P.E.O. Sisterhood

The Sisterhood was founded on January 21, 1869,[1] as a seven-member sorority at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. It was the second sorority to be founded in the U.S., after I. C. Sorosis (now known as Pi Beta Phi) in Monmouth, Illinois in April 1867.[2] 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).[1] The sisterhood was founded after only some of the seven girls were invited to join a chapter of I. C. Sorosis organized in Mount Pleasant a month earlier, and they would not join without the others.[1][3]

The organization was originally rooted in the philosophy and institutions of the Methodist Church, which actively promoted women's rights and education in America during the 19th century.[4]

Further chapters were founded, and in 1883 local chapters of the P.E.O. founded a "Supreme Chapter" to coordinate the Sisterhood on a national level.[5] The first International chapter (i.e. outside the United States) was established in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1911.[6]

Although P.E.O. began as a collegiate sorority at Iowa Wesleyan, tensions developed between that original chapter and the wider body. In 1902 the Iowa Wesleyan chapter left P.E.O., to be reconstituted as the second chapter of Alpha Xi Delta (founded in 1893 at Lombard College, Illinois).[7] Since then, P.E.O. has been essentially a community-based organization.

For much of its history, the meaning of "P.E.O." in the organization's name was a closely guarded secret and was never made public.[8] In 1924, it was said that "These letters are 'mystic'. None save the initiated know their meaning."[9] The organization's avoidance of publicity, and the secrecy of its name, caused it to be regarded as a "secret society".[3][10][11]

In 2005, the Sisterhood unveiled a new logo and an "It's OK to Talk About P.E.O." campaign, which sought to raise the public profile of the organization while nonetheless maintaining its traditions of secrecy.[8][12] In 2008, it revised its website to indicate that "P.E.O." now publicly stands for "Philanthropic Educational Organization". However, the Sisterhood acknowledges that "P.E.O." originally had a different meaning that continues to be "reserved for members only", and so the public meaning is not the only one.[13] Sources outside of P.E.O. have suggested that the secret meaning is "Protect Each Other".[10][14][15]

The marguerite daisy, the P.E.O. flower

Membership in P.E.O. is by invitation but is not secret. Meetings for members are, however, highly guarded and a secret password must be used to prove membership. They are opened with prayers and with inspirational readings chosen by members, but P.E.O. meetings and activities do not require any particular religion or religious practice, except for a belief in God.[16] Meetings follow a structured agenda, but do not involve religious rites, and do not meet any formal definition of "ritualistic".

At her initiation, every member receives a P.E.O. emblem, a five-pointed star. Members are encouraged to wear their emblems on January 21, Founders' Day.[17] The emblem is lent to the individual for as long as she remains an active member of a chapter. On her death, it may be buried with her if she has requested this in writing: otherwise, it is to be returned to her chapter or to the P.E.O. Executive.[13]

The P.E.O. official flower is the marguerite daisy.[5]

P.E.O.'s core mission is to promote educational opportunities for women. It has six philanthropic projects, which include Cottey College, an independent, liberal arts and sciences college for women. Five programs provide assistance to women for higher education: P.E.O. Educational Loan Fund, P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship Fund, P.E.O. Program for Continuing Education, P.E.O. Scholar Awards, and P.E.O. STAR Scholarship.

As of April 2020, nearly $366 million has been awarded to over 113,000 women from the organization's six educational philanthropies. P.E.O. has awarded Educational Loan Fund (ELF) dollars totaling more than $221 million, International Peace Scholarships (IPS) are more than $42.1 million, Program for Continuing Education (PCE) grants are more than $62.4 million, P.E.O. Scholar Awards (PSA) are more than $28.2 million and P.E.O. STAR Scholarships (STAR) are more than $12.8 million. [18]

In 1966 the Sisterhood had 130,000 members. At that time membership was open to women over 18, who believed in God and had lived at their present address for a least a year. It was said to appeal to "Protestant women of some social standing and college education".[10]

Although always officially nonsectarian, P.E.O. has evolved over recent generations into a deliberately diverse, community-based organization with nearly 6,000 chapters and some 230,000 members. It has chapters in each of the 50 United States, District of Columbia and in six Canadian provinces. It now aims to serve women worldwide, and to welcome women of all races, religions and backgrounds. It emphasizes that it does "not discriminate against any woman based on age, ethnicity, religion or education. The Sisterhood is based on friendship and mutual respect. P.E.O. is not political nor is it a political action group."[16]

• Laura Chenoweth Butz[21]
• Saidie Orr Dunbar[21]
• Isabel H. Ellis[21]
• Iris Pavey Gilmore[21]
• Kate Wetzel Jameson[21]
• Jeanette Lawrence[21]
• Ona F. Meens[21]
• Sara E. Morse[21]
• Edith Allen Phelps[21]
• Rachel Irene Seibert[21]

• Clapp, Stella (1968). Out Of The Heart: A Century of P.E.O. 1869–1969. Des Moines, Iowa: P.E.O. Sisterhood.
• Moudry, Susan (October 2013). "'A society of our own': Methodists, coeducation and the founding of P.E.O.". Methodist History. 52 (1): 33–42.
• Preuss, Arthur (1924). A Dictionary of Secret and Other Societies. St. Louis: B. Herder Book Co. pp. 395–396.

• Official website
• Cottey College