Gretchen Borland Davies, University of Washington, was born on October 9, 1903. She attended the University of Washington in Seattle, where she joined Theta Alpha Chapter in 1921. She married Thomas Dayton Davies in 1925.
Davies was Tri Delta’s director of panhellenics from 1936 to 1938. In 1938, she became president of Tri Delta, a position she held until 1942. During Davies’ presidency, the outbreak of World War II prompted Tri Delta to contemplate its best pathway for supporting the Allied cause. Recognizing the importance of women’s education both to the war effort and postwar reconstruction, Davies supported the recommendation adopted at the 1942 Convention that Tri Delta offer scholarships to juniors and seniors studying subjects considered “useful to the United Nations in the war and the postwar fight for equality of opportunity.” This recommendation ultimately led to the creation of the Delta Delta Delta War Service Projects program.
In addition to her work with Tri Delta, Davies was an accomplished artist. Her paintings were featured in exhibits at the Seattle Art Museum and, in a special exhibition of Northwestern art, the Smithsonian Institution. Davies passed away in January 1984.
