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Anna Elizabeth Willits

401 bytes removed, 09:22, 20 November 2018
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'''KAPPA’S FIRST BADGE, Anna (Elizabeth) Willits (Pattee)'''
[[File:AnnaElizabethWillits.jpg|200px|thumb|left|alt textAnna Elizabeth Willits, photographed as a student]]
'''Family:''' Born May 22, 1853, in Monmouth , Ill. Daughter of Judge Elias Willits and Elizabeth Fish. Willits home is said to have been at the corner of South D St. and West 3rd Ave. Pattee home was at 316 E. Broadway.
'''Education:''' Attended Monmouth Academy; entered Monmouth College in 1870; received AB-AM degree 1874; member of A.B.L. Literary Society.
'''Note:''' It is a Fraternity oddity that only Anna’s badge out of an order of 12 (Spring 1870) has been found. It seems to have been a practice among the first Alphas to pass their badges to new members. Jennie Boyd and Lou Stevenson were given new badges by alumnae associations. Minnie Stewart went to three Conventions and must have worn a key; it is possible that her younger sister Crissie (Lucretia) was initiated with her badge (December 1877). The Alpha badges of Margaret Pogue (March 1871) and Anna Armsby (Fall 1874) were used at the 1934 installation and described in The Key as being part of the original order of 12 keys; also used was the key that belonged to Carolyn (Carrie) Smith (Fall 1872) and it could easily be an original. The badges worn by the presidents of the Monmouth, Ill., and Peoria, Ill., Kappa Alumnae Associations seem to be original; the Monmouth one has the name “Alice” on the back and must have belonged to Alice Pillsbury (September 1871). The Peoria badge has no name on the back. It is not known when it became a practice to have a name engraved on the back.
Of interest is the fact that the Founders of I.C. Sorosis (Pi Beta Phi) also had to order 12 badges, so they promptly added two more members. Accordingly, they delayed their first public appearance in the Monmouth College Chapel until the pins arrived, but only 11 of the original 12 appeared in chapel in April 1867. At some point, the first I.C.s (Alphas of Pi Beta Phi) also began to have their names engraved on the back of the badge.
The “Ivories,” reproductions of the Founders taken from small oil portraits and hand-painted on ivory, are on loan from Alpha Deuteron Chapter to The Stewart House and contain what is supposedly Georgie Pillsbury’s key. It is said to be an original, but there is no name on the back. Georgie was initiated Fall 1877 when the chapter was sub-rosa and it is unlikely that the group ordered pins at that time, making it more than possible that she was initiated with an original badge. In 1877, several Alpha alumnae were living in Monmouth. Alpha Deuteron also claims to have Mabel Pillsbury’s badge (Fall 1872) and it too may be an original. (Mabel was the first Kappa legacy to be initiated).

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