The Woman Behind the Badge

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"On the heart of each sister, lies one key that binds us..."

The Golden Key of Kappa Kappa Gamma is a symbol of our sisterly love and the bond we share across generations. Learn more about the dynamic women who have worn the badge!

Minnie M. Marsh was the owner of the badge that the Gamma Gamma Chapter President wears. It is the old style flat badge with a striking stickpin guard and still proudly worn by the chapter president and remains cherished and safe. Here, at last, is the missing information -- taken from the 1926 KKG Directory and the 1890 "Catalog." Minnie was a member of Omicron Chapter, Simpson College (originally known in 1867 as Simpson Centenary College), Indianola, Iowa. Omicron Chapter was founded April 10, 1880, installed by Delta Chapter, Indiana University, (7 charter members) which remains the oldest continually existing chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity. Minnie was initiated in 1881 and after graduation, from 1885-1886, she was a teacher of music in Indianola...perhaps at Simpson College. By 1927, she was living in the Bennington Apartments in Walla Walla, Washington…home of Whitman College…probably as a professor of music. That is undoubtedly how the badge came to Gamma Gamma. Minnie was likely on hand when the chapter was installed April 29, 1918, and gave her badge as the President's badge. WOW - what a wonderfully long history for the loving care and use of that old badge!!

Omicron Chapter had a short life due to the small size and relative isolation of the chapter. It was dissolved in 1890, less than a decade after installation, because the Grand Council decided that Simpson College was not a setting in which a Kappa chapter would grow and thrive. Thus, there were few members over the chapter's original 10-year history and very few badges that exist from its early members. Omicron Chapter was reactivated in 1990, exactly 100 years after its demise, and remains a small but active chapter today. Gamma Gamma chapter's President's badge is a true treasure which should be guarded with great care to preserve it for future generations. Perhaps being able to share its history and special character will add to the chapter's appreciation for Minnie's badge. As you may guess, I'm both a sentimentalist about Kappa and a lover of its heritage, and I am delighted to know, 50 years after wearing the badge, “The Woman Behind The Badge.”

Mary Ruddick Silzel – Gamma Gamma Chapter President 1958-59

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