LOOK BACK KAPPA HISTORY
Beta Omega Chapter hosted the 1947 Conclave, headquartered at the spa- cious Elks’ Temple. Grand Polemarch Augustus G. Parker and Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron addressed delegates at the Conclave’s opening. The auditorium was used for business sessions, the second floor for commit- tee meetings, the third floor for dining, and additional quarters were provided for the Silhouettes to meet. The Public Meeting was held at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Incidentally, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority held its national convention in Los Angeles the same week as the 37th Grand Chapter Meeting. The local Silhouettes served as hostesses and usherettes for social activities. After languishing for 25 years as an unrecognized fraternity affiliate, the “Women’s Auxiliary” came to be commonly known as the Kappa Silhouettes. The Los Angeles Silhouettes formed a National Fed- eration at the 37 th Grand Chapter Meeting, electing their first national officers. They would wait another 33 years to receive official recognition as a Top: 29th Grand Chapter Meeting, December 1939, Phyllis Wheatley High School, San Antonio, TX. Bottom: 29th Grand Chapter Meeting transportation article, The Kappa Alpha Psi Journal, October 1939.
registered all the delegates, assigned housing, and distributed program kits; thus, San Antonio had no waiting lines. This gesture of efficiency and concern received many kudos from the visitors. Acquiring downtown hotel accommo- dations was out of the question due to Texas law.
Grand Chapter Meeting, held in San Antonio, TX. The Public Meeting was held at First Baptist Church, and the business sessions were held at Phyllis Wheatley High School. The San Antonio Conclave’s high- light was the trip to Central Texas. The fraternity coordinated a “Kappa Special” train over the Missouri-Pacific Railroad from Union Station in St. Louis, MO, to San Antonio, TX. Grand Polemarch James E. Scott, members of his cabinet, and over 100 brothers and their families gathered from all directions and entertained departing St. Louis’ Union Station to Texas. About 100 miles from San Antonio, a welcoming committee from the newly chartered San Antonio (TX) Alumni boarded the train. The members extended warm and royal greetings and conducted some business. The chapter
A West Coast Conclave 37th Grand Chapter Meeting,
Los Angeles, CA August 14-18, 1947
Slightly more than seven months sepa- rated the 36th Grand Chapter Meeting from the 37th when Kappa Alpha Psi held its first summer Conclave in recent years and the first on the West Coast. The delegates favorably received the Los Angeles Conclave in terms of planning, comfort, and the free flow of that good old Kappa spirit. It was the first Grand Chapter Meeting held west of Kansas City. The Los Angeles (CA) Alumni, Upsilon, and the newly chartered
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