Maryland Alpha image

Maryland Alpha

Goucher College*

Founding date: 1/9/1897

Installing Officer:
Florence Chase (Cass), Michigan Alpha

Installation at Maryland Alpha

Maryland Alpha at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, was chartered January 9, 1897. Elizabeth K. Culver, Colorado Alpha, Pennsylvania Alphas Helen and Elizabeth Lamb and Nebraska Alpha Loe Mary Ware organized the chapter, and it was installed by Michigan Alpha Florence P. Chase (Cass). Charter members included May Lansfield Keller, Waunda Hartshorn (Petrunkevitch), Helen Benson Doll (Tottle), Jennie Beck Smith, Elsie Price Ganoe, Sylvia Evelina Ware (Ireland) and Edna Livingston Stone.

May Lansfield Keller was the chapter's first initiate. The ceremony, which took place at the home of Elizabeth Lamb, was three hours long and was filled with a lot of singing. After initiation, other women’s organizations welcomed the newly formed Pi Phi chapter to the area.

At the time, it was one of the few women’s colleges that was home to women’s fraternities. National Panhellenic Conference groups were ordered off campus when the college built a new campus in Towson, Maryland, and closed in 1950.

Grand Council Members from Maryland Alpha

Grand Presidents

  • May Lansfield Keller

Grand Council Members

  • Lillian Beck Holton
  • Mabel Scott Brown