P.E.O. Sisterhood

The P.E.O. Sisterhood is an international women's organization of about 250,000 members with a primary focus on providing educational opportunities for female students worldwide. The Sisterhood is organized with chapters throughout the United States and Canada, headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. Elizabeth E. Garrels is the president.

History

The Sisterhood was founded January 21, 1869, as a seven-member sorority at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. It is the second sorority to be founded in the U.S.^[1] The founding members were Mary Allen [Stafford] (1848–1927), Ella Stewart (1848–94), Alice Bird [Babb] (1850–1926), Hattie Briggs [Bousquet] (1849–77), Franc Roads [Elliott] (1852–1924), Alice Virginia Coffin (1848–88), and Suela Pearson [Penfield] (1851–1920).

The first non-U.S. chapter was established in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1911.^{[citation needed]}

Main projects

• Cottey College (est. 1884) is a women's college with a current capacity of 350 students in Nevada, Missouri which offers two year associates degrees and selected four year baccalaureate degrees.

• The Educational Loan Fund (est. 1907) makes loans available to qualified American and Canadian women with financial need.

• The International Peace Scholarship Fund (est. 1949) provides scholarships for international women to pursue graduate study in the U.S. and Canada.

• The Program for Continuing Education (est. 1973) provides need-based grants to women in the U.S. and Canada whose education has been interrupted and need to return to school to support themselves and/or their families through continuing education programs.

• Scholar Awards (est. 1991) are merit-based awards to U.S. and Canadian women who are pursuing a doctoral degree, or pursuing post-graduate research at an accredited institution.

The Sisterhood also established in the 1960s a number of retirement homes for its members in various U.S. states, some of which still operate.^[2]

Name

The literal meaning of "P.E.O." in the organization's name has been, and may continue to be, an official secret.^{[1][3][Need quotation to verify][4][5]}In 2008, the Sisterhood revised its website to indicate that "P.E.O." stands for "philanthropic educational organization". P.E.O. was originally formed as a college sorority, but moved off of college campuses early in its history. P.E.O. is not a secret society. It has some information shared only among its members, but its mission and its educational projects are very public. For information about these, view the P.E.O. website public section: www.peointernational.org.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Wolf-Wendel, Lisa; Sheila Pedigo (1999). "Two-Year Women's Colleges". In Barbara K. Townsend. Two-Year Colleges for Women and Minorities. Routledge. pp. 57. ISBN 0815331738. 
2. ^ Colorado P.E.O. Chapter House, Inc. - Other P.E.O. Homes
3. ^ Talking P.E.O.: How does an organization introduce a new identity to the public? By first reassuring itself that “It’s OK” to change. (article by Sheree Clark in Feb./Mar. 2006 issue of Dynamic Graphics magazine)
4. ^ Keister, Douglas (2004). Stories in Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith Publishers. p. 220. ISBN 1-58685-321-X. "PEO [=] P.E.O. Sisterhood )" 
5. ^ Schmidt, Alvin J.; Nicholas Babchuk (1980). Fraternal Organizations. Greenwood Press. p. 258. ISBN 0-313-21436-0. "P.E.O. SISTERHOOD (PEO). Of all the fraternal secret societies." 

External links

• P.E.O. International
• P.E.O. Projects
• {http://www.cotteycollege.edu}