Elizabeth Gorham Hoag

Who was Elizabeth Gorham Hoag?

Elizabeth Gorham Hoag was one of the five founding members of Sigma Kappa sorority.

Along with Mary Caffrey Low, Ida Fuller, Frances Mann and Louise Helen Coburn, Hoag helped to form Sigma Kappa at Colby College in Waterville, Maine on November 9, 1874. The five women were the only female students at Colby at that time. Colby was the first New England college to allow the admittance of women.

Being the only women in the college, the five of them found themselves together frequently. In 1873-74, the five young women decided to form a literary and social society. They were instructed by the college administration that they would need to present a constitution and bylaws with a petition requesting permission to form Sigma Kappa Sorority. They began work during that year and on November 9, 1874, the five young women received a letter from the faculty approving their petition. They sought for and received permission to form a sorority with the intent for the organization to become national.

Hoag was described as an only child, happy and joyous, who was very artistic and wrote musical plays.