Page 12 - 2025 RMAC Jabberwock Scholarship Program

THE HISTORY OF
A Journey of Scholrarhip, Elegance and Grace
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was founded on the campus of Howard University January 13, 1913 by twenty–two
phenomenal collegiate women who saw no limit to their vision for sisterhood, scholarship and service. The
organization is a sisterhood of predominantly 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 suffragettes and took a stand for social justice as their first public act.

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 mission 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 Awareness 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, Financial 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.

Elsie Cooke-Holmes serves as the International President and Chair of the National Board of Directors of Delta
Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. for the 2022-2025 term. Under her leadership, the organization moves forward with the
theme: "Forward with Fortitude: Engaging Our Sisterhood, Empowering Our Communities, Elevating
Our Impact."

(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

12 HERSTORY: MAKING A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE