PEO Sisterhood - NY State Chapter

New York State Chapter P.E.O. Sisterhood

Founded in 1869 as a small college society, the P.E.O. Sisterhood expanded entirely off-campus. Today P.E.O. has grown to almost 250,000 women in chapters throughout the United States and Canada.

To fulfill its mission of helping women pursue higher education, P.E.O.s support six international philanthropic projects: Scholar Award, International Peace Scholarship, Program for Continuing Education, Educational Loan Fund, STAR Scholarship, and Cottey College.

At the Supreme Convention of P.E.O. in 1927, the gift of Cottey College was accepted by the Sisterhood, and New York State became the 22nd State Chapter, when Inez Callen Bagley, first state president, proudly received the charter of membership.  P.E.O. had come to New York in 1899 when Chapter A, Highland was organized with 8 charter members. Inez Bagley had been chosen as the organizer for the eastern district and had begun working toward a New York State Chapter in 1921. From that original State Chapter, NY has grown to 79 chapters with nearly 2,500 members.

The purpose of this website is three-fold:

• To provide information to NY State Chapters so they can help women obtain financial assistance for higher education.
• To help NY State P.E.O.s learn more about each other.
• To communicate about P.E.O. events and activities in New York.

For more information about the P.E.O. Sisterhood go to: www.peointernational.org.

In addition, the P.E.O. Sisterhood owns and operates Cottey College in Nevada, Missouri. Cottey is a college for women offering both two-year and four-year degree programs. For more information about this outstanding institution go to: www.cottey.edu.