A LOOK BACK: KAPPA HISTORY
auxiliaries. . .
never have any other way.
tors – Mrs. Margaret Snowden, Mrs. Leah Stout, and Mrs. W. D. Morgan. Al- though the Silhouettes organized them- selves as a national entity and conducted indirect affiliation with the Fraternity, they would have to wait another 33 years to be recognized as a formal auxiliary of Kappa Alpha Psi. Time was slow to change hearts and minds to formally establish the Silhou- ettes as a National entity of the Frater- nity. Grand Polemarch Oliver S. Gumbs was the key to making this dream a reality in the early months of 1980. The pronouncement of national recognition to the Silhouettes was one of the first actions of Grand Polemarch Gumbs’ ad- ministration. He valued the contributions of the then fifty-seven national affili- ates and over 1,000 women within their membership, who have continually stood ready to support the Fraternity. Also, in 1980, a seat on the Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation Board of Directors was conferred to the National Silhou- ettes President. Silhouette Elva Edwards served as the first National Silhouettes President to serve as a Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation Board member. On Septem- ber 11, 1987, Policy Statement No. 87- 12 was entered into the records of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., recognizing the Silhouettes as an affiliate whose purpose is to provide support and assistance for the activities of the Fraternity at Grand Chapter, Province, and Local levels. The wives and widows affiliated with chapters of the National Silhouettes con- tinue to develop national service projects and, most importantly, provide support to local Fraternity chapters and provide activities for visiting Silhouettes during Grand Chapter Meetings as the official auxiliary to Kappa Alpha Psi Frater- nity. In addition to the aforementioned, today’s National Silhouettes promote other critical projects such as COVID-19 and domestic violence awareness, and a Safe Sleep Initiative to combat SIDs. The National Silhouettes also encourage contributions to the March of Dimes, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Although not a constitutional off- spring of Kappa Alpha Psi, there have been local informal Silhouette/Auxiliary organizations comprised of Kappa wives and significant others in different parts of the country for over a quarter of a century. In some sections, they have been warmly accepted and welcomed by members, tolerated by some, and ig- nored by others – but on every occasion that Kappamen needed their assistance and expertise with a big project, they were present. Many of these women ac- companied their husbands to the Grand Chapter Meetings and found themselves alone and needed activities to fill their time. Subsequently, some members requested their wives and sweethearts to serve as hostesses and plan activities for the visiting wives and children. In some places, these women named themselves ‘Kappa Wives,’ while most others went by the name ‘Kappa Silhouettes.’ The idea for the Kappa Silhouettes to formally organize as a national entity of Kappa Alpha Psi was developed in 1945, while the visiting member’s wives were at the 35th Grand Chapter Meeting in Columbus, Ohio. Upon learning that the next Conclave would be held in New York City, Mrs. Willa Ransom asked the New York Silhouettes to host a meet- ing where organizational plans could be discussed. New York Silhouette Presi- dent, Mrs. Wynnell C. Perry placed an announcement and article, ‘Dear Kappa Wives and Silhouettes’ about the meet- ing in the December 1946 Kappa Alpha Psi Journal: I’m reasonably sure it was the idea of the group in Columbus, where we had so much pleasure, that an organi- zation, national in scope, could beat some of the expenses of our fun instead of burdening our hostess group with all of them. We also felt that with our own planned reunions with each other, Kappa Conclaves will take on a new meaning to us. Our own group will give all of us a chance to know and like each other and weave intimacies we could
Adelaide Harty Fleming, president of the Philadelphia Kappa wives described, “We are Silhouettes; a silhouette is a shadow; that denotes the auxiliary role we are to play on things that are purely the men’s business, we follow, not lead.” When Philadelphia Kappas serenade with the “Sweetheart Song,” the Philly Kappa wives usually sing back to them [a verse composed by Mrs. Fleming] as follows:
“You are as handsome as Adonis
And as stalwart as an oak;
I’ve loved you, dear, that’s honest,
From the day since first you spoke.
Should evil times befall us
And the fates decree we part,
I’ll keep on loving you, my dear
Your Kappa Alpha Psi Sweetheart.”
On December 31, 1946, a group met at the home of Mrs. Edgehill of New York to lay the groundwork for the for- mation of the National Kappa Silhou- ettes organization. At this meeting, the committee present suggested the formal name of Kappa Alpha Psi Silhouettes. Consequently, during the 37th Grand Chapter Meeting in August 1947 at Los Angeles, California, these women memorialized their plans and elected the following officers: Mrs. Evelyn Payne, Grand President; Mrs. Simmie Etta LaVigne, First Grand Vice President; Mrs. Lucille Foley, Second Grand Vice President; Mrs. Louise T. Batties, Third Grand Vice President; Mrs. Barbara L. Mounts, Grand Secretary-Treasurer; Mrs. Joseph Collins, Grand Sergeant- at-Arms; Mrs. Willa C. Ransom, Grand Journalist; Mrs. Amelia Hunnicutt, Grand Historian; Mrs. M. Haywood, Grand Parliamentarian; Mrs. Clemis- teen Holt, Grand Chaplain; Mrs. Violet Williams, Grand Program Committee Chairman; and Grand Board of Direc-
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