History of Delta Gamma

 

     Delta Gamma was founded in 1873 in Oxford, Mississippi, at the Lewis School for Girls by three college women. Anna Boyd Ellington, Eva Webb Dodd, and Mary Comfort Leonard were stranded for the Christmas break when they decided to form "Delta Gamma" as means of improving the education, societal ways, and overall integrity of women.

Delta Gamma was organized as a Fraternity, as were all similar organizations at the time of our founding. Although many of the women's groups adopted the term "sorority," Delta Gamma has retained "Fraternity" in its official name. It is interesting to note that most of the older women's groups call themselves Fraternities, from the Greek word, "phratres" or "phratria" meaning groups of people with similar interests and background. Thus, in using the Greek form rather than the Latin term, "frater" (brother), the emphasis is on similarity of ideals rather than similarity of sex.

During its early years, Delta Gamma was mostly contained within the South. Soon, with the help of a Phi Delta Theta, George Banta, it began to expand to the North and East.

As one of the oldest and strongest women's Fraternities, Delta Gamma was one of the seven charter members of the National Panhellenic Conference in 1891.

Our fraternity magazine, the ANCHORA, has been published since 1884. All initiated Delta Gammas receive a lifetime subscription, which is distributed quarterly. Delta Gamma was the second Fraternity to print a magazine for its members.

Founders Day has been celebrated since 1887 by collegiate and alumnae chapters. It is usually held in March.

Today, Delta Gamma has around 140 collegiate chapters with over 150,000 members.

Adapted from Anchors Online   Back