Heritage
Holt House
The Birthplace of Pi Beta Phi
The founding of Pi Beta Phi Fraternity took place at Holt House in Monmouth, Illinois, where two founders — Ada Bruen and Libbie Brook — lived while attending college.
Today, the Monmouth community uses the first floor of Holt House for small weddings, receptions, meetings and social and civil gatherings. The second floor is reserved exclusively for Pi Beta Phi purposes. Nearby Pi Phi chapters and alumnae organizations hold meetings, initiations and ceremonies at Holt House, and there is a library and special displays of materials unique to Pi Phi.
Pi Beta Phi Foundation maintains the Holt House Fund for the purposes of providing funds to operate Holt House throughout the year. Alumnae organizations, chapters and individuals are encouraged to support the Holt House Fund and preserve the historic home where it all began.
Click here to make a gift to Holt House or call (636) 256–1357 for more information.
Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts
After Pi Beta Phi spent more than 50 years educating children in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, the county fully assumed responsibility for public education in 1968. The Fraternity redirected its philanthropic focus to literacy through the arts by establishing Arrowmont® School of Arts and Crafts, dedicated in 1970.
Arrowmont became an internationally recognized visual art education center, preserving the arts and crafts of the Smoky Mountains. The site of the original Settlement School, the Teacher’s Dormitory, remains at the northwest corner of the property. Beginning in the late 1980s, Pi Beta Phi recognized the need to expand its literacy philanthropy to become national in scope. At the same time, Arrowmont sought to become more independent and to acquire the majority of its support from the local community as well as corporate and arts funders. The transition began when Arrowmont became separately incorporated in 1991, and today the two organizations remain mutually supportive but legally and operationally independent of each other.
In 2010, the Gatlinburg Study Committee commissioned by Grand Council provided a detailed report with recommendations for the future of the partnership between Pi Beta Phi and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. For the full report, click here.
Pi Beta Phi Foundation remains committed to Pi Beta Phi alumnae interest in Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts through our Arrowmont Fund, which supports the historic preservation of Pi Phi relevant property, as well as special projects.
Click here to make a gift to Arrowmont or call (636) 256–1357 for more information.
