A FOUNDERS DAY PROGRAM FOR P.E.O.

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A FOUNDERS DAY PROGRAM FOR P.E.O.
In the Southeastern corner of Iowa there is a small town called
Mount Pleasant.
During the year 1842 Howe’s Academy was
established there. This academy survived through many trials and
tribulations to became, in 1855, Iowa Wesleyan University. It was the
first co-educational institution west of the Mississippi to grant degrees.
Fourteen years later Mount Pleasant was being called “The
Athens of Iowa.” This community felt they were educationally and
culturally ahead of any other community in Iowa and, indeed, they
were.
The fraternity system began in 1825. There were some secret
societies for women, but for many reasons, they failed to survive.
I.C.Sorosis, later to become Pi Beta Phi, was organized in Monmouth,
Illinois, just 58 miles from Mount Pleasant.
In 1868 two young sisters enrolled at Iowa Wesleyan with the
express purpose of expanding I.C.Sorosis. Our seven founders were
enrolled in Iowa Wesleyan at this time, and had already formed a close
relationship.
Not all of the seven girls were invited to join I.C.Sorosis. The
ones who were asked did not accept the invitation.
They were
determined nothing would interfere with their closeness. And if only
some of them joined I.C.Sorosis that would surely have come between
them.
In 1869 Hattie Briggs and Franc Roads decided they should
initiate a society of their own. Hattie and Franc talked with Mary Allen
about this idea and Mary agreed. The three founders then talked with
four other girls, Alice Bird, Suela Pearson, Alice Coffin, and Ella
Stewart. They all thought having an organization of their own was an
exciting idea.
Alice Bird wrote the oath which became a 35-word pledge of
secrecy. The initiation ceremony consisted of each girl repeating the
pledge. So with that simple ceremony P.E.O. was born.
There was then the problem of how to announce the forming of
the P.E.O. Sisterhood to the college community. They decided the
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easiest and most effective way was to march into chapel as a group.
Can you imagine the excitement, pride and, perhaps, some trepidation
among our founders as they walked into chapel?
To distinguish themselves they wore white percale aprons, ruffled all
around with the left shoulder cut high for the P.E.O. pin. The pin was
to be a gold and black enameled star. Visualize, if you will, the stares,
whispers, and raised eyebrows as our seven founders marched down
the aisle.
Our seven founders had to have been courageous individualists.
Many Founders’ Day programs emphasize the attributes of each of
these seven women. So, once again, it is time for a brief glimpse into
the lives and personalities of each of our seven founders.
HATTIE BRIGGS
Hattie’s father was a Methodist minister, so it was only natural
that she would become active and involved in church affairs. She was
also a leader in campus activities. At Iowa Wesleyan, she began with
the classical course of study but changed to the scientific one. One of
her classmates described her as “the best-hearted girl who ever lived.”
After Hattie graduated, she lived with her parents and taught music
and art.
When Hattie and Henry Bousquet married, she found her true
occupation in life – that of a homemaker. The couple had two sons,
but, after they had been married only five years, Hattie died in June
1877. She was P.E.O.’s first treasurer.
ALICE COFFIN
Alice’s mother died when she was nine, and her father then took
care of his family. Because he wanted a good education for his
children he decided to move to Mount Pleasant.
Alice was quick to become angry, and just as quick to forgive.
She became a dedicated teacher – always tuned into her student’s
needs.
At one time during her college years, she became engaged to
Will Pearson, Suela’s brother. Alice broke the engagement for reasons
known only to her. Although she had many offers of marriage, she
remained single.
Alice died in July 1888. She was the first Vice President and she
designed the P.E.O. pin. She made a drawing and took it to a jeweler.
The other six girls ordered one for themselves immediately.
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ELLA STEWART
Ella was the daughter of a Methodist minister who died when she
was 16. She was the only one of the founders who didn’t graduate
from Iowa Wesleyan. Her mother started a boarding house for college
students, and, since Ella was the eldest of the six children, she left
college to help her mother. She did continue her association with Iowa
Wesleyan through music classes.
Ella loved people and devoted her life to the service of others.
For several years she taught at the Iowa Industrial School for
Wayward Boys. Ill health kept her from continuing.
Ella never married. She died in December 1894. She was the
first secretary. She was the one who administered the oath to Alice
Bird. When Ella died she bequeathed her pin to Alice Bird and Alice
wore it beside her own on special P.E.O. occasions. Her pin is the only
original one still in existence. The pin is now in the P.E.O. Centennial
Center.
FRANC ROADS
Franc entered Iowa Wesleyan at age 14, the youngest of the
group. Her real name was Frances, but wouldn’t answer to anything
but Franc. She completed the four-year curriculum in three years.
She was truly an intellectual.
After college, she taught high school for a few years, then
married a businessman, Simon Elliot, whose father was president of
Iowa Wesleyan. They had two children. When Franc’s husband’s work
failed during the panic of 1893, she went to work professionally in the
field of art and become very involved in the feminist movement.
Franc died in August 1924. She was cremated. In 1952 P.E.O.
dedicated a marker for her in the Forest Home Cemetery at Mount
Pleasant.
SUELA PEARSON
Suela’s father was a physician. The family moved to Mount
Pleasant when she was still in grade school and Suela was 15 when
she entered Iowa Wesleyan. While there she took the classical course
of study. She was an excellent musician and her six sisters declared
she was the most popular and beautiful of their group.
After graduation the Pearson family moved to Washington, D.C.
where there was, of course, no P.E.O. chapter. While in Washington,
Suela met Frank Penfield who was from Cleveland, Ohio, and was
associated with Standard Oil Company.
They had a son and a
daughter and as opposed to what we now call the “jet set” they moved
in “high society.” She never saw the other six founders again.
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In 1890 a former classmate asked her to send something for the
cadet corps at Iowa Wesleyan. She sent a gold jewel and diamond
badge that had been designed with P.E.O. at the top. This was worn
by the Sergeant of the cadet corps as long as this group existed. It
would be interesting to know shy or how she acquired this badge.
Suela died in Cleveland in September 1920.
ALICE BIRD
Allie, as she was called, was the daughter of a physician. She
enrolled in Iowa Wesleyan at age 15. After graduation she taught at
the high school in Mount Pleasant for four years and was then invited
to teach Greek, Latin, and elocution at Iowa Wesleyan.
She married a Civil War veteran who was an attorney and who
later taught at Iowa Wesleyan.
The couple became the parents of
four children. As busy as Allie was with her family, she always kept up
with P.E.O. activities.
MARY ALLEN
Mary’s father was a businessman and her mother a homemaker.
Two years after completing her education she married Charles Stafford
who was an ordained Methodist minister. He was also President of
Iowa Wesleyan for nine years. Mary shared in his ministry for the 56
years they were together. They moved to eight different places in
Iowa and Mary was very active in P.E.O. whenever there was a chapter
available.
Her main characteristic seemed to be her sense of humor. With
four children, college faculty and students, church people, and her well
loved sisters, she relied on her sense of humor frequently.
Mary died in July 1927 at her home in Muscatine, Iowa, but she
was buried in Mount Pleasant.
This program was made up of information from many P.E.O. Records
and other Founder’s Day Programs. It is both inspiring and a little
overwhelming to realize that from our seven founders we have grown
into a sisterhood of today’s proportions. To what can we attribute our
growth over the years? The answer is we have a membership of
caring, loving, liberated, and outgoing women who are strong in their
religious beliefs. Not so different from our founders!

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