Lists of "Seven Sisters"

On this site:

• The Seven Sisters
• The Seven Sisters of Petroleum
• The Seven Sisters of American Protestant Churches
• The Seven Sisters of the Telephone (The "Baby Bells")
• Other lists of Seven
  • seven capital sins
  • seven virtues
  • the seven sacraments
  • the seven churches of Asia
  • the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit

The Seven Sisters

Colleges that were considered the "female" counterpart to the Ivy League, which formerly was all male

• Barnard College (New York, NY) - founded in 1889; associated with Columbia University.
• Bryn Mawr College (Bryn Mawr, PA) - Woodrow Wilson was once its president; alumnae include actress Katharine Hepburn
• Mount Holyoke College (South Hadley, MA) - founded in 1837, the first of the Seven Sister schools, and the first institution of higher education for women in the U.S.
• Radcliffe College (Cambridge, MA) - emerged in 1893 as an institution adjacent to, yet separate from, Harvard University. In the 1970s, the two schools merged and women were officially granted Harvard degrees
• Smith College (Northampton, MA) - Australian educator and author Jill Ker Conway became Smith's first woman president in 1975
• Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY) - coeducational since 1969, it was the first of the Seven Sisters to admit both sexes.
• Wellesley College (Wellesley, MA) - Wellesley's presidents have all been women, many of them Wellesley alumnae; Hillary Rodham is an alumna

The Seven Sisters of Petroleum

Seven petroleum companies that dominated the world's oil drilling, refining, and distribution

• Exxon--Originally Standard Oil of New Jersey; used the name Esso; the largest piece of the original Standard Oil trust; merged with Mobil in 1999 to become Exxon-Mobil
• Mobil--Originally Standard Oil Company Of New York: SOCONY; one of the larger pieces of Standard Oil; merged a small piece, the Vacuum company, to become Socony-Vacuum; later became Socony-Mobil, and finally Mobil; merged with Exxon in 1999 to become Exxon-Mobil
• Chevron--Petroleum discovered in 1876 near Los Angeles by what became the Pacific Coast Oil Co; Standard Oil established an office in San Francisco 1878, which was consolidated with Standard Oil (Iowa) 1885; Standard acquired Pacific Coast Oil in 1900; reorganized 1906 as Standard Oil (California); Standard Oil Trust broken up1911; Standard Oil of California (Socal) began using the chevron logo on its signs 1931; began using the Chevron as a brand name 1937; merged Gulf Oil Company in 1985 to become Chevron USA; merged in 2001 with Texaco to become ChevronTexaco
• Gulf--merged 1985 by Standard Oil of California to become part of Chevron
• Texaco--originally The Texas Company; began using the Texaco brand 1911; changed corporate name to Texaco, Inc. 1959; acquired Getty Oil Co. 1984; merged in 2001 with Chevron to become ChevronTexaco
• Royal Dutch-Shell Group--formed 1907 by combining operations of the British company known as The “Shell” Transport and Trading Company p.l.c.,  and the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company.
• BP (British Petroleum)--originally (1909)Anglo-Persian Oil Company (although operations in Iran go back to 1901), then (1927) the Anglo-Iranian Company; renamed BP (1954) after nationalization of Iranian assets by the Iranian government; has swallowed many other companies, including Amoco (started as Standard of Indiana [1889]; bought Amoco 1923; changed its name to Amoco 1985; acquired by BP 1998) and Arco (formed by 1966 merger of Atlantic [a Standard Oil piece] with Richfield; FTC approved merger by BP 2000); in 1987, merged Standard of Ohio (Sohio) the first of the Standard Oil companies, and the last to use the name Standard.

Seven Sisters of American Protestantism

The seven protestant denominational structures in the United States that were considered "mainline", and now are mostly quite liberal.

• The Episcopal Church--organized 1789; descended from the Church of England; now undergoing a split provoked by the consecration of an openly homosexual bishop and endorsement of same-sex unions.
• The Presbyterian Church (USA)--organized 1983 by reunion of churches split since the civil war; first organized in America as Presbytery of Philadelphia, 1706; Synod of Philadelphia, 1716; first General Assembly 1789; originally strongly Calvinist; but no longer in agreement over doctrine; currently stressed by tensions between orthodox and liberals over homosexuality and support of radical groups in the U.S. and abroad.
• The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America--organized 1988, completing a process which began in 1960 of mergers of formerly ethnic churches
• The United Church of Christ--organized 1957 by merger of Congregational churches (going back to the "Pilgrims" and New England Puritans) with Evangelical United Brethren; stresses organic unity over doctrinal agreement
• American Baptist Churches USA--in 1630s Roger Williams was forced out of Massachusetts for his views, and then established the first Baptist church in America in what became Rhode Island; in 1707 first Baptist organization formed; in 1845 southern Baptists withdrew over issue of slavery; Northern Baptist Convention organized in 1907; renamed American Baptist Convention in 1950, and then American Baptist Churches USA in 1972.  ABCUSA churches are active in social issues, but the trend is in the liberal direction.  Although not as liberal as the Episcopal, Methodist, or Presbyterian church organizations, the orthodox-liberal tension is still there.
• Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ)--formally organized 1968, but the movement goes back as far as 1808; this is the most liberal of the "Campbellite" movement
• The United Methodist Church--organized 1968, but origins go back to colonial America; Methodist Episcopal Church organized 1784; currently stressed by tensions between liberals and orthodox over homosexuality and other issues

The links above are to the official denominational sites, and as such tend to downplay controversy within their organizations.  There is useful information there, though.  For another perspective, visit some of the sites given below.

• American Anglican Council
• The Institute on Religion and Democracy
• Presbyterians for Renewal
• Presbyterian Layman
• Voices of Orthodox Women

Lists of Seven

• A Site on Tinctures
• http://www.cdli.ca/CITE/medieval_heraldry_intro.htm
• Intro to Heraldry for Children
• Another Site on Tinctures
• http://itsa.ucsf.edu/~snlrc/britannia/flowers/heraldry.html
• List of Stones

Church Sevens

Seven Capital Sins

*  St Gregory the Great has Tristia (Sadness) instead of Acedia (Sloth).

Seven Virtues

The first four of these are called the natural virtues, as they were known to the pagan Greeks.  The last three are the Christian virtues, as enumerated by St Paul in 1 Corinthians 13.

Other lists of seven virtues:

The Seven Contrary Virtues which are specific opposites to the Seven Capital Sins: humility versus pride, kindness versus envy, abstinence versus gluttony, chastity versus lust, patience versus anger, liberality versus greed, and diligence versus sloth.

The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy are a medieval list of things one can do to help others: to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to give shelter to strangers, to clothe the naked, to visit the sick, to minister to prisoners, and to bury the dead.

The Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy are: to admonish the sinner, to instruct the ignorant, to counsel the doubtful, to comfort the sorrowful, to bear wrongs patiently, to forgive all injuries, and to pray for the living and the dead.

The Seven Bushido Virtues: Right decisions, Valor, Benevolence, Respect, Honesty, Honor, and Loyalty. 

More on this page.

The Seven Sacraments

Only the first two are recognized as sacraments by most protestant churches.

• Baptism, the Eucharist, Confirmation, Matrimony, Ordination, Penance, and [Extreme] Unction

The Seven Churches of Asia

See Revelation chapters 1,  2 and 3.

• Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea

The Sevenfold Gifts of the Holy Spirit

As listed in Isaiah 11 (note that piety is from the Greek and Latin versions; in the Hebrew the sixth word translates as "fear of the Lord"):

• wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, piety, and the fear of the Lord.

As listed in Romans 12:6-8:

• prophecy, ministry [or service], teaching, exhortation, giving, ruling [or leadership], and [showing] mercy.