In the post-Civil War years, women in Greencastle gained new opportunities after proving themselves capable in jobs usually held by men. In 1867, Indiana Asbury University, later renamed DePauw University, admitted four qualified young women, and when it was suggested they sit in the rear of the chapel, Bettie Locke, recognized as their leader, rejected the idea and led them to the front despite the men stamping their feet. On January 27, 1870, the four met secretly to organize Kappa Alpha Theta, and when they appeared in chapel on March 14 wearing kite-shaped pins larger than those of any fraternities, the first college sorority in the country was born. They graduated with the class of 1871. Inspired by such examples, Elizabeth Ames and Frances Donnohue envisioned a club for women seeking cultural and educational outlets, made plans for it during a walk in November 1874, and, with a constitution written by local historian John Clark Ridpath, established what became the Greencastle Women’s Club, today the oldest continuously active women’s club in Indiana. The club idea then spread widely across the United States as women increasingly used their talents and won acceptance for their ideas.