|
On January 4, 1852, three best friends, Mary
DuPont Lines, Mary Myrick
Daniel and
Martha
Hardaway
Redding, founded the
Philomathean Society at
Wesleyan
College in
Macon,
Georgia. Current
sisters
celebrate Founders'
Day in
commemoration
of March
4, 1852, the day
the
founding was publicly
announced.
Wesleyan
College
was the first
college
in the world to
grant
bachelor's
degrees to
women and the
birthplace
of the college
woman's
sorority,
or
fraternity, as they were
known
in those days.As the
years
continued,
the
reputation and prestige of
the Philomathean Society
continued
to grow.
The
organization played a
vital
part in the social,
civic, and
academic
growth of
its members and
those
around them. Prominent
figures
such as
Robert E.
Lee, T.J.
"Stonewall"
Jackson,
and
Jefferson
Davis were
among
several chosen to
receive
honorary membership
to Phi Mu.
In
1904, the
Philomathean
Society
became the
strong
organization
that we
know
today: Phi Mu
Fraternity.
Phi
Mu is
honored to
have the
name Fraternity because
it
is an organization for
women that
was
founded by
women. Phi Mu now has
over
140,000 members, with
121
collegiate
chapters
and over 312 alumnae
organizations. Our
sisterhood
remains
the second
oldest sorority in the
world.
On
February
15, 1962,
the Orange
County Alumnae Chapter was
founded. Since our
founding,
the Orange
County
Chapter has thrived
in
Southern California, and
has always
had a
diverse
membership, and
currently
includes women of
all ages,
and we
hail from
Phi Mu collegiate
chapters
all over the
country.
At the 2008 National Convention, the Orange County Alumnae
Chapter
was
honored
for its achievements in the past biennium.
We
received
awards for
our newsletters, sisterhood, ritual,
philanthropy,
and a
special
award for our work towards extension
opportunities
in
Southern
California. We were also incredibly
honored to
be
recognized
as the Outstanding Alumnae Chapter!
We invite all Phi Mus to join our Orange County sisterhood!
|
