Mu Rho Sigma records

The Mu Rho Sigma sorority was organized at Georgia State College (later Georgia State University, or GSU) in 1954. The sorority, originally abbreviated as MRS, provided support and fellowship for married or formerly married women, especially those returning to their educational careers. Georgia State's Dean of Women, Nell Trotter, provided important guidance and support as Mu Rho Sigma and the school’s sorority and fraternity system came into being at that time. In addition to social functions, Mu Rho Sigma’s members took part in community service activities and raised funds for scholarships. For a decade, the organization existed only at Georgia State but it incorporated and formed a Board of Trustees in 1965. The GSU chapter was designated Alpha, and a Beta Chapter at the University of Georgia organized soon after.

Ultimately, Mu Rho Sigma had nine chapters, mostly founded during 1975-83, including Gamma (Brenau College in Gainesville, Ga.), Delta (West Georgia College in Carrollton, Ga.), Epsilon (Augusta College, in Augusta, Ga.), Zeta (Mississippi University for Women in Columbus), Eta (Lander University in Greenwood, S.C.), Theta (Georgia Southern College, Statesboro), and Kappa (Kennesaw College in Marietta, Ga.). In addition to newsletters facilitating communication among the chapters, the sorority eventually established an annual convention. In 1969, The Atlanta Alumnae Chapter of Mu Rho Sigma was formed. Alice Young, later Assistant Dean for Student Services and Director of the Student Center at GSU and a Mu Rho Sigma trustee, led the organization of that group. The alumnae chapter provided graduates the same opportunities for fellowship and service that current students enjoyed. Later, the Kennesaw College chapter also formed an alumnae group.

With demographic changes and challenges caused by the sorority's weak central administration, Mu Rho Sigma chapters began to shut down in the later 1980s and 1990s. Anne S. Larcom (1932-2013), who returned to undergraduate studies at GSU after raising her children and eventually earned a Master of Heritage Preservation degree, was active in the Alpha chapter and the Atlanta Alumnae Association. From 1990, she served as Mu Rho Sigma's official historian.