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'''Charter Members:'''
Sara McEachin Carter, Mattie Virginia Cary (Mrs. Gentry McCauley), Aubyn Chinn (Mrs. James Watson), Helen Lucile Daugherty, Sarah Rossetter Marshall (Mrs. Thomas J. Wertenbaker), Mary McEachin Rodes (Mrs. C.P Leaphart), Mary Barrett Smith (Mrs. W. R. Ratliff), Alice Cary Williams.
Mary McEachin Rodes (Mrs. Charles P. Leaphart), Grand Secretary 1912-16, Grand Registrar 1916-20;
Fan Ratliff, Gamma Province Vice-President 1925-27, Gamma Province President 1927-1929;
Elizabeth Kimbrough Park, Mu Province President 1933-1937, Chairman of undergraduate scholarships 1936-37, Fraternity Vice-President 1940-42; Curtis Buehler, Mu Province President 1947-49, General Convention Chairman 1958-66; Elise Bohannon Maier, Mu PDC 1953-55; June Moore (Parrish), Field Secretary, 1962-63, Alpha PDC 1965-1967; Laurie Schmidt, Field Secretary, 1982-1983.
'''Additional Outstanding Beta Chi Alumnae'''
Mary E. Sweeny, 1910, Dean of the University of Kentucky's Department of Home Economics, former President of the National Home Economics Association, teaching nutrition and doing research work in Merrill Palmer School, Detroit, Michigan; Aubyn Chinn (Mrs. James Watson), 1910, Educational Director, National Dairy Council; Helen Bullitt Lowry (Mrs. Glenn Allison), 1910, writer of newspaper and magazine articles and of short stories; Sarah Gibson Blanding, 1920, President Emeritus of Vassar College, Dean of Women and Professor of Political Science, University of Kentucky, President of Kentucky Association of Deans; Nancy Duke Lewis, 1929, Dean of Pembroke College and Director of the National Merit Scholarship Program; Anne Rush, Kentucky State Amateur Champion, 1978; Ashley Judd, 1987, actress and political activist .
==The Early Years==
Kentucky, renowned in song and story, and immortalized in the pioneer history of America, is the home of Beta Chi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Right in the heart of the bluegrass country lies the city of Lexington, which houses the University of Kentucky and Beta Chi Chapter. On February 12, 1910, eight members of Chi Epsilon Chi, a local sorority of long and strong standing , became charter members of Beta Chi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Kappa was the second national women’s fraternity on the Kentucky campus, with Alpha Gamma Delta having preceded it by a few months. The installation took place at the chapter Chapter house located on Limestone Street, just opposite Patterson Hall. Edith Stoner, the Grand President, was the installing officer. She was assisted by members of Delta Chapter, Indiana University.
Records show that the first few years of Beta Chi’s history were filled with problems such as housing, frequent initiations, and campus activities. The question of whether the Chapter could or could not keep the house was an ever-present and much discussed matter. The rent in 1910 was an extravagant one--$15 a month! On account of the financial difficulty or , faculty pressure, or possibly a little of both, the house was relinquished the following year , and the Chapter was removed to Patterson Hall to hold meetings in a room reserved for that purpose. At this time, the Kappas moved almost annually. The trouble was neither bill collectors nor landladies, but a general feeling of dissatisfaction with the surroundings. The Chapter really preferred Limestone to any other place of residence.
In 1915, the Kappas were still located at Patterson Hall. Meetings were held at 3:30 on Monday afternoons. In October, the chapter rooms in the hall were prohibited by the dean, and meetings, initiations, and parties were held at the homes of various members. The Kappas considered opening a “lodge building” in connection with Alpha Gamma Delta, Kappa Delta, and Chi Omega, but the plan was abandoned for fear that difficulties would arise during rushing season. Despite the frequent moving days, the young Chapter went dauntlessly ahead with its activities. Initiations were held often in these early years in view of the fact that girls were eligible for initiation only a few weeks after pledging. Although a definite scholarship standing was not required for initiation, the Kappa initiates invariably made a good showing and were among the first on campus in scholarship. In addition to new pledges, many Chi Epsilon Chi members returned to school and took enough work to be initiated.
The first five years saw the establishment of many interesting social customs which have become traditional with Beta Chis. The minutes of 1911 record a hearty vote to present the Kappa Alpha Fraternity with a Kappa pennant on two different occasions. It was the custom to exchange pennants and shields as pledges of good fellowship. Keys were in vogue as wedding presents. More recently, pie knives for Kappa brides have been substituted, and the custom of presenting a spoon with the Kappa coat of arms on it to the first Kappa baby was instituted. When the Kappas initiated four girls in 1915, the Kappa Alpha Fraternity sent them a congratulatory bouquet of four dozen roses. The girls responded with an “open house,” honoring the Kappa Alphas, and this event evolved into a monthly tea for all the men’s fraternities. Keys were in vogue as wedding presents. Pie knives for Kappa brides were substituted, and the custom of presenting a spoon with the Kappa coat of arms on it to the first Kappa baby was instituted.
Life within the Chapter was taken up with rushing, charity work, Kappa work, and financial regulations. The dues were gradually raised from the sum of fifty cents a month to a dollar and twenty-five cents a month. In 1912, we find the actives contributing contributed fifty cents apiece for the Book of Ritual. Even before the WWI, Beta Chi Chapter was doing charity and relief work. In 1916, it was customary for the girls to do a certain amount of settlement work each week, and at . At Christmas time , they filled stockings busily to send to a mountain school. In early March, the Chapter assumed the obligation of dressing and educating a young Kentucky mountain girl of high school age. When she married, her place was filled by a French war orphan supported by the Chapter.
Beta Chi also aided during WWI. The girls knitted the usual socks and sweaters, and each member contributed something to the Belgian Relief Fund, the total being given in Kappa’s name. The girls worked in the Red Cross corps, bought Liberty Bonds , and sent a money contribution across the seas in the name of the Fraternity. To Mary E. Sweeny, leaving for the war front to do canteen work, the Chapter gave a radium-dial wrist watch as a parting gift. Following closely on the tragedy of the war was a terrible automobile accident in which four University of Kentucky men lost their lives. The influenza epidemic swept over the school in the same year, and all activities were abandoned.
==Highlights of the 1920s:==
The next five year period (1920-25) was a time of substantial reorganization of the Chapter in efforts to strengthen it. Systematic financial reconstruction made it possible to acquire a house during this period. Fan Ratliff, as Chapter President, led the Chapter in the work of reconstruction and fulfillment of national fraternity Fraternity obligations. The Chapter devised a system of pledge training , which included supervised study hall and Sunday afternoon “open houses” with the pledges acting as hostesses. Wednesday evening was established as the time for weekly meetings, and . Bible study groups were also formed. A pledge Honor Roll , to be read at every Founder’s Founders Day banquet , was used for the first time. Establishment of the Senior Council and the fraternity Fraternity honor system assisted the pledge training. As a consequence of aid given by Virginia Rodefer-Harris, Grand Vice-President, Beta Chi scholarship standing on the campus came upincreased. Elizabeth Kimbrough (Park), as Chapter President, efficiently accomplished the task of organizing a harmonious and successful Chapter during the first year in the house. A baby-grand piano was quite an addition to the furnishing furnishings at this time, and the Sophomore class decorated the basement for a chapter room.
The chief honor of this period came to the Chapter when Sarah Gibson Blanding, a Beta Chi alumna, was elected by the Board of Trustees as Dean of Women. “The Dean is gone, long live the Dean!” was the cry on the lips of the Beta Chis.
Most of the social events of this era were fraternity Fraternity or Panhellenic affairs. The Founders’ Founders Day banquet of the year 1921 was held in the Lafayette Hotel , which had just been completed. Fan Ratliff presided over the affair, which was cleverly planned as a musical banquet. The tradition of the Mother’s Day tea was inaugurated , and an agreeable custom of paying calls to patronesses was established. The patronesses and alumnae were honor guests at a Kappa picnic on the river banks in May of 1920. An invitation to a province Province dance issued by Delta Chapter is was recorded in the minutes of the same year. Rushing parties were continued as usual, except that the Fraternity abolished the house dance for rushees, as it . It appeared that men rushing for other fraternities were spreading propaganda at the dance. The biennial formal dance was initiated at this time, and the first of a long series of these good times took place at the Phoenix Hotel. During the year 1920, the Kappas played the Chi Omegas in a basketball contest that has never been forgotten. So enthused were the fair opponents that the inter-sorority basketball tournament had to be abolished! Three new nationals established chapters on Kentucky’s campus --- Delta Delta Delta, Delta Zeta, and Zeta Tau Alpha. Beta Chi entertained each group at a tea. One interesting social event was a Pantry Party given at the house. Mothers and patronesses were invited to come and help re-stock the pantry shelves. The biennial formal dance was initiated at this time, and the first of a long series of these good times took place at the Phoenix Hotel.
Running down the list of students at the University of Kentucky from 1925 to 1930, there is a long line of Kappa names in every activity. The first fraternity woman to be elected President of W.S.G.A. on Kentucky’s campus was Beta Chi's Eugenia H. Herrington (Green). In 1927, Sarah Lynn Tucker was elected Vice-President of the Sophomore class. Cynthia Hammond Smith won the Chi Omega prize for the best Sophomore record in home economics. Three campus beauties were also chosen from the Kappa Chapter at this time. During the school year 1927-28school year, Kappa Kappa Gamma made the highest scholastic record of any social fraternity on campus , and was awarded the scholarship cup. Fraternity honor came to the Chapter when Fan Ratliff was elected President of Gamma Province.
The most marked progress in chapter life was made in this period when the Kappas moved into a the house of their very own at 179 East Maxwell Street. At last, the Beta Chis had a home of their own. The Lexington girls had passed the previous summer painting and decorating. It has been estimated that in more than sixty-three years since its founding, Beta Chi has owned, occupied, or met in twenty-six different sites in Lexington. The fondly remembered “little white house” on Maxwell represented one of its longest tenancies. Frances L. Smith (Dugan) was Chapter President at this time, and under her guidance, the chapter Chapter meetings included interesting talks, Bible readings, and individual weekly reports of activities. Members with averages below C -averages were required to study at the house for two afternoons a week. Another visit from Virginia Rodefer-Harris resulted in great enthusiasm over the National Convention to be held in California, at which Beta Chi was represented by Louise Palmer Jefferson. In the early part of 1927, Helen Farst-Wallace, the Province President, visited the Chapter.
==Highlights of the 1930s:==
By 1930, with Beta Chi having developed from a sturdy child to a young, energetic adult, Frank L. McVey, father of two Chapter members, was President of the University, and Sarah Blanding was dean Dean of womenWomen. Beta Chi members were serving as President of the Women’s Administrative Council and as class officers. There were seventeen fraternities and ten sororities on the campus. Beta Chi boasted forty-one active members.
During the 1930s, intramural sports began on the campus to strengthen ties between sororities, and a . A new student union building was also created. The Beta Chi Chapter was host to Mu province Province convention during cold and wet weather, with a robbery to add to the excitement! During the economic crisis of the 1930s, sorority expansion halted at the University of Kentucky, but Beta Chi weathered the Depression and managed to establish itself in a new house at 179 East Maxwell Street. It has been estimated that in more than sixty-three years since its founding, Beta Chi has owned, occupied, or met in twenty-six different sites in Lexington. The fondly remembered “little white house” on Maxwell represented one of its longest tenancies.
In true Kentucky style, it was written of Kappas in the 1934 yearbook, the Kentuckian: “Traditionally a very high class stable, always a goodly number of nifty thoroughbreds.” The next year’s entry read: “The Kappa Gams manage to pledge a beauty queen every so often…they also manage to grab a share of the military sponsors without the aid of campus politicians. They suffered very little opposition with their rushees this year, and walked off with a number of nifty thoroughbreds.”
In 1939, Beta Chi had its first College of Law graduate. , Bettie Gilbert (Wiglesworth), who . She was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Delta Phi, and editor of the Kentucky Law Journal.
==Highlights of the 1940s:==
During World War II, Beta Chi, eager to serve on a campus where only ten percent of the student body consisted of civilian men, contributed its iron grille fence to the scrap metal drive. The Maxwell house was sold and the Delta Tau Delta house on Audubon Park was rented. During the War, men’s fraternities were vacant. Many Kappas, who were victims of gas rationing, thumbed their way in and out from the main campus. After the war, the house at 232 East Maxwell Street was bought and lived in for the next ten years.
The achievements of Beta Chi’s honored member , Sarah Blanding, who was the recipient of the Alumnae Achievement Award in 1947, are nationally known. However, perhaps only Beta Chis remember that she was honored as an undergraduate in 1922 by being unanimously elected to play Santa Claus for the annual Christmas party. Blanding Tower, as well as the low-rise Blanding I, II, III, and IV dormitories on the University of Kentucky’s campus , are named after Sarah Blanding.
'''Housing:'''
In the 1950s, plans were developed for a chapter house, and lots were purchased. However, but complications arose, and another house was bought---238 East Maxwell. By the fall of 1960, the chapter moved into the renovated mansion.
==Highlights of the 1960s:==
In the mid-1960s, The Key “visited” Beta Chi chapter at the University of Kentucky, and the word from university President John W. Oswald was, “The university is proud to have this chapter Chapter on our campus.” He mentioned three Beta Chi alumnae who had recently been in the ranks of seven women to receive Distinguished Alumnae Centennial Awards. These three were Sarah Gibson Blanding, president emeritus of Vassar College; Nancy Duke Lewis, Dean of Pembroke College and Director of the National Merit Scholarship Program; and Mary E. Sweeny, noted home economist and former director of the American Economics Association. The dean Dean of women Women at the time, who pronounced Beta Chi a “welcome asset,” was Delta’s Doris M. Seward, a member of Delta Chapter.
The 1960s was a decade of unrest, a feeling of frustration, and wanting to do one’s own thing. No doubt because of Kappa’s fine heritage, Beta Chi made it through the 1960s and into a new decade where the pendulum seems seemed to be swinging back to sanity and peace once more.