Augustana College Mortar Board records

Aglaia Honor Society was founded in 1940 as an honor society for senior class women at Augustana College. The society chose to name itself after Algaia, or "Brillance," one of the three graces of Greek mythology. In 1946, the group began a long campaign to establish itself as a chapter of the Mortar Board, a national women's honor society. After twenty years of attempting to fulfill the necessary requirements, Augustana College's Mortar Board chapter was initiated in 1965. In 1975, per requirements outlined in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the national administration of the Mortar Board voted to open enrollment to male students, and Augustana's chapter soon became coeducational. The Augustana College Mortar Board records, 1940-1990 and undated, consists of two boxes of material. Box 1 contains the organizational records of the Aglaia Honor Society and the Mortar Board, as well as materials documenting the period of transition between the two groups. Box 2 contains the Mortar Board's 1965 framed charter.