The Strings Society was the first local female society at Wake Forest University. According to organizational files, Strings was founded by friends Huldah Lineberry (1951), Kay Williams (1948), and Edith Rawls (1949) in the attic of Johnson Dormitory on the original Wake Forest campus in 1946. As a response to Kay being invited to join the Tassels honor society, the friends referred to themselves as "Strings." The small group grew as it added more members, and inspired the formation of other female societies at Wake.
Following a nautical theme, the symbols and traditions associated with Strings include whales, anchors, sailor caps, and the colors navy and white. The group's official flower was a white carnation and members were referred to as "Threads" (pledges) or "Ropes" (alumnae). In 1961, members Nan Dupree Miller and Carolyn Jones Burton introduced the song,
By 1965 there were five women's societies on Wake Forest's campus: Strings, Fideles, Laureles, Les Souers, and S.O.P.H.s. The societies worked together to create the Inter-Society Council (ISC). The ISC developed and maintained standards for rush and kept the societies connected to each other. The ISC also served as a point of contact between the societies and campus administration. Under the guidance of the Dean of Women, Lula Leake, the female societies of Wake Forest College achieved official campus recognition in 1967.
Due to complex insurance and liability issues, the campus administration decided that the societies had to limit their operations or affiliate with a national organization. In April 1991, the Phoenix Society affiliated with Alpha Delta Pi and the other societies followed by affiliating with other sororities within the National Panhellenic Conference. Strings moved to affiliate with Pi Beta Phi, known colloquially as Pi Phi, in 1992 and the organization remained active on campus for 17 years. Pi Phi members held onto their local Strings traditions and ceremonies while operating as Pi Beta Phi, which prompted the national organizing body to revoke the campus' charter in 2010. The sorority has been inactive since then.
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This collection documents the administration and social practices of the Strings society, and later the national group Pi Beta Phi sorority.
It is organized into two series, Strings Society materials and Pi Beta Phi materials. Series 1. Strings Society Materials cover the local sorority from 1946 until 1993. This series contains photographs, scrapbooks, historical materials, notebooks, and artifacts such as jewelry and textiles. Series 2. Pi Beta Phi Materials covers the years that the organization was the Pi Beta Phi sorority. This collection contains photograph albums, notebooks, and meeting notes.
Strings materials appear in both series, since Pi Beta Phi maintained some Strings practices and lore. Names in parentheses in an item title indicate the item's donor.
Student Organizations. Strings Society and Pi Beta Phi Records (RG8.35), Z. Smith Reynolds Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
Collection is open for use.
The nature of the WFU Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Archives and Special Collections of ZSR Library claims only physical ownership of most materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
Both series, Series 1. Strings Society materials and Series 2. Pi Beta Phi materials are organized in chronological order.