Exhibit
The Founders: Louise Helen Coburn
(September 1, 1856 - February 7, 1949)
The oldest of five children, Louise Helen Coburn was born on September 1, 1856 in Skowhegan, Maine. She was educated first at Bloomfield Academy in Skowhegan and then moved north to Waterville to complete the “Ladies Preparatory Course” at the Waterville Classical Institute (later Coburn Classical Institute) in March of 1873 at age 16. Far from her home, but committed to pursuing her education, Louise lived at the home of the Institute’s principal, Dr. Hanson. At the Waterville Classical Institute, Louise met her two fellow classmates and future Sigma Kappa Founders Lizzie Hoag and Ida Mabel Fuller.
The daughter of a lawyer, it’s no surprise that it was Louise who prepared the Constitution and By-Laws of Sigma Kappa. It was also Louise who wrote the initiation service, which has remained largely unchanged to this day. Her great faith in the organization the Founders formed and in its potential for the future can be found in her frequent references to “posterity.”
Entering Colby College in the Fall of 1873, Louise Coburn would become the second woman (after fellow Founder Mary Caffey Low) to graduate from Colby. Also like Mary, Louise would be added to the roll of the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honors society when it established a chapter at Colby in 1896. Not content to stop her education after graduating, Louise attended the Harvard Summer School of Botany in 1880 and 1881, as well as Chicago University in 1893. She also studied abroad in France and Germany! Louise Coburn was honored by Colby College with the honorary degree of Litt. D.
Keenly aware of current affairs, Louise wrote many historical and literary papers. She also published poetry, with many of her poems collected in a volume titled “Kennebec and Other Poems.” Louise would serve as a trustee of all of her alma maters: the Bloomfield Academy in Skowhegan, the Coburn Classical Institute (formerly Waterville Classical Institute), and Colby College, where she broke barriers as the first female trustee. A devoted botanist, her herbarium held over 3,000 plants, an impressive collection that was donated to the University of Maine before her death.
Despite her many activities, Louise Coburn remained active in Sigma Kappa as well. She served as Chairman of the Coat-of-Arms Committee in 1908 and as a member of the Committee for the Revision of the Constitution in 1911. She also attended many conventions.
Louise Helen Coburn died on February 7, 1949, at the age of 93. She is buried in the Coburn lot of the Skowhegan cemetery.
