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History

Of

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was founded on the campus of Howard University January 13, 1913 by twenty–two phenom-
enal collegiate women who saw no limit to their vision for sisterhood, scholarship and service. The organization is a sis-
terhood of predominately Black college-educated women. The private, not-for-profit organization of Delta Sigma Theta
Sorority was incorporated in 1930. Delta’s Founders set high scholastic achievement as their standard for membership
and emphasized educational and cultural activities over social ones. They stepped out on faith to march with the suffra-
gettes and took a stand for social justice as their first public act.

(First Row): Winona Cargile Alexander, Madree Penn White, Wertie Blackwell Weaver, Vashti Turley Murphy, Ethel Cuff Black, Frederica Chase
Dodd, (Second Row): Osceola Macarthy Adams, Pauline Oberdorfer Minor, Edna Brown Coleman, Edith Mott Young, Marguerite Young Alexander,
Naomi Sewell Richardson, Eliza P.Shippen, (Third Row): Zephyr Chisom Carter, Myra Davis Hemmings, Mamie Reddy Rose, Bertha Pitts Campbell,
Florence Letcher Toms, Olive Jones, Jessie McGuire Dent, Jimmie Bugg Middleton, Ethel Carr Watson

As a collective front, they were women who demonstrated the need to de-emphasize the social aspect of sorority life and
focused on serving and supporting humankind. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was the only group of African American
women to participate in the Women's Suffrage March in Washington, D.C., March 1913. In an environment faced with
much opposition and living in an era where the plight of Blacks was bleak, these audacious women felt it necessary that
the foundation of the organization be rooted in scholarship, sisterhood and service.

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. has clearly distinguished itself as a public service organization that boldly confronts the
challenges of Americans, especially African Americans. Over the years, a wide range of programs addressing education,
health, international development, and strengthening of the African American family have evolved. In realizing its mis-
sion to provide assistance to those in need, Delta Sigma Theta provides an extensive array of public service initiatives
through its Five-Point Programmatic Thrust of Economic Development, Educational Development, International Aware-
ness and Involvement, Physical and Mental Health, and Political Awareness and Involvement. Some national initiatives
implemented by the Sorority’s chapters include: the Dr. Betty Shabazz Delta Academy, Delta GEMS, EMBODI, Finan-
cial Fortitude, Mary Help of the Sick Mission Hospital, Delta Days in the Nation’s Capital and Delta Days at the United
Nations.

The Grand Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. has a membership of over 300,000 predominately Black college-
educated women. The Sorority currently has over 1,000 chapters located in the United States, England, Japan (Tokyo
and Okinawa), Germany, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Jamaica, and the Republic of Korea.

Current President Beverly Evans Smith’s 2019-2021 biennial theme, “Joy In Our Sisterhood, Power In Our Voice, Ser-
vice In Our Hearts,” accurately depicts the vision of the Sorority—Sisterhood, Scholarship, Service.