By: Samantha Riley, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2020, French and Anthropology, IUPUI
Edited by: Ellie Kaverman and Bre Anne Briskey, Bicentennial Graduate Assistants
On September 7, 1922, six students from the Indiana University Training School for Nurses in Indianapolis discussed a dream: to create an organization to recognize nursing merit and scholarship. The women went for a picnic along the “Old Tow Path,” and discussed the possibility of creating an honorary Greek-letter fraternity to do just that.[1]
These six women founded Sigma Theta Tau, a nursing honor society. Throughout the years, IU women helped to build the society into Sigma Theta Tau International (Sigma), a thriving organization that now has over 135,000 active members in more than 90 countries.
“The Six Stars:” The Founders of Sigma Theta Tau
Often referred to as “The Six Stars, ” the founders of Sigma Theta Tau were Elizabeth Russell Belford, Edith Moore Copeland, Marie Hippelsteel Lingeman, Dorothy Garrigus Adams, Elizabeth McWilliams Miller, and Mary Tolle Wright.[2]
Edith Moore Copeland and Dorothy Garrigus Adams came from Brazil, IN. Moore was loved for her “cheerful attitude” and enthusiasm while Garrigus was known for her “nice disposition,” as well as her love for children.[3]
Elizabeth Russell Belford, from Jeffersonville, IN and the quiet Marie Hippelsteel Lingeman of North Manchester, IN were both admired for their “great executive abilities.”[4]
Elizabeth McWilliams Miller was the only non-Hoosier of the bunch, hailing from Olney, IL. She was a talented pianist and was said to have a “lovely voice.”[5]
The leader of the six stars was Mary Tolle Wright from Lebanon, IN. It was Tolle Wright who “called the meetings, kept the ‘stars’ together, and pushed them on to make their dream [of a nursing society] come true.”[6]


The six women “were just simpatico,” as one founder later described the friendship.[7] The six lived in three adjoining rooms, so the young women quickly became friends as they lived and studied together.[8]
Starting Sigma Theta Tau
The initial idea to start Sigma Theta Tau emerged from a desire for a sense of recognition and belonging in the nursing profession.
Tolle Wright studied at Indiana University Bloomington in 1919 and had been, in her own words, “imbued by the campus spirit,” a feeling she missed when she moved to Indianapolis to attend the IU Training School for Nurses.[9] After describing to her friends such collegiality and belonging, the idea was born to create an organization dedicated to interpersonal and professional development for those in the nursing profession.[10]
At the time of Sigma Theta Tau’s creation, there was very little recognition for excellence in nursing. The women felt that “there was no real outside life for which a student could word toward achievement or recognition.”[11]
Tolle Wright recalled, “We were disturbed that some of the potentially excellent students in the Training School were finding themselves disillusioned in the daily routine and classes, perhaps feeling that there were really no rewards for excellence in performance.”[12]
After their picnic discussion, the six nursing students took their idea to their teacher and director, Ethel P. Clarke. They would need permission to create a fraternity on campus. Known as “extremely critical and strict,”Clarke had high expectations for her nurses, and the students were unsure of how she would react to the suggestion of a fraternity. [13]
They handed Ms. Clarke an 11-page proposal for the fraternity. The director requested to take the pages to her apartment to think it over.[14] The students were pleasantly surprised when she brought it back a few days later and offered her full support, provided that the society recognized merit and scholarship, and be located in an academic setting. Clarke’s support of the organization’s founding led to her being recognized as the mother of Sigma Theta Tau.[15]

Having received Mrs. Clarke’s permission, the six students began to turn their idea of a fraternity into a reality. They defined objectives and requirements for the organization. They also designed an insignia, decided on the orchid as their flower, chose their colors, and designed a pin. [16] The pins were created with amethyst stones, and, as Mary Tolle Wright said years later, “I guess we thought we were real pearls, ‘cause we had six of them put in the corners for the six founders.”[17]
The name of the organization, Sigma Theta Tau, was selected from the letters of the Greek words “storgé (love), tharsos (courage), and time (honor).” These words expressed the qualities every nurse should posess. [18]
The founding process required hard work and dedication. The six stars reflected on what a nurse should look like and standards of excellence for their society. Mary Tolle Wright later said on the organization’s founding, “We were learning not from our strengths, but through our weaknesses.”[19]
To create the organization’s charter, bylaws, and constitution, the six students decided they needed additional guidance. The women turned to Dorothy Ford Buschmann, a 1919 graduate of the IU Training School for Nurses.[20] While Ford Buschmann was a student at IU Bloomington, she was active in Greek life and thus familiar with such constitutions and bylaws.[21]
Dorothy Ford Buschmann helped the women write the necessary societial materials. In order to respect Ethel P. Clarke’s request for the society to focus on merit and scholarship, the organization was modeled after the Greek fraternities of major universities. Buschmann enlisted her husband C. Severin Buschmann, a lawyer, for help in making the fraternity official. The students did not have money to pay legal fees, so Mr. Buschmann did the work for free.[22]

Sigma Theta Tau was approved by the Indiana Secretary of State on October 5, 1922. Dorothy Ford Buschmann was made an honorary member and became a sponsor of the Alpha Chapter. She is known as “Big Sister” and the “seventh star” of the organization.
As an approved fraternity, the Alpha Chapter held its first induction ceremony on October 16, 1922 with Mary Tolle Wright as Chapter President and Buschmann as Conductress.[23] Induction invitations were extended to nursing students who demonstrated the society’s values, showed potential leadership, and possessed desirable personal characteristics.[24]
However, things rarely go smoothly in the beginning. At the first induction ceremony, the drapes, that the women hung up for decoration, came tumbling down mid-ceremony and the poles hit a few inductees . Some of the founders could not help but laugh, much to the dismay of Mary Tolle Wright, who considered it her responsibility to ensure the event ran smoothly.[25] Despite the drape disaster, the ceremony continued.
A second induction was held December 2, 1922 for Sigma Theta Tau’s first pledges. Attendees recalled that it was a “very formal, very solemn,” event.[26] The four inductees were Ethel P. Clarke, Flossie Manley, Creta Malsbury and Mirian Johnston. Once pledged, they wore orchid enamel pledge pins until induction night, when the women pledged their devotion to the organization and nursing.[27]
Mary Tolle Wright reflected, “Sigma Theta Tau became a living part of our nursing heritage from that day forward.”[28] In November 1923, it was unanimously decided that the names and photos of fraternity members should appear in the Arbutus, the campus yearbook.

The six stars and early Sigma Theta Tau members had high hopes for the society. Even Ethel P. Clarke was suspected of having such hopes. Mary Tolle Wright recalled a class project given to her by Clarke, in which Tolle Wright surveyed how many state universities had nursing schools.
With this in mind, bylaws were developed with the intent to start chapters at other nursing schools.[29] Wright later reflected on the project, saying “I cannot help but believe that, even then, Mrs. Clarke must have been doing some of her own dreaming beyond Alpha Chapter, but wisely wanted it to be our idea.”[30]
“The Seventh Star:” Buschmann’s Legacy
As the founding students of Sigma Theta Tau graduated and moved away from Indianapolis, Dorothy Ford Buschmann, IU nursing alumna and “seventh star,” stepped up to lead the organization.
Ford Buschmann was elected Sigma president in 1927, a position she held for seven years. That same year, the organization elected a Board of Directors.[31] Ford Buschmann was determined to earn national recognition for Sigma and expand its reach. She first reached out to Washington University in St. Louis and persuaded the school to form the second Sigma chapter.[32] By 1934, six schools had Sigma Theta Tau chapters: Indiana University, Washington University, University of Iowa, University of Minnesota, University of Kansas, and University of Ohio.
The organization also expanded its outreach efforts under Ford Buschmann’s leadership. The first Sigma Theta Tau national convention was held in 1929 in Indianapolis.[33] Two years later, a second convention was held in St. Louis. The conferences fostered a greater sense of community within Sigma and offered professional development workshops. [34]
Ford Buschmann’s guiding principle was that nursing was a moral endeavor from which knowledge and service emerged. Ford Buschmann resigned her presidency in 1934 due to conflicting perspectives with the Board.[35]

Buschmann’s portrait hangs in the Founder’s Room of Sigma Theta Tau International Indianapolis headquarters and the International President presents an annual award in Dorothy Ford Buschmann’s name.
Navigating Change
At the time of the organization’s formation, nursing research did not receive as much attention as research in other fields. Sigma, however, recognized the importance of nursing research beginning in the 1930s. In 1936, the society awarded the first nursing research scholarship in the nation.[36] The society awarded $600 to Alice Christ Malone to assist her research in achievement measures among college students.[37]
During the 1940s until the 1960s, Sigma Theta Tau saw periods of great change in the nursing profession. While the organization only had 1200 members and six chapters across the country in 1946, the number of new nursing programs at major universities had increased by the end of World War II. [38] However, by 1962, Sigma membership swelled to over 6000 with 23 chapters nationwide.

Since the organization’s founding on the Indianapolis campus, Sigma Theta Tau and the IU Nursing School remained interconnected. In the early 1970s, the organization moved into office space located in the IUPUI School of Nursing building and hired an executive officer, Nell Watts.[39] Sigma stayed in the school until 1989 when their own building, just off of campus, was completed.
The Nell Watts Era of Sigma: International Growth and a Permanent Home
Nell Watts, an alumna of Indiana University, became the first Sigma Executive Officer in 1974. Watts earned a BS in Nursing Education in 1953 and a MS in Nursing Administration in 1957.[40] Watts worked as an assistant professor of nursing at the IU School of Nursing in Indianapolis from 1959 to 1962.[41]
She believed that recognition for excellence was a core part of the organization. Sigma Theta Tau created six awards, one for each of the founders, to recognize member excellence. When the awards were proposed, Watts was told the first criteria should be, “If there’s no deserving candidate, this award won’t be given.” Watts, however, objected to this idea. She believed that there would always be deserving candidates, they just had to be found.[42]

In 1981, Watts was approached by a student at IUPUI who was from the American University of Beirut. She had been inducted into Sigma Theta Tau but was returning home. The student asked Watts if there could be a chapter in Lebanon.[43] Watts liked the idea and took the suggestion to the Sigma Council, which agreed that international chapters could be established.
Over the next few years, Sigma Theta Tau members attended international conferences and found widespread interest in nursing research. After many challenges and obstacles, Sigma Theta Tau held its first research conference in 1984 in Madrid, Spain. The society held a second conference in Seoul, Korea and a third in Jerusalem. Conferences have now been held in numerous countries. [44]
As the organization began to grow internationally, a new name was needed and thus, it became Sigma Theta Tau International in the 1980s. In 1988, the first Canadian chapter was inducted, and in 1989, chapters were formed in Seoul, Korea, and Taipai, Taiwan.[45]
Aware of the growing international interest in nursing research, the organization became interested in creating a nursing library. Under Watts’ leadership, Sigma Theta Tau International began to move forward with this idea in 1984 and received $40,000 by Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company, to do a feasibility study about the usefulness and support of such a collection.[46]
In addition, Sigma wanted to find out if the nursing community would support a physical building for the library. Survey results showed that Sigma members wanted a building and better access to programs.
A ten-year plan, called “Blueprint for Excellence,” was created by Nell Watts and Carole Hudgings.[47] The plan laid out the goals and action plans for the library. The main goal was to further develop the scientific base for the practice of nursing and to focus on knowledge development, knowledge dissemination, and knowledge utilization.

Once the building was designed, potential sites were located for construction. After a number of the sites did not work out, Nell Watts returned to Indiana University for a space to run Sigma. The organization was given a long-term lease on a university property, but they ran into an unexpected problem; the university gave Sigma a triangular site but Sigma had plans for a rectangular building.[48] With this new obstacle, the building had to be redesigned to fit into the space.

The building was redesigned and finally construction began in 1989. With the construction completed, the building was dedicated on November 15, 1989 and named the Center of Nursing Scholarship. An Indiana founder’s room was established in the building as a tribute to Sigma Theta Tau’s founders.[49] Sigma Theta Tau International still operates out of this building today.
Nell Watts was called a visionary by former Sigma Theta Tau International President Sister Rosemary Donley and a “legend in her own time” by former President Vernice Ferguson.[50] Due to her vision and commitment, Watts earned several awards. The Indiana League for Nursing named her the Indiana Nurse of the Year in 1975 and in that same year she received the IU School of Nursing Distinguished Alumni Award. Indiana University awarded Watts its highest honor—an honorary doctorate in 1990.[51]
Today, there are roughly 530 Sigma chapters at more than 700 institutions of higher education throughout the world. The organization contributes more than $200,000 annually to nursing research through grants, scholarships, and awards.[52] Sigma’s incredible success is built on the foundation formed by Indiana University faculty and students: the “six stars,” Ethel Clarke, Dorothy Buschmann, and Nell Watts.
Bibliography
- “Six Stars and a Dream,” Mss 51, Box 102, Folder 29, Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, IUPUI University Library, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis.
- “Sister Rosemary Donley’s Interview with Founders,”11/30/1976. Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives.
- “Mary Tolle Wright Biography Sheet,” Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, IUPUI University Library, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis.
- “Alpha Chapter,” Mss 51, Box 102, Folder 29, Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives.
- Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care. Bloomington: Indiana University Printing Services, 1989.
- Owen, Mary. “Ethel P. Clarke,” Medical Trail Booklet.
- “Mary Tolle Wright,”Mss 51, Box 101, Folder 15, Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives.
- Hank, Elizabeth. “Dorothy Ford Buschmann and Sigma Theta Tau,” Working Nurse. https://www.workingnurse.com/articles/Dorothy-Ford-Buschmann-and-Sigma-Theta-Tau.
- “Edith Moore Copeland,” Mss 51,Box 101, Folder 12, Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives.
- American Nursing: A Biographical Dictionary. Vol. 3. New York: Springer Publishing Company, Inc, 2000.
- “Alice Crist Malone,” Legacy.com. https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/tucson/obituary.aspx?n=alice-crist-malone&pid=125476490.
- “Historical Note.” Sigma Theta Tau International, Inc. Records, 1920-2007, Ruth Lilly Special Collections & Archives.
- “Nell Jackson Watts.” University Honors & Awards, Indiana University, https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/search-awards/honoree.shtml?honoreeID=192
- “Sister Rosemary Donley’s Interview with Nell J. Watts,” Box 101, Folder 37, Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives.
- “Sigma Theta Tau International Ten Year Plan.” Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives.
- “Nell Jackson Watts, Obituary.” Legacy.com. https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/indystar/obituary.aspx?n=nell-jackson-watts&pid=144240406
- Sigma: Global Nursing Excellence,” Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. https://www.sigmanursing.org.
- Sigma Theta Tau International. “Ten Year Plan Status Report.” Reflections [Complete issue : 1985 February – March], Vol 11. https://sigma.nursingrepository.org/handle/10755/582105
Notes
[1] “Six Stars and a Dream”
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] “Sister Rosemary Donley’s Interview with Founders”
[8] Ibid.
[9] “Mary Tolle Wright Biography Sheet”
[10] “Alpha Chapter”
[11] “Sister Rosemary Donley’s Interview with Founders”
[12] Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care.
[13] Owen, Mary.
[14] “Mary Tolle Wright,”
[15] “Six Stars and a Dream”
[16] Ibid.
[17]“Mary Tolle Wright”
[18] Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care.
[19] “Alpha Chapter”
[20] Hank, Elizabeth.
[21] “Sister Rosemary Donley’s Interview with Founders”
[22] “Edith Moore Copeland”
[23] “Alpha Chapter”
[24] Hank, Elizabeth
[25] “Mary Tolle Wright”
[26] “Alpha Chapter”
[27] Ibid.
[28] Ibid.
[29] Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care.
[30] “Alpha Chapter”
[31] American Nursing: A Biographical Dictionary.
[32] Ibid.
[33] Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care.
[34] Ibid.
[35] American Nursing: A Biographical Dictionary.
[36] Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care.
[37] “Alice Crist Malone”
[38] “Historical Note.”
[39] Ibid.
[40] “Nell Jackson Watts.”
[41] Ibid.
[42] “Sister Rosemary Donley’s Interview with Nell J. Watts”
[43] Ibid.
[44] Ibid.
[45] Ibid.
[46] Ibid.
[47] “Sigma Theta Tau International Ten Year Plan.”
[48] “Sister Rosemary Donley’s Interview with Nell J. Watts”
[49] Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care.
[50] “Nell Jackson Watts, Obituary.”
[51]“Nell Jackson Watts.”
[52] “Sigma: Global Nursing Excellence,”