P.E.O. Sisterhood

Main projects

To date (2014) more than $235 million has been awarded to over 90,000 women from the organization's six educational grants, loans, awards, and stewardship of Cottey College. P.E.O. has awarded Educational Loan Fund (ELF) dollars totaling more than $143.6 million, International Peace Scholarships (IPS) are more than $29 million, Program for Continuing Education (PCE) grants are more than $43 million, P.E.O. Scholar Awards (PSA) are more than $16 million and P.E.O. STAR Scholarships (STAR) are more than $2.6 million. In addition, 8,500 women have graduated from Cottey College.

Cottey College

Cottey College (est. 1884) is an independent, liberal arts and sciences college for women. Located in Nevada, Missouri, its residential student capacity of 350 students typically represents 40 states and 25 countries annually.

Educational Loan Fund

The Educational Loan Fund (est. 1907) makes loans available to qualified American and Canadian women with financial need.

International Peace Scholarship

The International Peace Scholarship Fund (est. 1949) provides scholarships for international women to pursue graduate study in the U.S. and Canada. Since 1949, IPS has awarded scholarships to 5,605 women from 174 different countries.

During the 2014-2015 academic year, 164 exceptional women will be studying toward graduate degrees at 90 different universities in 32 states and 4 Canadian provinces. Of this year's recipients, 47 are from Africa, 28 from Asia and 23 each from the Middle East, South America and Europe. The remaining 20 come from Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Central America and the Caribbean.

Program for Continuing Education

The Program for Continuing Education (est. 1973) provides need-based grants to women in the U.S. and Canada whose education has been interrupted and need to return to school to support themselves and/or their families through continuing education programs.

Scholar Awards

Scholar Awards (est. 1991) are merit-based awards to U.S. and Canadian women who are pursuing a doctoral degree, or pursuing post-graduate research at an accredited institution.

STAR Scholarship

STAR Scholarship (est. 2009) provides a $2,500 award to U.S. and Canadian high school senior women who wish to pursue post-secondary education.

Name

For much of its history, the meaning of "P.E.O." in the organization's name was a closely guarded secret, never made public.

In 2005, the Sisterhood unveiled a new logo and an “It’s OK to Talk About P.E.O.” campaign, seeking to raise the public profile of the organization while maintaining its traditions of secrecy. Before then, the organization's avoidance of publicity, and the secrecy of their name, caused it to be considered it a "secret society'.

In 2008, the Sisterhood revised its website to indicate that "P.E.O." now publicly stands for "Philanthropic Educational Organization". However, the Sisterhood acknowledges that "P.E.O." originally had a different meaning that continues to be "reserved for members only", and so the public meaning is not the only one.

History

P.E.O. was originally rooted in the philosophy and institutions of the Methodist Church which actively promoted Women's Rights and Education in America during the 1800s. "By 1844, the number of Methodist related colleges was second only to those affiliated with Presbyterian bodies. Between 1832 and the Civil War, thirty-four colleges were established by the Methodists and by 1880 that number had risen to forty-four."

The first chapter of 1869 became many and in 1883 local chapters of the P.E.O. founded a "Supreme Chapter" to coordinate the Sisterhood on a national level. The first International chapter was established in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1911.

"Although [P.E.O.] began as a collegiate organization, in 1902 it became a community-based one. The collegiate chapter at Iowa Wesleyan became Alpha Xi Delta’s second chapter. P.E.O. chapters spread across the country from Midwestern roots... P.E.O. existed [quietly] and kept a very low profile in communities all over North America. Chapters [were modest] about the good works they were doing. That changed in 2005, with a new logo and the introduction of an “It’s OK to Talk About P.E.O.” campaign. On January 21, Founders’ Day, P.E.O.s are encouraged to wear their P.E.O. emblems, the star shaped pins members receive."

Founders

The Sisterhood was founded January 21, 1869, as a seven-member sorority at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. It is the second sorority to be founded in the U.S. The founding members were Mary Allen [Stafford] (1848–1927), Ella Stewart (1848–94), Alice Bird [Babb] (1850–1926), Hattie Briggs [Bousquet] (1849–77), Franc Roads [Elliott] (1852–1924), Alice Virginia Coffin (1848–88), and Suela Pearson [Penfield] (1851–1920). The sisterhood was founded after only some of the seven girls were asked to join I. C. Sorosis, a sorority organized in Mount Pleasant a month earlier, and they would not join without the others.

More than five decades after they began the P.E.O. oil portraits of the original seven founders were commissioned from Marion Dunlap Harper by the P.E.O. organization. Originally unveiled in P.E.O. Memorial Hall in Mount Pleasant, Iowa on September 23, 1929, the paintings were composites sourced from a collection of sketches, portraits and photographs. The paintings of Alice Coffin and Franc Roads are based on earlier photographs taken at the same studio and they are wearing the same cape.

Membership

In 1966 the Sisterhood had 130,000 members. At the time membership was open to women over 18, who believed in God and had lived at their present address for a least a year. It was said to appeal to "Protestant women of some social standing and college education." Although always officially nonsectarian, P.E.O. has evolved over recent generations into a deliberately diverse, community-based organization with nearly 6,000 chapters and almost a quarter of a million members. P.E.O. has chapters in each of the 50 United States, District of Columbia and in six Canadian provinces.

The P.E.O. wish to be better known for what they are: a group that serves women worldwide and a diverse sisterhood that welcomes women of all races, religions and backgrounds. According to their own website the P.E.O. does "not discriminate against any woman based on age, ethnicity, religion or education. Our sisterhood is based on friendship and mutual respect. P.E.O. is not political nor is it a political action group."

The Sisterhood's official flower is the marguerite.

The Sisterhood also established in the 1960s a number of retirement homes for its members in various U.S. states, some of which still operate.

Ritual

Membership in P.E.O. is by invitation but is not secret. Meetings are opened with prayers and with inspirational readings chosen by members, but P.E.O. meetings and activities do not reference, require or promote any particular religion or religious practice. While meetings do follow a structured agenda, these meetings and activities do not in any way involve religious rites and therefore do not meet the definition of 'ritualistic'.