PRESERVE YOUR HISTORY. Prepared by the Chapters and Charters Committee 1994, Updated 2017 KAPPA KAPPA KAPPA, INC.

Transcription

1 PRESERVE YOUR HISTORY Prepared by the Chapters and Charters Committee 1994, Updated 2017 KAPPA KAPPA KAPPA, INC.

2 Preserve Your History The history of your chapter is very important. It needs to be passed on to each new group of initiates and continually shared with all current members. Tri Kappa members should feel proud to be a part of an organization which gives over $1.5 million every year to important projects which help babies, children, teens, and adults throughout the state. All chapters should appoint a Historian. If your chapter hasn't appointed one, but has a scrapbook chair or publicity chair, consider re-naming one of those positions as Historian. Historical Facts If you clean out your files, or have items that are connected to the history of Tri Kappa, contact the State Historian, historian@trikappa.org to check the possibly of donating the items. Some ideas to stress your history are listed below: Take scrapbooks to meetings. Each month review a certain period of time (two years or a decade) or a specific project. Take the last two current scrapbooks to pledge training and initiation so the new members can see the history of the chapter and become familiar with the projects and members. Look up an old project in the minutes, scrapbooks, and/or committee notebooks. Present it in a short skit at a meeting. Or review when and where the project started, what the requirements were, how much money was made, the changes through the years, etc. Read a list of celebrities who have been members of the chapter --- or related to chapter members. Names can be obtained from the chapter's Historical File. It can be a community recognition, State officers, etc. Present "Our Chapter 10 (25, 50, 75) Years Ago" at each meeting. Read from the minutes, give the budget, list the projects, and spotlight members who were active then and still are active. Bring the Historical File to a meeting to share with members. Have members help update or add to the categories of Special Events, State Awards, Celebrity File or State Officers & Committee Members. Central Office has a list of who has served as a State officer or committee member from your chapter. Celebrate Founders Day honoring charter members and other members who have been Active/Associate members for a long period of time. There is a "Founders Day" ceremony listed in another Keys to a Successful Chapter" handout, "Special Awards & Ceremonies." Present a program on the history of State Tri Kappa. A written history of Tri Kappa and individual committees can be obtained from the State Historian or Central Office. 50 th Anniversary Celebrate the anniversary of the chapter every year. We all like parties and we need to instill the proud history of Tri Kappa in all our members. Honor charter members and those who were initiated 10, 25, 50 years ago. Invite the Associate Chapter(s) and Inactive members. Include a "Review of Our History" article each month in the chapter newsletter. PYH - pg. 1

3 Write an article for a newspaper concerning Tri Kappa's history and impact in the community for an anniversary celebration or during Tri Kappa week. Include the major projects, donations, and contributions the chapter makes to the community. Obtain oral histories from members. Contact charter members, Associate members, and Inactive members who were initiated in the early years. Be sure to record celebrations by using all the digital equipment available today, video, camera, smart phone or tablet. Present the history of Tri Kappa to the local historical society or other organizations. Tri Kappa has had joint ventures with other groups and has made an impact in the community that needs to be shared. Create a timeline by reviewing the minutes of meetings and writing a sentence or two about what happened at each meeting. Include the humorous anecdotes, too! Write a brief history of your chapter and its accomplishments and keep it updated. Include the chapter's donations and the impact on some of its civic projects. Stress that Tri Kappa statewide gives over $1.5 million every year. It can be used for press releases, pledge training, and anniversary celebrations. It can also be used in brochures or programs for your money-making projects. "Tri Kappa Trivia"--Share events, projects, minutes from the past. If you are reading the minutes or a committee report, present it as the RecSec or chair of that time. Dress in the time period you are celebrating. Have everyone dress in period clothes, perhaps the year when the chapter was installed or when they were initiated as members. Invite charter members, Inactives, or Associate members to give a brief talk about when they were Active. Have them tell what they had to do when pledged or initiated, what are their best memories of Tri Kappa, what projects did they do then, how much were dues and fines and so on. Have each chapter member renew the oath she took when she was initiated. Invite past Presidents to tell about the highlights of their terms. PYH - pg. 2

4 Historical Card File A historical card file should be kept by each Active Chapter to record its history. Most of the information can be obtained from meeting minutes, program books, and scrapbooks. If it is updated each year by the Historian, it will provide a wealth of information for anniversaries and other special occasions. The card file can be maintained easily on 3" x 5" index cards. If your chapter has a computer or access to one, you may want to keep your chapter history by this means. It will be very easy to update your computer records each year. Reminder: Always make a backup disk or flash drive each time you update the records. It would be a good idea to keep an additional backup disk at an alternate location such as a bank lockbox or even the chapter strongbox. Continue preserving your chapter's history by keeping scrapbooks and updating the chapter historical file. Some things may not seem important right now, but members will appreciate the effort and time you spend on keeping the history of the chapter when you have chapter celebrations. There are ten categories: 1. Detail of Installation of chapter Date, place, names of charter members, all other pertinent information. 2. Officers A card, filed chronologically, for each year listing all officers who served. 3. Charity and Philanthropy Funds The amounts can be obtained from budgets and the minutes or committee notebooks. Year Amount Spent Accumulated Total 4. Education Funds Year Amount Spent Accumulated Total 5. Culture Funds Year Amount Spent Accumulated Total 6. Special Events - A short description can also be given. Event Place Date Chair and Committee 7. State Awards (Scholarship, Fine Arts, etc.) - Students recommended from your chapter. Year Amount Received Recipient's Name 8. Celebrity File Tri Kappa honors and other honors chapter members have received throughout your community. Can be for anyone who is or ever was a member of your chapter. Check with members, Active and especially Associate members. 9. State Officers and State Committee Members from your chapter Office Held/Committee Year Name of Member 10. Miscellaneous Information Anything that you consider important about your chapter that won't fit in any other category. You may want to consider doing a timeline with highlights from each meeting's minutes. Tri Kappa, (Town) (Greek Name) Chapter PYH - pg. 3

5 Sample Background Information (Town) (Greek Name) Chapter of Kappa Kappa Kappa, Inc. or Tri Kappa, as it is more commonly known, was granted a charter on (date), 19 at (place). The object of this organization is to bring women into close, unselfish relationship for the promotion of charity, culture, and education within the state of Indiana. During the first year, the members held (list the projects) for money-making projects. They also began several of the projects that are still supported today. The Tri Kappa Eye Care Program in the elementary schools pays for the eye exams and glasses for children at a cost of $. Other charity projects are Riley Hospital for Children, Mental Health, Arc of Indiana, VSA Arts, and Special Olympics. Over $ has been given to charitable causes over the years. A $ scholarship is given to a high school senior every year. Other educational programs which have been supported are gifted and talented programs. A total of $ has been given to educational endeavors. Tri Kappa has sponsored Children's Concerts in the elementary schools for years. A Junior Miss is sponsored and a luncheon is hosted for all the Junior Miss candidates. A fine arts award is given to high school students, and memberships are held in Hoosier Salon, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Friends of the Library, and the local art league. Over $ has been spent on promoting cultural activities since 19. Tri Kappa has three chapters in (town): the Actives with members; the Alpha Associates with members, and the Beta Associates with members. Tri Kappa's history is a part of (town's) history. Donations to the community come from the support by the community of the money-making projects such as (list projects). Tri Kappa is proud of its accomplishments of the past years and of its continued commitment in providing help in the areas of charity, culture, and education in (town). There are 254 Active and Associate Chapters throughout the state with nearly 8,500 members. Tri Kappa is a unique organization because its chapters are located only within the state of Indiana. Approximately $1.5 million is given every year to projects, programs, and other organizations in the areas of charity, culture, and education. Along with the monetary donations, Tri Kappa members spent 300,000 hours annually volunteering toward philanthropic endeavors. PYH - pg. 4

6 SCRAPBOOKS Scrapbook Guideline and Hints Appoint one person to keep your chapter's scrapbook. This could be the Historian, scrapbook or publicity chair. Consider taking scrapbooks to the first meeting of the year, anniversary or founding celebration, Pledging, Initiation or other special occasions. Guideline for Scrapbooks: Traditional or Digital Identify chapter and city, preferably on the first page Be sure to include the years it covers, no more than two Be creative with the cover, but not elaborate Use clear photos and attach securely Identify people (by full name) and places Date all photos Attempt to include all chapter members Take a chapter photo occasionally Use news clippings or written descriptions of activities Include: Programs Chapter and State newsletters Project programs, tickets, nametags, etc. Tri Kappa Scrapbook Cross Keys letters, features, Little Kindnesses, Initiations, Bonanzas, Affiliations, Marriages, etc. Thank you notes Awards received locally and from State committees Pictures from projects, meetings, speakers, new members, officers, special projects or activities, etc. News clippings keep better if put under acetate Colored paper, clip art, stickers, etc. can brighten a page An attractive and informative scrapbook is a fun way to preserve your chapter's history. Try to keep all your scrapbooks together. If storage is a problem, contact your local library or historical society. They may allow you to store your scrapbooks in their facilities. Basements, storage sheds, and attics are not good alternatives because of temperature and moisture fluctuations. Albums made with acid-free materials are your best choice. Conservation Resources ( ) has acid-free materials and supplies. Other suppliers can be found on the internet. There are a variety of acid-free products, stickers, and helpful books also available at discount stores such as Wal- Mart and at craft stores such as Hobby Lobby. If you need further information or assistance, contact your local library or historical society. Digital Scrapbooks can be created with your computer s publishing program, or if you do not have a member familiar with using a publishing program you can easily take the photos on your computer and insert them into any number of online photo book companies such as Shutterfly, Snapfish, or Kodak to name a few. When a digital scrapbook is created online additional copies can be ordered for members. You could even add a few dollars to the cost of purchasing the additional books as a fund raiser for your chapter. PYH - pg. 5

7 BRIEF TRI KAPPA HISTORY On February 22, 1901, KAPPA KAPPA KAPPA, INC. was formally organized. Seven young ladies attending May Wright Sewall's Girls' Classical School in Indianapolis thought it would be fun to form a "secret" organization to have social times together. These seven young ladies, considered the founders of Tri Kappa, were Beryl Showers, Erma Ribeyre, Mary Sanders, Bertha Matthews, Gertrude Zumpe, Lulu Baer and Frances Roberts. Officers were elected, a constitution was written avowing the purpose to be charity and kindness, and a pin was adopted. To assure that Tri Kappa would continue beyond their school days, each member was to start a chapter in her hometown. Today we are an organization of 254 Active and Associate Chapters. The Alpha Chapter in Bloomington was started by Beryl Showers and Bertha Matthews. Erma Ribeyre organized a chapter in New Harmony. Also started in 1901 was the Delta Chapter in Paoli. The old Opera House in Bloomington in 1903 was the site of the first convention. At that time the decision was made to publish our first magazine named Cross Keys. In the earliest years, Tri Kappa's efforts were devoted to charity work in the various communities where chapters were then established. In 1913, the first State project was inaugurated, a scholarship was given to a high school graduate who required financial aid for her education. In 1924, Tri Kappa made its first donation to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. Since that time over one million dollars has been given to the hospital. Today we are still supporting a variety of projects during each term. In 1927, Tri Kappa's first endorsement of a mental health program was begun. In 1953, the Christmas gift program for state mental hospitals was started. Camp Holland for the mentally handicapped youth is the site of our "Kindness Cabin." A campership program for the physically handicapped at Camp Riley was instituted in Tri Kappa first became involved with the Special Olympics program in In 1975, a teletypewriter was donated to the Service for the Deaf, a division of The Indiana Mental Health Association. In 1984, television spots on alcoholism were sponsored by Tri Kappa. In the summer of 1986, twelve scholarships were provided for a training session at DePauw University for the prevention of substance abuse. The Hoosier Salon was founded in 1926 and held in the Marshall Field store in Chicago. Tri Kappa presented a prize at the first meeting. Beryl Showers Holland was responsible for having the headquarters moved to Indianapolis in A valuable art collection of works of Indiana artists has been assembled by Tri Kappa as a result of its purchase awards at the Hoosier Salon and at other art association shows. This collection is now on permanent loan to the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute. The value of this collection is over $536,000. The Fine Arts awards were started in 1946 in order to encourage high school students talented in art or music. Annual scholarships are given in the areas of art, music, dance, and drama. In 1931, to honor its founder, Tri Kappa inaugurated the Beryl Showers Holland Fellowship. There are now two fellowships which are granted to outstanding Indiana University senior students to be used for graduate study. Through per capita funds one academic scholarship per province and six or more at-large scholarships are awarded each year to students enrolled in college. The selection process is conducted by the Scholarship Committee and the scholarships are of equal value. PYH - pg. 6

8 In 2000, a new scholarship was established called the Tri Kappa Key Scholarship. Two of these scholarships are awarded to non-traditional students each year. The Scholarship Committee conducts the selection process for this scholarship also. Students eligible for these scholarships can have no previous degree beyond high school and have an interruption in education of at least five years as well as meeting other requirements. Though the amount of money given in the State scholarship program is large, it cannot compare with the total amount given by chapters locally throughout the state. Tri Kappa members earn their money for the scholarships through various projects. At the Convention in 1959, the idea for a Memorial Fund was introduced, and it was established in Any individual or chapter may contribute money in memory of a deceased person, with the money being used as emergency gifts for students at colleges and universities in Indiana. The summer program for the Gifted and Talented students at Indiana University came to the attention of Tri Kappa early in The first summer Tri Kappa gave $16,000 to the program. A chair for Gifted and Talented was appointed in Donations are now made to Purdue University, Indiana State University, Indiana Academy at Ball State University, Rose-Hulman, and the "We the People" program. Two more endowments (Fine Arts and Philanthropy) were established during the term with a generous donation from an estate. The interest from these endowments will benefit our philanthropic and cultural endeavors. Ordinarily Tri Kappa is dedicated to Hoosier good works, but the organization has found ways of helping national emergencies. During World War I, an ambulance was purchased and given to the American forces for overseas duty. When World War II came, a Small Sacrifice Fund was established. In four years more than $21,000 was accumulated and used for Save-A-Child adoptions. We purchased a Red Cross plasma unit for $1,500 and $7,000 went for equipment and supplies for Base Hospital Unit #2 in England. Tri Kappa is governed by a Council, elected every two years at a State Convention, and by the action of Convention. Every chapter is represented by a delegate to the convention. The Tri Kappa Bylaws state our purpose and explains how our purposes are to be implemented. Each chapter has a set of Bylaws by which it is governed, complying with the precedents set forth by the State Bylaws. In 2001, Tri Kappa celebrated its 100 th anniversary. The tradition that was started in 1901 by seven girls has grown and flourished into a remarkable organization of dedicated women who still maintain the original purpose of supporting charity, culture, and education throughout the 12 provinces. In 2011, we continued the celebration of 110 years of service to the state of Indiana. PYH - pg. 7