MONMOUTH, Ill. — More than 140 years ago, a group of Monmouth College students gathered in an upstairs bedroom of Jacob Holt’s home in Monmouth and started the women’s fraternity movement. Earlier this month, another group of women paid tribute to those who paved the way for them.

Holt House, 402 E. First Ave., received a historical marker from the Illinois State Historical Society to designate the site where Pi Beta Phi was founded on April 28, 1867. The building’s curator, Denise Turnbull, said the Holt House Committee decided to apply for the historical marker a year ago and received word in July that they had been approved.

“We are thrilled Pi Beta Phi’s founding home in Monmouth is being recognized,” Turnbull said. “Holt House has played an instrumental role throughout Pi Phi’s history and for all Greek women’s organizations.”

Pi Beta Phi Fraternity has grown from the small bedroom in Monmouth to 133 active chapters with more than 235,000 alumnae.

Fraternity historian Fran Becque said the women knew they were breaking new ground.

“According to founder Emma Brownlee Kilgore, the founders knew they were in uncharted territory and it was ‘such a new and wonderful vision to the developing women of that day that it filled them with fear,’” she said. “The founders conquered that fear and used it to lay the groundwork for an organization that would, in 1884, survive the closing of the Alpha chapter.”

That occurred when the Monmouth College Senate, bowing to pressure by the Presbyterian Church, declared that all Greek organizations would be banned from campus. The policy lasted until 1922.

The historical markers program is designed to “recognize sites of national or statewide significance, thereby increasing public awareness and appreciation of the state’s rich historical legacy,” according to the Illinois State Historical Society. But Holt House almost didn’t survive long enough to see the site honored.

In 1938, the fraternity considered purchasing the home, which had been abandoned for some time and was in disrepair. But the idea was not popular with the fraternity convention, as the building was covered in overgrown weeds, the windowpanes were cracked, nails were rusted and the siding was hanging from the walls.

“Some who had seen it said it was in too advanced a state of decay to even contemplate restoration,” Becque said. “Others thought that the best course of action would be to raze it and install a bronze marker on the site.”

That’s when newspaper publisher Hugh Moffet, a next-door neighbor and father of a Pi Beta Phi member, became involved. He purchased the home for $1,000 at a delinquent tax auction and offered it to the fraternity.

Once a Chicago engineer determined it was structurally sound, the restoration efforts began. In 1940, the Holt House Committee was formed.

Holt House retains its 1850s feel today, even as work is currently under way to improve the kitchen and bathroom. While it will offer modern amenities both to the fraternity and to the public – which is able to use the Holt House for meetings and gatherings – it will retain much of the original style.

“It’s quite a transformation,” Turnbull said. “But we’ve got to be mindful of the period.”

Turnbull said Holt House serves as a museum, with many original items owned by the Holt family still in the building. However, those items are not hidden behind a glass case.

“Everything is used,” she said. “When (groups) use it, they sit on the Holt sofa.”

While the well-maintained building is a window to the past, both Turnbull and Becque point out it is recognized for the historical event that took place there almost a century and a half ago.

“That second-floor bedroom is hallowed ground,” Becque said. “There on that April day in 1867, 142 years ago, a group of Monmouth coeds crowded into that room and not only created an organization that is thriving, but they put their fingerprints on the beginnings of the women's fraternity movement. To them, we offer our gratitude, our loyalty and our Pi Phi love.”