National Chapter History

April 17, 1893, was the day that our ten Founders chose to announce the existence of Alpha Xi Delta on the campus of Lombard College (now Knox) in Galesburg, Illinois. The ten devoted friends attended chapel together and wore the colors of light and dark blue and the beautiful pink rose. The student body was silenced with surprise as the women entered the chapel, showing how well their secret had been kept. Then cheers and applause followed, welcoming the new Greek organization. Since that April day more than 100 years ago, the spirit of Alpha Xi Delta has enriched the lives of thousands of women throughout the world with its message of lifelong learning and friendship. Now a National Fraternity with more than 120,000 initiated members, Alpha Xi Delta has grown into a progressive and forward-thinking organization with college chapters and alumnae associations throughout the United States. Our Founders left us a great legacy -- they taught us the value of education because it would free us to achieve our goals and give us the power to be whatever we chose to be. They taught us to support one another as only women can through shared experiences and understanding. They taught us to serve others -- to reach out to those less fortunate to make their lives better. It is these ideals of scholarship, friendship, responsibility and understanding that we embrace and will carry forth for generations to come.


Timeline of Alpha Xi Delta

April 17, 1893 - Ten Founding members announced their new group by appearing in chapel at Lombard College wearing ribbons of double blue and a pink rose

June 17, 1893 - Constitution formally signed

Fall 1893 - Belle Bishop Wallace became first initiate

1894 - Sapphire adopted as official jewel

April 17, 1902 - National constitution for Alpha Xi Delta adopted

July 9, 1902 - Beta Chapter formed from a collegiate PEO organization at Iowa Wesleyan College. Gold added to colors to celebrate nationalization.

May 8-9, 1903 - First National Convention

February 1904 - First issue of THE ALPHA XI DELTA

1904 - National Convention appoints committee to choose design for pledge pin.
Coat of arms adopted. Alpha Xi Delta joins as an organizing member of the National Panhellenic Conference. First Alumnae organization chartered at Alliance, Ohio

1907 - Alpha Xi Delta incorporates under the laws of the State of Ohio

1909 - Size of Quill badge standardized

1911 - Official die for the badge chosen and jewels limited to pearls and diamonds.

1913 - Seventh National Convention at Champaign, Illinois adopts Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity as official name of organization. First scholarship fund created First honor ring awarded

1916 - "The Rose of Alpha Xi" and "Evening Song" designated national songs and required in pledge training

1920 - Province system begins with six provinces

1924 - First Mother's Club organized by mothers of Alpha Theta members

1930 - Lombard College merges with Knox College and Alpha Chapter moves to Knox. Carcassone Mountain School in Kentucky designated Alpha Xi Delta's first national philanthropy

1941 - Compulsory Life Membership dues established

1942 - First Grace Ferris Library of 40 books presented in San Fernando, California. Alpha Xi Delta suspends national meetings during World War II

1946 - Red Cross gives Alpha Xi Delta a citation for work in World War II

1949 - Edna Epperson Brinkman awarded the first Order of the Rose (50 years) pin at the National Convention.

1950 - Because of its work with children, Alpha Xi Delta invited to participate in the Mid-Century White House Conference on Children and Youth. Fraternity adopts rural child development program in Brown County, Indiana

1951 - National Convention cancelled because of war in Korea

1953 - The President's Medallion introduced. Hannah Wollaston Schellenbach Award established

1955 - Satin stoles designed by Gertrude Anderson used for first time

1956 - Alpha Xi Delta Foundation incorporated. First CORT (Chapter Officer's Round Table) held. Name later changed to Collegiate Opportunity Round Table Alpha Xi Delta Province structure grows to fifteen

1963 - First headquarters building purchased on Washington Blvd., in Indianapolis. Number of provinces increased to twenty

1965 - Quackenbush and Kuechenmeister Awards given for the first time

1966 - last surviving Founder, Alice Bartlett Bruner dies

1973 - Pittman Hall in New York (residential facility for girls) chosen as new philanthropy

1975 - Groundbreak for new national headquarters building on Founder's Road, Indianapolis

1978 - First educational grant from the Alpha Xi Delta foundation goes to the Denver Museum of Natural History Respiratory health chosen as new philanthropy direction

1980 - Mary Burt Nash Scholarship for law students first awarded

1982 - Order of the Pearl (60 years) and Order of the Diamond (75 years) established First career network (Alphie's Angels) established. Later name changes to Xi Network, then XiNet

December 1, 1983 - Master Insurance Program begun with coverage for all chapters on liability issues

1984 - Norma Batchelder Memorial Scholarships begun

1992 - Choose children becomes philanthropy theme Alpha Xi Delta initiates 100,000th member

1993 - Alpha Xi Delta celebrates 100 years

1995 - Province system ended. Regional structure strengthened


Founders of Alpha Xi Delta

Cora Bollinger Block (Mrs. Lewis) 1869-1944

Mrs. Block served as Alpha Xi Delta's first President and first Grand President. With Mr. Block, a charter member of Sigma Nu at the University of Iowa and a prominent attorney of Davenport, and their three sons, Mrs. Block was a recognized community leader.

Alice Bartlett Bruner (Mrs. M.T.) 1878-1966

An accomplished musician, Mrs. Bruner taught for a while at the Lombard Conservatory, although Dr. Bruner and her two Alpha Xi Delta daughters soon monopolized her time. She was instrumental in establishing Beta Epsilon Chapter at Monmouth College in Illinois.

Almira Lowry Cheney 1875-1946

After some years of teaching, Miss Cheney became a minister of the Universalist Church, and as director of Universalist Sunday Schools in Ohio, was a pioneer in religious education.

Frances Elizabeth Cheney 1869-1901

Frances Cheney, the eldest of nine children in a pioneer Illinois family, was a staunch advocate of woman's suffrage and freedom and a talented writer responsible for many of the Fraternity's early songs. Transferring from Lombard, she graduated from Ryder Divinity School in 1895 and served as a rural pastor until her untimely death.

Bertha Cook Evans (Mrs. O.C.) 1874-1957

Mrs. Evans's home and her three daughters, two of whom became Alpha Xi Deltas, were the chief interests of her mature life. However, following her husband's death, she turned to new pursuits and served as a fraternity house director, and as administrator of a home for the aged.

Eliza Drake Curtis Everton (Mrs. J.L.) 1867-1934

Entering Lombard already widowed, Eliza Curtis graduated in divinity and became a Universalist pastor, serving until her marriage to the Rev. Mr. J.L. Everton, a Lombard Sigma Nu. Mrs. Everton did outstanding work in the missionary field and served as executive director of the Sampson County, NC, Chapter of the American Red Cross during World War I.

Julia Maude Foster 1875-1948

Miss Foster early decided that teaching in the primary grades was her field, and after special training devoted her entire career to teaching in the St. Paul, MN, schools. A staunch patriot and descendant of patriots, she was recognized for her outstanding working inculcating American ideals in children of foreign birth. She served Alpha Xi Delta as a member of the committee that drafted the first constitution.

Lucy W. Gilmer 1872-1939

Alpha Xi Delta's first vice president was both a teacher and a nurse. She never realized her ambition to become a physician, but she did spend many years traveling from city to city, practicing nursing and learning about her country first-hand.

Harriet Luella McCollum (Mrs. C.W.E. Gossow) 1874-1948

It was in the apartment Harriet McCollum shared with Cora Bollinger that the first plans were made for Alpha Xi Delta. Although married and th mother of two children, as feminist Miss McCollum used her maiden name and became a nationally known lecturer and author. She pioneered in adult education and applied psychology, with particular interest in the psychological causes of crime.

Lewie Strong Taylor (Mrs. E.A.) 1867-1950

After several years of teaching while very young, Lewie Strong obtained a leave of absence for additional study at Lombard. It was during this year that Alpha Xi Delta was founded and its emblem, the Quill, was design by Lewie Strong. During additional study at the University of Utah, she met and married Mr. E.A. Taylor, a member of the faculty. Of their four children, the two daughters are Alpha Xi Deltas. Mrs. Taylor's original stickpin badge is on display at Fraternity Headquarters. It was donated to the Fraternity by her daughter Aileen (Mrs. Hugh Bernecker). who ws initiated with her mother's badge at the 1926 National Convention. It is the only Founder's badge in the possession of the Fraternity.