Journal Article

Sorority Rhetorics as Everyday Epideictic

Hogg, Charlotte

2018

Overview

A few years ago, I was conducting archival research at the headquarters of Alpha Delta Pi, a national historically white sorority that is part of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC). The archivist and I were chatting when I recalled aloud there being some controversy as to which was the first national sorority. The distinctions are fine: Alpha Delta Pi, founded in 1851 as The Adelphean Society, was the first secret society for women; Pi Beta Phi, founded as I. C. Sorosis in 1867, was the first secret society for women modeled after Greek fraternities; Kappa Alpha Theta was the first begun with Greek letters in 1870; and Gamma Phi Beta was the first to use the term \"sorority\" in 1882 (women's fraternity was used before then). Such discordance among origin stories is more than a game show trivia question, however. Indeed, I argue that it is just one example of the impact of ubiquitous rhetorical practices used to promote and sustain belonging within sororities.

• Publisher: National Council of Teachers of English
• Subject: Antebellum period / Archivists / Discourse Communities / Education / Essays / Ethnic Groups / Females / Fraternities & sororities / Ideology / Multiculturalism & pluralism / Positive Reinforcement / Rhetoric / Secret societies / Traditions / Women