Beyond Zeta Sigma Chapter: A Summer Internship at Theta Headquarters

In March of this year, I received an email from my chapter’s vice president education (VPE) describing an archives intern position available at Kappa Alpha Theta headquarters in Indianapolis. As a member of Zeta Sigma Chapter at Ohio Northern University (ONU), I usually don’t hear much about Indiana at all. But I am from Greenwood, IN, a suburb south of Indy, so this immediately caught my attention.

At ONU, I am a pharmacy major on my way to obtaining my PharmD, so being an archives intern seemed way out of my comfort zone. I was, however, actively involved in journalism throughout high school and served as a yearbook editor my senior year. Thrilled by the opportunity to uncover my long-retired passion for publications (and to work at Theta HQ, of course), I enthusiastically completed and sent in my application in less than 24 hours.

My role as archives intern this summer was primarily to read, summarize, catalog, and digitize a large collection of correspondence donated to the Kappa Alpha Theta archives. These letters belonged to Edna Locke Hamilton, daughter of Bettie Locke Hamilton, dating back from as early as 1859 to the 1950s. My first letter took me about 30 minutes to read, as I have never been exposed to such aged cursive penmanship. Now, two months later, I would like to call myself a certified cursive expert and can even recognize the penmanship of different people in Edna’s collection. One specific person being an Alpha Chapter sister of Edna’s, Hattie Tutewiler, with over half of the entire collection’s correspondence being sent from her. I feel proficient enough in their relationship to say that Edna and Hattie were undeniably best friends who met through Theta. Hattie unfortunately passed away in 1904 when she was just 29 years old. I believe that Edna kept their correspondence for so long because of how close their friendship was.

By working at Theta headquarters, I have also been exposed to a brand-new perspective of Kappa Alpha Theta as an organization. As a college member of Kappa Alpha Theta only initiated less than a year ago, my perspective of Theta before was centered around my own chapter of about 30 girls. I knew there were other chapters of Theta out there, but, honestly, I hadn’t thought much about Theta outside of Ohio Northern. So, when staff on the marketing and communications team started saying words like “Grand Convention” and “Grand Council,” I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.

It has truly been eye-opening to see the amazing work that the incredible people at headquarters do and the significance of it all. There is so much thought that goes into every single nuance anyone could possibly think of related to Theta. No longer do I see Kappa Alpha Theta through my Zeta Sigma goggles, but I now respect and acknowledge the strength of the Fraternity and the sisterhood we are all blessed with.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Rachel's internship was in part funded by Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation. Her work provides access to materials that can be used by researchers looking at the life of college educated women in the late 1800s.