Pi Delta Theta () was a national collegiate sorority operating in the United States from February 14, 1926, until it was absorbed by Delta Sigma Epsilon in September 1941. Baird's Manual is also available online here
The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage

History

Prior to its formation, the sorority had help in 1925 from

Ida Shaw Martin Sarah Ida Shaw Martin (September 7, 1867 – May 11, 1940) was an American author, publisher, educator, and sorority founder. She founded the Delta Delta Delta sorority and was the author of ''The Sorority Handbook.'' She served as national presid ...

of the Sorority Service Bureau, who had been fielding requests for information from recently formed local sororities seeking national affiliation. She invited representatives of three organizations to send their faculty advisors to a meeting in Boston, Massachusetts in the summer of 1925. Two responded affirmatively, which constitute both the founders and founding chapters of Pi Delta Theta: * Mrs. Robert E. Brown, Kappa Theta Alpha (local) of Miami University of Ohio * Miss Beulah Houlton, Zeta Sigma Alpha (local) of Kansas State Teachers College, Emporia The organization was thus formed, with the Miami chapter being named its ''Alpha chapter'', and Mrs. Brown named as the first National President. Expansion began in earnest, but early chapters were lost as the Great Depression dragged on. In 1941, with WWII looming, the four remaining chapters opted for merger. Pi Delta Theta was a member of the

Association of Education Sororities The Association of Education Sororities (AES) was the former umbrella organization for teachers' sororities in the United States founded in 1916 until its merger with the National Panhellenic Conference in 1947. One of its members described it as ...

, an NPC predecessor. The merger of Pi Delta Theta and Delta Sigma Epsilon was the only merger to occur within AES organizations. Fifteen years later, in 1956 Delta Sigma Epsilon would itself merge with

Delta Zeta Delta Zeta (, also known as DZ) is an international college Fraternities and sororities in North America, sorority founded on October 24, 1902, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Delta Zeta has 163 collegiate chapters in the United States and C ...

Symbols

* The badge consisted of the Greek letters and in gold with a set with pearls overlaying the other two letters. * Colors were white, gold with myrtle green. * The flower of Pi Delta Theta was the marguerite. * The Sorority publications were the ''Thalia'', which was published twice a year and the ''Myrsine'' which was published by the ex-collegio (alumnae) chapters four times a year.

Governance

Government was vested in three entities: The national convention, the National Council and the Board of Advisers.

Chapters

The chapters of Pi Delta Theta were as follows. Chapters active at the time of the merger are noted in bold, inactive chapters noted by ''italics'' : The main archive URL i
The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage

References

{{Association of Education Sororities Merged fraternities and sororities 1926 establishments in Ohio Delta Zeta Student organizations established in 1926 Association of Education Sororities