Alpha Gamma Delta started as a dorm room discussion of college friendships between two sisters and grew into an international sisterhood of thousands of friends both on and off the college campus. The two sisiters, Marguerite and Estelle Shepard, talked of the need for a new woman's fraternity on Syracuse University's campus, a subject that had first been broached by Dr. Wellesley Coddington. Dr. Coddington, one of the first five faculty members of Syracuse University, was a professor of Greek, Latin, and German. He was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Nu Theta.
Dr. Coddington had seen the enrollment of the university double between 1900 and 1904, with the only addition to the fraternity system being Delta Gamma in 1901. He saw that because of this incongruent growth, many women were being denied the opportunity for membership in a fraternal organization. Having come to share his conviction, Marguerite and Estelle started to make a few inconspicuous contacts.
Whispered conferences were held and mysterious messages were passed to a chosen few in those early days of May 1904. By May 17, the core group had grown to a total of seven. Six of those enthusiastic young women, Marguerite, Estelle, Georgia Dickover, Jennie Titus, Grace Mosher, and Ethel Brown, met that night to arrange an initial working structure. Temporary officers were elected and committees were formed to write a constitution and contact a jeweler about creating a badge. Jennie Titus was appointed to consult Dr, Coddington about a Greek letter name.
The seventh woman, Edith MacConnell, was unable to attend these first meetings because she was in the hospital recuperating froma serious accident. She kept up-to-date on the developments through frequent visits from her future Alpha Gam sisters.
In the last two weeks of May, Mary Snider, Georgia Otis, Emily Butterfield, and Flora Knight joined the core group, giving Alpha Gamma Delta its eleven Founders.
Alpha Gamma Delta was officially founded Monday, May 30, 1904 in Dr. Coddington's home. The constitution and bylaws were read and approved;the Badges were first worn; the official colors were chosen. Officer elections were held with Jennie Titus serving as our first president.