Convention 1938: Monterey Bay, California
The 40th Convention was held June 25-30, 1938, at the stylish Del Monte Hotel in Monterey Bay, California. In 1942, this venue became part of the Naval Postgraduate School of the US Navy and no longer serves as a hotel.
At this Convention, Founder Helen Dodge’s diamond badge was presented to the Grand President. The badge was passed down to subsequent Grand Presidents until it was retired in 1966 when it was retired and placed on display in the Central Office. Unfortunately, the badge was lost in a robbery during the 1980s.
During the closing banquet, Gamma Phi Beta went “on the air” when Knox Manning, a news broadcaster from Los Angeles station KNX, took time out from world news to sum up the results of an informal survey taken during Convention. The survey revealed that the ladies attending Convention still preferred marriage to a career. Only one girl out of 400 voted for a career over marriage but even she qualified her answer by adding “at this point” to her response. Survey results concluded that the scandalous but very fashionable Duke and Duchess of Windsor were the most desired dinner guests. Given the choice of going to a movie or spending an evening with a good book, 180 chose a movie and 220 preferred a book. Their pet peeves were old-fashioned pranks such as tickling and pinching but for one girl, “sagging slips and crooked seams” topped the list while another abhorred “cigars and spats.”