Georgia Hayden Lloyd-Jones
Georgia Hayden Lloyd-Jones, Eta Chapter, Wisconsin (1875-1967)
The years of 1922 to 1926 were those of the first “National President,” May Whiting Westermann, who was succeeded by Georgia H. Hayden Lloyd – Jones.
This second National President once said her childhood dream was to have been an Elizabethan, in an age of enthusiasm, discovery, devotion and activity. “I am living my wish in Kappa Kappa Gamma,” she said.
When elected National President, 1926-1930, Georgia was just finishing a term as national Director of Provinces, a position created at the 1924 Convention, the bulk of which involved extension. In her last act as director, she graciously presented her gift of the May C. Whiting Westermann Cup (the Efficiency Award) “to encourage that efficiency without which we make no progress.”
When elected, she was also vice president of the Tulsa Tribune Company and associate editor of that newspaper. Before, she and her husband, also a journalist, had lived in New York, where she was one of a group of reporters who marched with Margaret Sanger, an early advocate of birth control. They also lived in Connecticut and Wisconsin. After college, she had studied and traveled extensively in Europe, specializing in literature and philology.
Her first two years on Council were involved with extension, chapter visiting and Province Conventions. An assistant was hired for Della Burt, a Catalogue was completed and the Rose McGill Fund became a focus, as Rose McGill, Beta Psi, Toronto, had died. The drive for a Fraternity endowment became the leading feature of Georgia’s administration. She was also concerned with serious problems of discipline --- ranging from cheating in class to “actually immorality in the technical sense.”
A comprehensive report form for chapter visits had been drawn up, a standard form for data on prospective members had been issued, and a pamphlet for freshman training was in the works. All chapters had received a Book of Ritual. Georgia’s contagious enthusiasm for extension resulted in nine new chapters during her four years as President: Gamma Omicron – Wyoming; Gamma Pi – Alabama; Gamma Sigma – Manitoba; Gamma Tau – North Dakota State; Gamma Upsilon – British Columbia; Gamma Phi – Southern Methodist; Gamma Chi – George Washington; Gamma Psi – Maryland; and Gamma Omega – Denison. She established a committee to survey chapter standards, saying “College women of today neither think nor act as did (those of) former decades.” Co-organizer scholarships, the forerunner of Chapter Consultant Scholarships, were established, and Georgia also realized the need for a traveling inspector plan to relieve Council members.
The 1928 Convention was the first at which alumnae outnumbered collegians, and Georgia opened it with the gavel made from the wood of the stair rail at Old Main at Monmouth.
“Here was beauty, dignity and strength, combined with a keen mind and an obvious flair for business,” Convention Marshal Margaret Dickson Falley, Upsilon – Northwestern, said.
At the Eta Province Meeting of 1967, Georgia received a 75-year pin from Director of Membership Marian Schroeder Graham, Beta Phi – Montana, as Georgia’s daughter, also a Kappa, looked on. “Kappa has been very much of a factor in my life,” said Georgia, whose two sons married Kappas. “To a surprising extent it has been influenced by friendship and experiences. It has brought me much satisfaction and all because of the lucky choice, three quarters of a century ago.”
In her honor, the Tulsa alumnae gave the Fraternity an antique English silver coffee urn (since retired) to be presented to the chapter with the greatest improvement in scholarship.
