Houses

Sorority Houses

Early images of sorority houses are hard to come by; unlike fraternities, which first began including images of their houses in the Cincinnatian in 1923, sororities seemed to avoid public display of their houses, although they had them. In the 1929-1930 Students' Handbook published by the University YMCA, only two sororities had apartments, Alpha Gamma Delta at 350 Volkert Avenue, and Delta Delta Delta at 341 Calhoun Street. The following year Zeta Tau Alpha secured housing at 152 West McMillan Street. In 1930 Kappa Alpha Theta took rooms in the same building where Delta Delta Delta lived (this was a popular building - in 1937 Alpha Gamma Delta lived there as well). By 1938 most sororities were shown to have housing.

The 1940-1941 rush handbook gives us the first comprehensive picture of where sorority "apartments" were located:

A map to sorority houses from the 1940-1941 Panhellenic rush handbook

Alpha Chi Omega: 2809 Clifton Avenue

Alpha Delta Pi: 2715 Clifton Avenue

Alpha Gamma Delta: 312 Joselyn Street

Alpha Omicron Pi: 353 Probasco Street

Chi Omega: 430 Straight Street

Delta Delta Delta: 2609 Clifton Avenue

Delta Zeta: 2811 Clifton Avenue

Kappa Alpha Theta: 2711 Clifton Avenue

Kappa Delta: 2817 Clifton Avenue

Kappa Kappa Gamma: 2930 Woodside Place

Phi Mu: 2627 Clifton Avenue

Pi Lambda Sigma, 2639 Clifton Avenue

Sigma Delta Tau: 3450 Clifton Avenue

Theta Phi Alpha: 2729 Stratford Avenue

Zeta Tau Alpha: 2807 Clifton Avenue

Delta Delta Delta

In 1929, Delta Delta Delta had rooms at 341 Calhoun Street (this is the building currently beside Jimmy Johns). They lived there until 1938, when they purchased their current house at 2609 Clifton Avenue (shown top in 1956 and bottom in 2011) The house was built in 1914.

Kappa Alpha Theta

The earliest image of a sorority house was the home at top on Kappa Alpha Theta's page in the 1924 Cincinnatian, although no address was provided. In 1937, Kappa Alpha Theta purchased a home at 2711 Clifton Avenue (shown middle 1956 and bottom in 2011) and are there currently.

Kappa Delta

In 1937, Kappa Delta lived at 2805 Stratford Avenue and moved to 2817 Clifton Ave in 1939. They lived at 2803 Clifton Avenue from 1955 to 2005 (shown top as seen today). Kappa Delta currently resides at 2661 Clifton Avenue, located in Stratford Heights (shown bottom in 2011).

Chi Omega lived in a house at 430 Straight Street, which is currently the site of the Deaconess Hospital parking lot on the corner of Straight Street and University Court. They purchased their current home at 311 Joselin Avenue in 1945.

Kappa Kappa Gamma

Until 1949, Kappa Kappa Gamma lived at 2930 Woodside Place, currently the site around the Alumni Center. In 1949 they purchased the home at 2801 Clifton Avenue (shown top in the 1950s and bottom in 2011). It had been built in 1923.

Theta Phi Alpha

Theta Phi Alpha purchased their current house at 312 Joselin Avenue in 1955 (shown top in 1956 and bottom in 2011). The house was built in 1923.

Pi Beta Phi

Pi Beta Phi lives at 2634 Clifton Avenue in Stratford Heights.

Alpha Chi Omega

Alpha Chi Omega lived at 2809 Clifton Avenue (shown in 1956) from before 1940 until around 2001. They built a new house on the property in 1965. In 2010 the house was sold to Lambda Chi Alpha.

Sigma Delta Tau

Sigma Delta Tau was at 3450 Clifton Avenue (built in 1900 and still standing), then moved to 2930 Woodside Place. (shown in the 1950s) The Woodside Place house was razed when the University bought that property.

Zeta Tau Alpha

Zeta Tau Alpha lived at 2807 Clifton Avenue and then 2623 Clifton Avenue. (shown in 1956, since razed)

Alpha Gamma Delta

Alpha Gamma Delta lived at 2819 Stratford Avenue. (shown circa 1950s)

This is now the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity house. Built in 1925.