Editing Pi Beta Phi (section)

==History==
Pi Beta Phi was founded as a secret organization under the name of '''I. C. Sorosis''' on {{dts|1867|04|28}} at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois. Pi Beta Phi is regarded as the first national women's fraternity, although [[Kappa Alpha Theta]] was the first Greek-letter fraternity known among women in 1870.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pibetaphi.org/pibetaphi/PBP/Chapters/chapter.aspx?id=14089 |title=Welcome to Pi Beta Phi |publisher=Pibetaphi.org |date=1996-10-19 |access-date=2014-08-20}}</ref> The founders were:
{{columns-list|colwidth=15em|
* Clara Brownlee Hutchinson
* Libbie Brook Gaddis
* Emma Brownlee Kilgore
* Margaret Campbell
* Rosa Moore
* Ada Bruen Grier
* Nancy Black Wallace
* Jennie Horne Turnbull
* [[Rachel Nicol (physician)|Rachel Jane "Jennie" Nicol]]
* Inez Smith Soule
* Fannie Thomson
* Fannie Whitenack Libbey<ref>{{Cite web|title = Pi Beta Phi Fraternity For Women|url = https://www.pibetaphi.org/pibetaphi/About_Us/History/History_of_Pi_Beta_Phi/|website = www.pibetaphi.org|access-date = 2017-07-14}}</ref>}} The organization was formed "to enjoy the benefits of a secret society similar to those formed by collegiate men."<ref name="Website History" /> They planned their society at a home where two of the women rented a room, choosing I. C. Sorosis as the name and "Pi Beta Phi" as the motto.<ref name="Baird's Manual Online">{{Cite web |editor-last=Baird |editor-first=William Raimond |editor2-last=Lurding |editor2-first=Carroll |title=Almanac of Fraternities and Sororities – Student Life and Culture Archives – U of I Library |url=https://www.library.illinois.edu/slc/welcome/fraternity-sorority-almanac/ |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=www.library.illinois.edu}}</ref>

Shortly after the founding, the sisters had a jeweler design their official badge: a golden arrow with the letters "I. C." on the wings. When the name was changed to "Pi Beta Phi," the Greek letters replaced "I. C." on the wings. At the Yellowstone Convention of 1934, they voted to limit the links in the badge's chain; there are 12, one for each of the founders.<ref name="Website History">{{Cite web|title = Pi Beta Phi Fraternity For Women|url = https://www.pibetaphi.org/pibetaphi/About_Us/History/History_of_Pi_Beta_Phi/|website = www.pibetaphi.org|access-date = 2015-09-26}}</ref>

The first fraternity convention was held in 1868 at the home of Fannie Thomson in Oquawka, Illinois. The fraternity's second chapter was established that same year at [[Iowa Wesleyan University]] in [[Mount Pleasant, Iowa|Mount Pleasant]], Iowa. The expansion made Pi Beta Phi the first national (multi-chapter) women's secret society.<ref name="Baird's Manual Online" />

=== Name change and NPC membership ===
At the 1882 convention, the society officially adopted its motto as well as the fraternity colors of wine and silver blue. It began to use Greek letters as its name six years later, in 1888, when the name was changed from I. C. Sorosis to Pi Beta Phi. In 1893, with the number of alumnae members growing, the fraternity organized a national alumnae department. Cooperation among women's fraternities and sororities was formalized in 1902 with the founding of the National Panhellenic Conference, of which Pi Beta Phi was a founding member.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Panhellenic Conference {{!}} Pi Beta Phi History |url=https://history.pibetaphi.org/exhibits/national-panhellenic-conference |access-date=2023-03-29 |website=history.pibetaphi.org}}</ref> Meanwhile, chapter expansion continued, and in 1908 the fraternity's first Canadian chapter was established at the [[University of Toronto]].<ref name="Baird's Manual Online" />

The fraternity's first philanthropy, [[Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts|Pi Beta Phi Settlement School]], was organized in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in 1912. In 1913, the fraternity created local Alumnae Advisory Committees to support its chapters individually. Central Office, the fraternity headquarters, was established in 1925.

In the 1960s, [[G. William Domhoff]], writing in ''[[Who Rules America?]]'', listed Pi Beta Phi as one of "the four or five sororities with nationwide prestige."<ref>{{cite book|title=[[Who Rules America?]]|last=Domhoff|first=G. William|publisher=McGraw Hill College|year=2015|edition=Seventh|page=57|oclc=912380768|author-link=G. William Domhoff}}</ref>