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Alabama State Chapter History
Alabama P.E.O. history began in the late 1920's when Stella Knapp, BV, Oklahoma moved from Iowa to Auburn, Alabama with her husband, the president of Auburn University. By 1930 she and Harriet P. Seal, I, Florida, who also moved to Auburn from Iowa, received consent to select a charter list.
Stella invited twenty women to her home, told them about the sisterhood, and asked them to sign their names if they were interested in becoming P.E.O. members. Twelve women did so. These women, together with Stella Knapp and Harriet Seal, formed the charter list for Chapter A, Alabama, which was organized by Hallie Newell, Organizer of Supreme Chapter, on March 24, 1930, in the Knapp home.
New chapters developed slowly, but an Alabama State chapter became a possibility twenty-nine years later, when Chapter J, Huntsville, was organized, becoming the tenth chapter in the Alabama subordinate territory. On January 8, 1959, delegates from the ten chapters met in Auburn for a convocation and organization of the Alabama State Chapter by the Supreme Chapter, the highest body of P.E.O. at that time. In 1980 by vote of the Supreme Chapter in convention, the name of the Sisterhood was changed to the International Chapter.
At that time the organization of new chapters was the responsibility of the Organizer of the Supreme Chapter and the charter for newly organized chapters was presented to a delegate from the chapter at the next Supreme Convention. Alabama chapters A through J, as subordinate territory chapters, and the Alabama State Chapter, all received their charters at Supreme Conventions. Chapter K, organized May 19, 1961 was the first chapter in Alabama to receive its charter at an Alabama State convention.
A State chapter was a new world to Alabama P.E.O.s. Instead of a small group of sisters, there were ten times as many within the geographical area. There were new bylaws, statewide officers, a different type of budget that called for travel within the state and to Supreme Convention, and a long-range planning committee to set the trend for Alabama P.E.O.s. For details and memories about the first sixty-five years of P.E.O. in Alabama, see The First Sixty-five Years. The P.E.O. Sisterhood in Alabama, by Mary Isabel Wilson, Published by the Past State Presidents, Alabama State Chapter P.E.O., 1997. Each Alabama Chapter President has a copy in the President’s box.
By Elizabeth Y. Davis
Past President, Alabama State Chapter
There are 42 chapters in Alabama, with an active membership of 1,337. Chapters, locations, and dates of organization are listed in the table below.
(*membership total is as of Mar 1st, 2023)
P.E.O. Chapters in Alabama
Chapter/City
A Auburn
B Birmingham
C Mobile
D Birmingham
E Auburn
F Birmingham
G Montgomery
H Mobile
I Tuscaloosa
J Huntsville
K Montgomery
L Mobile
M Huntsville
N Tuscaloosa
O Montgomery
P Birmingham
Q Decatur
R Tuscaloosa
S Florence
T Birmingham
U Decatur
Date Organized
Mar 24, 1930
Feb 14, 1942
Apr 08, 1949
Feb 10, 1950
Feb 16, 1951
Jan 07, 1955
Jan 26, 1955
Feb 15, 1956
Sep 29, 1956
Jan 29, 1958
May 19, 1961
Mar 12, 1963
Jan 13, 1965
Jan 22, 1968
Jan 20, 1972
Oct 31, 1973
Dec 29, 1974
Apr 29, 1976
Jun 16, 1979
Feb 16, 1980
Apr 04 1981
Chapter/City
V Ozark
W Dothan
X Auburn
Y Montgomery
Z Madison
AA Birmingham
AB Daphne
AC Tuscaloosa
AD Huntsville
AE Anniston
AF Troy
AG Foley
AH Dothan
AI Prattville
AJ Huntsville
AK Birmingham
AL Madison
AM Birmingham
AN Florence
AO Montevallo
AP Gadsden
Date Organized
Jan 30, 1982
Mar 23, 1985
Aug 03, 1985
Jan 21, 1989
Jan 18, 1992
Jan 29, 1994
Feb 11, 1995
Feb 01, 1998
Dec 01, 2001
Feb 23, 2002
Dec 06, 2003
Feb 28, 2004
Jan 6, 2006
Mar 11, 2006
Jun 17, 2006
May 10, 2008
Oct 12, 2013
Feb 21, 2015
Aug 26,2018
Jun 15.2023
Mar 2, 2024