Delta Kappa Gamma installs new officers

The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International promotes professional and personal growth of women educators and excellence in education. It was founded May 11, 1929, at the Faculty Women’s Club at the University of Texas, Austin. Dr. Annie Webb Blanton, member of the faculty of the University of Texas and a former State Superintendent of Public Instruction, conceived the idea of an honorary organization for women educators and selected eleven other Texas women to help her found The Delta Kappa Gamma Society. The other founders included Mamie Sue Bastian, Ruby Cole, Mabel Grizzard, Dr. Anna Hiss, Ray King, Sue King, Dr. Helen Koch, Ruby Terrill Lomax, Dr. Cora Martin, Lalla M. Odom, and Lela Lee Williams.

The founders believed that there was need of an organization in which women educators of all types – rural and urban teachers; librarians; school administrators; supervisors – might be united for efforts toward better professional preparation, fairer recognition of women’s work in the teaching profession, and more scholarships for those who need aid in improving their professional preparation. Edna McGuire Boyd, a member of the Epsilon DKG Chapter in Indiana and President of the International Delta Kappa Gamma Society, once said, “Let us live the legacy that these visionary women began by continuing to clarify the visions of the Society, having enduring faith in the work of the Society, and finding the courage to review, question, and refine precedents. Thus, we will expand Delta Kappa Gamma’s positive impact across the globe.” Since the founding of Delta Kappa Gamma in 1929, over 214 chapters have been organized in Texas, in all of the 50 states plus Washington, D.C., and in at least 17 countries (including the U.S., Canada, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Great Britain, Germany, The Netherlands, Mexico, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Estonia, and Japan).

Gatesville’s Gamma Alpha Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma was founded in 1937, with Miss Mamie Sue Halbrook as its first President. In addition to Miss Halbrook, other charter members were Miss Audrey Corneilson, Mrs. Delphia Farquhar Wilkins, Miss Merle Glass, Miss Bessie Mitchell, Mrs. Anna Baines Reesing, Miss Lizzie Dendy, Miss Linnie Fore, Miss Louise Hall, Miss Lossie Humes, Miss Edna Murray, and Miss Emma Erin Scott. On May 3, 1981, the Gatesville Chapter became a sponsor of the Lambda Omicron Chapter in Copperas Cove. These ladies had been attending meetings with Gatesville’s Gamma Alpha Chapter for a number of years and felt they had enough members to start their own chapter in Copperas Cove.