Women's History Month 2019: Sorority Directories

It makes sense that any community is going to publish a directory so that their members can contact each other. If your female ancestor was a member of a sorority, make sure to study that group for possible directories and records found online or in archival collections.

Here's one example, a card catalog entry for Drexel University's Alpha Epsilon Iota Directory, 1922. This work is available online.

Drexel University

These directories seem to be more difficult to find so try researching archival collections via catalogs like ArchiveGrid. 

Make sure to search on the name of the sorority in digitized book websites. While I didn't find many directories I did find other publications that were rich in names and photos. Case in point, the 1928 Anchora of Delta Gama. This publication included lists of women who attended their conference and a section on those who had recently passed. Directories are great, but don't ignore other publications including newsletters that might also be available.

From Google Books

From Google Books

Lastly, there can also be community cookbooks like this one from Beta Sigma Phi that I posted on my blog Food.Family.Ephemera.