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Poster Name:
Chain Linked Bonds

Poster Message:
The birth of an idea is difficult to trace. Today it is impossible to trace much of the initiation ritual to its beginnings or to identify its authors. Certain it is that the pledge in its general significance, the receiving of a Greek name, the bittersweet, and the significance of the badge were part of the service since the founding of the Fraternity in 1870. The Welcome Song was written by Elizabeth Hughes, Beta, before 1876, and apparently at once included in the initiation service. As Convention after Convention decided such momentous things as grip (1879) and whistle and flower (1889), their significance was added to the ritual. In 1881, a uniform ritual was adopted by Convention, apparently compiled from services developed independently by different chapters. The 1889 Convention ordered a copy of a uniform ritual sent to each chapter. This convention also adopted knocks and pass words. The 1895 Convention declared that no further effort would be made to establish a uniform ritual. However, at the next Convention (1897) the Grand Council demonstrated a ritual it had compiled, which was adopted with this proviso Chapters may add chapter forms. The 1899 Convention granted chapters permission to omit the reading of the Constitution in the initiation ritual. The chapter chain idea was developed first by Beta, who wrote the original service, which included a special rose chant, as the neophyte walked under an arch of greenery to the initiation table. Alumnae of Beta going to live near other colleges gave this custom to other chapters. In 1899 chapter chains were made a Fraternity custom, with links for new members added at initiation, though apparently each chapter was left to make its own plans as to how and where this addition to the ritual should be made. The priestess speech (the White Scene as it was long called) was written by Anna Botsford Comstock, Iota, in 1889.