The 1888 Convention Photo: A Snapshot of Pi Phi History
In 1888, delegates gathered in Ottumwa, Iowa for a defining moment in our Fraternity’s history. Captured in the first-ever convention group photo, these women voted to officially change our name from I.C. Sorosis to Pi Beta Phi. The name had long been part of our identity—Founder Nancy Black Wallace selected the Greek letters Pi Beta Phi as our motto early on, and many chapters had already embraced them. This vote simply made it official!
The women in this photo were leaders, visionaries and change-makers. They were accomplished physicians, educators and founders. Among them:
First row: Iowa Zeta Dr. Bessie Peery, a physician and children’s home director; Michigan Alpha Minta Dasher Morgan, a Michigan Alpha charter member and teacher; Indiana Alpha and D.C. Alpha Emma Harper Turner; an Indiana Alpha charter member, an employee at the U.S. Post Office Headquarters in D.C., future Grand President and future president of Pi Phi’s first Alumnae Association; and Colorado Beta Ida Winne Ballantine, a philanthropist.
Second row: Iowa Zeta Myra Troth, magazine saleswoman and former associate editor of The Arrow; Iowa Alpha Frances Elizabeth “Lizzie” Flagler, a bookkeeper, secretary and Grand Treasurer; Iowa Epsilon Elva Plank, an Iowa Epsilon charter member and former Grand Secretary; Illinois Beta Rainie Adamson Small, a teacher, principal and superintendent, Grand President, future Grand Historian and recipient of the first jeweled Pi Beta Phi badge; Iowa Alpha Belle ReQua Leech, Grand Scribe and insurance professional; Iowa Zeta Hattie Cochrane Robinson Dayton, former business manager and associate editor of The Arrow.
Third row: Iowa Gamma Florence Weatherby Hainer; Kansas Alpha Emma White Mills, clerk; Colorado Alpha Georgina “Georgia” Rowland, Grand Treasurer and teacher; Iowa Iota Minnie Howe Newby Ricketts, a teacher and future Panhellenic delegate, Grand Vice President and Grand Secretary; Iowa Alpha Mary Snyder, Iowa Wesleyan University graduate; Indiana Alpha Levona “Ona” Payne Newsom, Ph.D., a teacher and college instructor; Iowa Alpha Flora Bowman McCloud, a library founder.
Fourth row: Iowa Beta Louise “Lou” Humphrey Van Scoy, a Simpson College graduate; Iowa Eta Mary Campbell “MC” Ball, a delegate to 1885 Lawrence, Kansas Convention; Iowa Alpha Laura “Lollie” Crane Woolson, a member of Pi Phi Literary Bureau; Illinois Delta Dr. Mary Griswold Loughlin Brubaker, a physician; Iowa Theta Cornelia Caroline “Carrie” Schantz Flager, a teacher and patron of the Pi Beta Phi Settlement School who helped establish the Smoky Mountains National Park; Illinois Beta Lizzie Wigle Anderson, a teacher and housekeeper.
Learn more about the conventions and milestones that shaped our sisterhood in the convention exhibit of the historical website.
Published June 3, 2025