Female Initiates

[sdbeta1]

I was reading through the Wabash website and read:

1674 men and three women have been members of the Tau Chapter of Beta Theta Pi

I am interested if anybody knows anything about these three females or any other female initiates.

[a.e.B.O.T.]

ummm... yeah whats that all about

[ZZ-kai-]

I have read that in the past too. I don't recall any reasons off the top of my head, but isn't there more in that reading that explains it a bit?

[a.e.B.O.T.]

no, it doesnt explain why: http://www.landrigan.com/betahistory.htm

[ZZ-kai-]

Huh???? I swear I have read that somewhere? Maybe it was in the Faithful Home of the Three Stars? Or was it the Wabash history red-book? Not really sure.....I have to brush up on my lore, it's been a while.

Maybe it'd be worth a PM to DoctorThursday to see if he/she has any ideas? Or maybe down to General to see if any of our historians have any idea???

Let me know if you guys find anything out?

-kai-

[Coramoor]

Wow....

I've heard of a few sororities intiated men, and I think a chapter or two giving women their secrets to hold to them during the civil war...

[sdbeta1]

Looking through the Wabash rolls online, I found who the three women were:

Emma Bennet 1860
A student at the nearby Waveland Institute. According to lore and chapter records, she was initiated but no official roll number exists.

Celia Crocker 1860
A student at the nearby Waveland Institute. According to lore and chapter records, she was initiated but no official roll number exists.

"Aunt" Jennie Blair
Assumed to have been the first officially initiated woman in Beta Theta Pi. She was initiated by Tau Chapter circa 1867. While we do not show an official roll number for her, her badge is on display at the Beta Theta Pi General Fraternity headquarters in Oxford, Ohio. Beta son: John Allan Blair 1893.

[DoctorThursday]

The "inner lore" I have at my disposal does indeed record the three female "brothers" of Tau - explaining this remarkable occurence in this manner: they preserved the records of Tau (I presume that was during the Civil War).

Hmm, I find that I will have to give a little background...

As the lore-masters will tell you, in the old days (before 1879) the Constitution contained information which we now have only in our ritual books, and even the words which we often represent as "***" (three stars, a very subtle pun!) Hence as part of the ritual of initiation, one read the constitution, and thereby learned the various meanings of the "signs and symbols" - and then signed his name to indicate his assent.

Hence, for a chapter of that time to give (in trust) to a non-Beta her complete records would indicate some kind of special relation.

I have been told (or read, or dreamed) that this occurred at Tau, and was subsequently ratified by intiating as BROTHERS those in whom such confidence had been placed. It was certainly not understood in the usual sense, as we, or any other Beta, would understand it. In other words, a completely extraordinary event was dealt with in an extraordinary manner.

Nevertheless I will hedge on this and say that I do not have verifyable documentation on this. I seem to recall that this was written about in one of Shep's gigantic notebooks which were once in the Knox Library, but those may have been disposed of in recent years - I have not been to Oxford in a very long time. And you can go ahead and check the 1933 catalog but I am nearly certain you won't find these names there.

Another aside. Shep's notebook does have a story about the famous Leila McKee (of Beta Rose fame): he wrote and asked her about her connection with Beta, asking specifically about whether she was initiated. He transcribed her letter into his notebook, and she disclaimed that she would have had such a close connection, because, after all, it would have show favoritism (she had been a dean at Western College, associated with Miami of Ohio.) She rambles on a while, expressing her admiration, etc, etc. about Beta, and then concludes, with the words in HER quotes: "yours in -kai-" Leile McKee.

So in that case the question is still open. Probably we'll never know. But she is still held in esteem where Beta Lore is preserved, initiated or not.

And yet, even should the Tau story be legendary, it still serves a purpose - there are a number of lessons to be learned, in particular the value of trust. Let us all therefore govern ourselves accordingly.

[ECUJacob]

once again, DoctorThursday pulls through with some information... I didn't even know about any of these women, so this was a learning experience for me. I guess I can add this to our pledge education program!

[goalguy]

As the archivist of Tau Chapter, I can certainly verify that Jennie Blair was initiated as a full member of Beta Theta Pi. That she does not have a roll number is due to the fact that roll numbers didn't really exist until around 1900. The overwhelming comments by alums of that and later periods puts this in no serious doubt. The other two women initiates, however, can only be verified by their existence in our minute books.

Hope this helps!

[edmund]

SAE at the old Kentucky Military Institute left the ritual with a local belle. She was give membership and was laid to rest wearing her SAE badge.

[ZZ-kai-]

That would be Lucy Pattie.

Originally posted by edmund
SAE at the old Kentucky Military Institute left the ritual with a local belle. She was give membership and was laid to rest wearing her SAE badge.

[edmund]

Very Good!