The Oregon State University chapter of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority was founded in 1915 as the Beta Tau Beta Club in Waldo Hall, the residence hall for women. It became one of the first local sororities at Oregon Agricultural College in 1916. Two years later, in 1918, the sorority affiliated with the Gamma Phi Beta national organization and became the Chi Chapter. The Oregon State chapter disbanded in 1997.
The Gamma Phi Beta Sorority Photographs include two images of the sorority's members and four images of the sorority's houses in Corvallis. Oregon. The photographs of the sorority's members include a 1918 group photograph of the members on the steps of their house and a print comprised of individual portrait images of the Class of 1918 members of the sorority. Both of these images are in original period frames and most of the women are identified.
The images of the sorority's houses depict the group's first house at 15th and Adams; the Kline House at 244 South Fourth Street (Fourth and Jefferson); and the Foster House at 238 South Eighth Street (Eighth and Jefferson), which was purchased by the sorority in 1920. This house was remodeled and enlarged in 1936 and the address changed to 811 Jefferson Street. It was sold in 1961 and currently houses the OSU Center for the Humanities. The collection includes images of this house before and after the 1936 remodel.
Collection is open for research.
Gamma Phi Beta Sorority Photographs (P 277), Oregon State University Archives, Corvallis, Oregon.
The photographs were donated to the Archives in 2009 by an Oregon State alumna who was a member of the sorority.
Additional information about Gamma Phi Beta is available in the