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DAUGHTERS OF ISIS

[[image  - half of photograph on previous page, black and white photo of members of Daughters of Isis]]

The fraternal organization, like its male counterpart, accepts membership with no regard to race, color, or creed.

As of this year, there are more than 160 courts organized throughout the USA and overseas in Germany.

On a national level, the Daughters of Isis annually award the Ursual Hines Botts' four-year education to deserving and needy coeds to attend colleges and universities of their choice.

On a local level, courts in cities and towns all over the USA do the same, although on a smaller scale.

The Imperial Court also assists the PH Shrine Health and Medical Research Foundation in their national charitable programs. In recent years, this foundation had made financial grants and donations of more than $3.6 million to universities, colleges, and medical research centers all over the USA.

Currently serving as the Imperial Commandress of the Imperial Court is daughter Thelma M. Gordon, from Abdual Court 87, Huntington, West Va. Other elected officers assisting Mrs. Gordon are Mrs. Anita G. Adams, deputy imperial commandress from Tuskegee, Ala; Mrs. Anne M. Bolden, first lieutenant commandress, Bloomfield, Conn; Mrs. Idee Dodson, second lieutenant commandress, Detroit, Mich; Mrs. Mary H. Pamphlin, imperial treasurer, Durham, N. C.; Mrs. Grace T. Brooks, pmperial recordress, Fort Wayne , Ind; Mrs. Katie Ezell Roseman, imperial oriental guide, Gary, Ind; Mrs. Phyllis Mckoy, imperial first ceremonial daughter, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Mrs. Dorothy Shelton, imperial second ceremonial daughter, Buffalo, N.Y.; Mrs. Gwendolyn Thompson, imperial inside spy, Milwaukee, Wisc; and Mrs. Jewel R. Lang, imperial outside spy, Cincinatti, Ohio.

[[image - black and white photograph of Mrs. Thelma Mitchell Gordon]]

Mrs. Thelma Mitchell Gordon, the elected imperial commandress of the Imperial Court, Daughters of Isis, Prince Hall affiliated, is a fraternally oriented daughter of a Prince Hall Mason and has been one for more than 50 years.

Daughter Gordon was a reluctant joiner of the Daughters of Isis some 20 years ago. Today, as the highest elected officer in the auxiliary to AEAONMS, she likes her work.

She was born in a Prince Hall family atmosphere, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Mitchell, a 33rd degree mason who had been a member of a Prince Hall masonic lodge for more than 50 years at the time of his death.

Her mother is Mrs. Essie Mitchell, a co-founder and chartered member of Evergreen Chapter, Order of Eastern Star.

Daughter Gordon is married to Noble Harry P. Gordon, also a 33rd degree mason and the present Imperial Deputy of the Desert for Prince Hall Shriners in West Virginia.

Her son is Noble Thomas J. Gordon, a 32nd degree PH mason and a past first ceremonial master in his PH shrine temple.

Three of Daughter Gordon's grandchildren, James, Sherrie and Thomas, are looking forward to membership in this illustrious family of freemasons and OES, although at the present time they are a bit too young to realize their ambition, or know they want to join.

As the Imperia Commandress of the order, Daughter Gordon maintains office in the Prichard building in downtown Huntington where she and a secretary keep bust all day long every week. 

At the age of three, Dt. Gordon moved from her hometown in Connellsville, Pa. to Huntington, West Virginia, where she grew up and attended elementary and secondary schools, graduating from Douglas High School. She received her bachelor's degree from Wilberforce University in Xenia, Ohio and has done further study in education at West Virginia State College, Charleston; Hampton nstitute, Hampton, Va.; the University of Cincinnati in Ohio; West Virginia University, and Marshall University.

A former teacher and a great lover of children, Dt. Gordon taught in the school system of West Virginia for many years until her early retirement in 1972.

In addition to her work as head of the Daughters of sis, Mrs. Gordon finds time to serve as a Sunday School teacher and vacation bible teacher at Young Chapel A.M.E. Church; is a member of the executive board of the Scott Community Center; member of the local branch NAACP; charter member and past president of the Huntington Chapter of Links, Inc.; the WMUL-TV advisory council; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority; National Retired Teachers Association of America; Huntington Galleries and West Va. Association of Retired School Employees.

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