Lucy W. Gilmer

The least known of Alpha Xi Delta's Founders, Lucy W. Gilmer was a private but very devoted woman of high ideals. She was born in 1872 in Illinois and attended Lombard College for only one year. Nevertheless, she was part of the initial group of six that Harriet McCollum gathered to discuss the possibility of organizing a fraternity. Lucy was dedicated to the formation of Alpha Xi Delta, serving as its first vice president. With Cora Bollinger Block, she proposed the rose as the Fraternity's flower.Always a committed student, Lucy left Lombard to pursue her teaching degree at Illinois State Normal College. She later trained as a professional nurse, which allowed her to travel around the country for much of her life. She died at the age of 67 in 1939.