instructors, one of them the new presidents, and 44 students assembled that fall of 1877. It is significant that among the goals restated each year by that first class, none was more urgent than a sidewalk to town to escape the sea of mud. The goal was realized for the first Commencement. Colorado has become a major university in a magnificent setting. Colorful sheer rock forms a backdrop for the buildings of Colorado sandstone in Italian Provincial architecture. "Old Main" still stands at the center. By 1901 the campus had grown to a half dozen buildings, including a "Cottage Number One for Women, with Boarding Table". There were four national men's fraternities and two women's. A local group, the Althea Society, rejected by Kappa Kappa Gamma in an early petition, was inspired to two more years of work to meet requirements, and finally was so enthusiastically endorsed by the Denver Alumnae Association that the usual inspection by Grand Council was waived- the history of Beta Mu had begun. On April 5, 1901, 19 young women in long woolen skirts walked to the tiny train station on the prairie, nearly swooning with excitement as the train pulled in, bringing members of Sigma. Kappa's grand secretary, May Whiting (Westermann), Sigma-Nebraska, was among the 20 who were to initiate Beta Mu's charter members. It was a glorious occasion. The other campus Greeks had an afternoon reception, and there was a banquet at the Brown Palace in Denver. Initiation was at the home of Edith Delong (Jarmuth, Smith), a new member with a Pi Beta Phi mother. In 1974 a remarkable lady in Denver recalled clearly the events of the installation. Nettie Schwer Freed at 93 was Beta Mu's only living charter member. She was a two-year president of the early chapter, and continued all her life to bring honor to Beta Mu. Another initiate, (Mabel) Mae Carroll (Fry), first president, was to figure long and prominently in chapter history. First meetings were held in her room at the cottage, or at the Delong home, but by 1905 the chapter was able to rent a house at 1221 University Avenue, which was to be the Kappa house for nearly two decades. Beta Mu's development paralleled that of the campus Panhellenic Society, founded in 1903 as a member of the National Panhellenic Congress. For a time it was possible to pledge in September and initiate in October; then pledges were required to pass the number of hours necessary to stay in school. Finally Kappa and other national sororities set their own requirements for initiation, in line with those established by the campus Panhellenic. In 1914 Beta Mu was hostess to the general convention at Estes Park and Estelle Kyle (Kemp) was made grand registrar...later she became grand secretary and grand vice president and served as delegate to the National Panhellenic Congress. Routine and traditions were swept away by World War I. Fraternity houses became barracks and coeds volunteered daily hours of work. By Commencement, 1918, all able-bodied men students had been called to arms and the class history was delivered for the first time by a woman, Beta Mu's Katherine Knisell (Cunningham). Despite curtailed activities the chapter was to play a major part in Kappa expansion in the west helping with the installation of Gamma Beta in 1918. In time, Beta Mu played a part in the establishment of Gamma Omicron, Delta Zeta, Delta Eta, and Epsilon Beta Chapters. Dreams of a permanent home began to take shape by 1920 when lots were purchased and plans made for the present house at 1134 University Avenue at a cost of $21,000. Mae Fry, at one time a member of the Colorado legislature, was president of the newly formed Building Committee, supervised house construction and furnishing, and continued her interest in the chapter for many years. Others brought distinction at this time. Pattie Field was United States vice consul to the Netherlands (the second woman and the first from Colorado to be accepted in the diplomatic corps). Lucia Cassell Patton, illustrator, and Estelle Rust Dinwoodey, etcher, gained national recognition. Poet and
==Highlights of 2011==