MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE – In honor of its Founders Day, Kappa Delta Sorority National Headquarters will open its doors on Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., to welcome more than 200 members and special guests from across the country to tour the renovated National Headquarters building at 3205 Players Lane, Memphis, Tennessee. A special presentation and Founders Day message from National President Alison Argersinger will take place at 1 p.m.

The building houses the national archives and museum, meeting space, bedrooms for overnight guests and office areas. Located in the Southwind business area of Memphis, Kappa Delta National Headquarters recently underwent an extensive building renovation in partnership with architecture firm Looney, Ricks, Kiss, contractor Grinder Taber Grinder and museum design firm 1220 Exhibits Inc. The over-a-million dollar maintenance update included repairs and improvements to the 24-year-old building including an upgraded HVAC system, advanced security system, telephone system and technology upgrades, roof and drainage repairs, ADA-compliant bathrooms, humidity-controlled, key-pad accessed archives room, custom museum cases to preserve artifacts, additional ergonomic office space for the growing number of staff, landscaping, outdoor lighting and more.

Furnishings include French and English antiques from the early to mid-1800s and a Czechoslovakian crystal chandelier, one of the last commissioned by Graham’s Lighting from Pilutti Luigi Lampadari, one of Italy’s finest lighting fixture shops. Design services were provided by Linda Wingo of Wingo Design.

Open House attendees will have the opportunity to meet current and past national leaders and two Kappa Delta Women of Achievement: Suzy Spafford, American cartoonist and creator of Suzy’s Zoo, a greeting card and stationery line sold worldwide, and Patricia Barnes (aka Sister Schubert), founder of Sister Schubert’s Homemade Rolls, a baking company that distributes bread and rolls across the U.S. The festivities will include a dedication of the 119-year-old organization’s national museum, which includes prized artifacts dating back to its founding in 1897 at State Female Normal School, now Longwood University, in Farmville, Virginia. Kappa Delta members featured in the museum include acclaimed artist Georgia O’Keeffe, astronaut Bonnie Dunbar and ballpark stadium architect Janet Marie Smith.

“Kappa Delta National Headquarters is more than a building; it is ‘home’ to our more than 250,000 members,” said Argersinger. “We are honored to be its caretakers and preserve it for generations to come.”

The National Headquarters of Kappa Delta Sorority relocated to Memphis from Denver in 1992 upon construction of the building, an 18,734 square-foot Georgian-style structure, adapted in a neo-Palladian manner. It was the first building built specifically to serve as Kappa Delta’s headquarters.

CONTACT: 

Heidi Roy – 901-746-3655; heidi.roy@kappadelta.org

Kappa Delta Sorority is a national organization for women with more than 250,000 members, 165 active collegiate chapters and more than 500 chartered alumnae chapters nationwide. Kappa Delta is active in a number of philanthropic endeavors, including the prevention of child abuse and confidence-building programming with the Girl Scouts of the USA. In 2009, the sorority created the Confidence Coalition to promote confidence in girls and women. In 2010, Kappa Delta established International Girls Day to empower girls to reach their potential. It also created International Women’s Friendship Month for women everywhere. Kappa Delta’s national headquarters is in Memphis, Tenn. For more information, visit www.kappadelta.org.