Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sorority?

[badgeguy]

Was looking through some old yearbooks online and came across two chapters of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity that were sororities located at Agnes Scott and Shorter colleges in Georgia in the 1890s!

Anyone know more about these groups? I have never heard of fraternities back then becoming co-ed groups.

It appears that according to the yearbook entries, they were allowed to wear the badge and had all the rights of membership....my first thought was that maybe this was just a "little sister" group....but it doesn't appear that way.

Any info would be most interesting.

Thanks
BG

[DubaiSis]

Maybe SAE experimented with having separate men and women chapters. Interesting!

[OleMissGlitter]

Originally Posted by badgeguy

Was looking through some old yearbooks online and came across two chapters of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity that were sororities located at Agnes Scott and Shorter colleges in Georgia in the 1890s!

Anyone know more about these groups? I have never heard of fraternities back then becoming co-ed groups.

It appears that according to the yearbook entries, they were allowed to wear the badge and had all the rights of membership....my first thought was that maybe this was just a "little sister" group....but it doesn't appear that way.

Any info would be most interesting.

Thanks
BG

Interesting...can you post the yearbook pages?

[badgeguy]

Agnes Scott College

[badgeguy]

Shorter College

[badgeguy]

[OleMissGlitter]

I wonder if you contacted SAE (like their National Office) if they could provide some info for you. Very interesting.

ETA: What's even more interesting is I thought SAE named their chapters with the state, like Mississippi Gamma at Ole Miss. So perhaps they did try to start a "female" version?

[naraht]

Also mentioned in the DTD Rainbow. http://books.google.com/books?id=wS4...=PA79&lpg=PA79

[clemsongirl]

I'm just imagining a PNM filling out a recruitment registration profile and listing herself as a legacy of Sigma Alpha Epsilon

[carnation]

I don't think that this sorority lasted long--soon afterwards, the locals that lasted at Shorter for a long time were formed, as well as the 2 nationals who only lasted a couple of years (although Phi Mu came back some 10 years ago!) I've seen a lot of old Shorter Greek stuff but never this!

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

Maybe SAE experimented with having separate men and women chapters. Interesting!

I think it' something like this, and I think there's some GC discussion about it somewhere, but I can't find it now.

[33girl]

One of our early chapters was called the Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter...after reading this I'm thinking maybe they gotvit wrong? I'll edit this later.

[TKEmanKM]

I work with a chapter and the only female member that they claim is Lucy Pattie, who was initiated in the 1920's. I guess there was a concern that with all the men fighting in the world war that someone needed to be entrusted with the secrets of SAE and thus they initiated Miss Pattie as someone who could instruct other men in the rules, rituals, and history of SAE if they did not come back. That is the story I have from the chapter men here at Kentucky Epsilon.

[nyapbp]

The initiation of a woman into SAE happened at the time of the Civil War. Here is an article about it. http://saerecord.net/2012/05/archivesfeaturestory/