Eugenia Tucker Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald was born in Laurens County, Georgia, January 29, 1834. She had three sisters and one brother.[1] Fitzgerald's father was a prominent physician and owner of two plantations with several slaves. He provided governesses for childhood schooling for her and her siblings since there were no adequate public schools available in their rural area and he could afford it. The female tutors were from the Northern states. One had a radical outlook and caused problems among the household servants and was therefore dismissed from her duties. The Tucker family lived in a large house that had a library.[1] Fitzgerald and her brother were then sent to a small town near Milledgeville, Georgia, for further education. They entered an academy and later a college there. Her brother went on to Princeton University in New Jersey. Fitzgerald went on to Wesleyan Female College in Macon. She graduated as valedictorian of her senior class in 1852.[1]

Fitzgerald was first married to Judge Arthur E. Cochran in Glynn County, Georgia, on July 3, 1853, when she was 19 years old. They lived in Macon. The judge was a widower and had a son whom she helped rear until he was able to be on his own. Judge Cochran died in 1854. In 1862 she married Dr. Edmund Fitzgerald who was a widower with a daughter, Caroline ("Carrie"). After Dr. Fitzgerald died in 1887, Fitzgerald and Carrie moved from Macon to Washington, D.C. Carrie then married Captain A. F. Lucas, a successful civil engineer in the oil industry. Fitzgerald lived there with her stepdaughter and new husband for many years and eventually moved to Fort Worth, Texas.[1]

Fitzgerald became one of the founders of the first woman's secret society established in a girls' college on May 15, 1851.[2][3][4][5] The sorority, founded at Wesleyan Female College in Macon, had six charter members.[6][7][8] The seven founders were: Eugenia Tucker (Fitzgerald), Octavia Andrew (Rush), Maria J. Easterling, Mary Evans (Glass), Oceana L. Goodall, Ella Pierce (Turner), and Elizabeth Williams.[9] It was originally called the Adelphean Society[10] and in 1903 changed its name to Alpha Delta Pi sorority.[11][12][13] Fitzgerald was its first president and held their meetings in the college's Adelphean Room. It was founded for mutual improvement and enjoyment of a group of young women pioneers in college sororities.[14][15] Its purpose was a desire "to better one another morally, mentally, and socially."[16] Their motto is We live for each other.[10]

The oldest secret society for college women in the country celebrated its 100th birthday at the University of Tennessee on May 15, 1951.[14] There was a five day centennial convention at the Wesleyan Female College in Macon starting June 25, 1951, at which time a portrait of the founder was dedicated.[17] By 1952 the society had grown from six charter members to over 34,000.[14] The society has extended its initial purpose to the field of community service and scholarship aid to foreign students. It has enabled top performing students of foreign countries to continue their studies in colleges and universities of the United States. Membership was at 55,000 in 1963 within 106 collegiate chapters and 310 alumnae groups.[6]

Fitzgerald spent her last 18 years with her niece in Fort Worth. She died there on December 10, 1928, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery.[1] Her body was disinterred in 1933 and brought to Macon's Rose Hill Cemetery where she was buried next to Dr. Fitzgerald.[18]

• Alpha Delta Pi (September 1951). The Adelphean. Eugenia Tucker Fitzgerald . . . she whose name was destined to be recorded in the heart of every Alpha Delta Pi, called together a small group of her classmates and proposed the formation of a secret society for mutual betterment and social enjoyment.
• Baird, William Raimond (1977). American College Fraternities. G. Banta Company. There, on May 15, 1851, a group of young women acting as charter members organized this secret group under the name Adelphean Society, and ... The founders' group, organized by Eugenia Tucker (Fitzgerald) included sixteen young women.
• Kane, Joseph Nathan (1997). Famous first facts. H.W. Wilson. ISBN 978-0-8242-0930-8. The first college secret society for women was the Adelphean Society, organized on May 15, 1851, at Wesleyan College, Macon, GA, with 6 charter members whose motto was “We live for one another.” The founder was Eugenia Tucker Fitzgerald. The name was changed to Alpha Delta Phi Sorority in 1903, at which time the society had 60 active members and 3,000 alumnae. In 1913 it changed its name to Alpha Delta Pi Sorority.
• MacDonald, Jessica North (1929). History of Alpha Delta Pi. Powers Press. When the Adelphean Society was organized in 1851 the members had a new interest and an absorbing one. It was a small beginning but we felt it was a joy and a blessing to us in every way. The happy thought of founding the society for mutual improvement was that of Mrs. Eugenia Tucker Fitzgerald, who was a model in every respect, and whom we were proud to have as valedictorian of our class.
• Read, Phyllis J. (1992). Book of Women's Firsts. Random House Information Group. ISBN 978-0-679-40975-5.