Archives West Finding Aid

Eloise Knowles, the daughter of federal Judge Hiram Knowles and his wife, was born in about 1872 in Deer Lodge, Montana. After her early education in Deer Lodge, she attended the University of Montana In Missoula, Montana, and graduated in 1898, as one of the first two graduates from the college. She obtained her undergraduate degree in philosophy and a few years later obtained an upper level degree in philosophy from the University of Chicago. While still an undergraduate, Knowles served as an assistant in the Preparatory Department of English during the 1896-97 term. She went on to be an instructor in the Art Department. She founded Theta Pi which became Kappa Alpha Theta in 1909 and in 1925 she founded Penetralia, which later became Mortar Board. Knowles worked at the university until 1915 when ill health forced her to go to California on a leave of absence. She died on April 9, 1916.