Page 3 - NewsletterNovember

Eight Decades of Sisterhood and Success

By Thelma C. Ivery, Ph.D.
Chapter Historian
Decade Three - 1957 through 1966

Soror Olivia C. Green (1956 – 1958), the tenth Soror Alexander was succeeded as president by
president of our 35 member chapter, led it through the Soror Gwendolyn Thompson ( later Ligon), our twelfth
nomenclature revision that was decreed at the 1956 Na- president, whose term was from 1962 – 1964. In 1963 a
tional Convention presided over by Grand President Montgomery Centennial Committee organized to cele-
Dorothy I. Height. Greek names would no longer be brate the 100th year anniversary of the Emancipation
used for alumnae chapters; rather they would be desig- Proclamation and to produce a souvenir booklet which
nated according to their geographical locations. Our would highlight “Negro Progress.” The book included
chapter name was therefore changed from Alpha Lamb- essays by local historians and summaries of activities of
da Sigma to the Montgomery Alumnae Chapter. Soror local personalities, clubs, and Greek organizations. In-
Dorothy P. Harrison (1956 – 1958) was elected Grand cluded is a 1962 photograph of the Montgomery Alum-
President. nae Chapter showing thirty-five sorors along with a de-
scription of our sorority’s national and international pro-
In collaboration with Beta Eta Chapter, we pre- jects. These included the National Library Project, the
sented our annual Jabberwock in February, 1957. Its project to aid citizens in Haiti affected by Hurricane Ha-
theme was “A Place in the Sun.” Proceeds were used to zel, and the Delta Volunteers for Community Service
support scholarships for high school seniors, to continue Project.
scholarships for college students, and for other programs
of the sorority. Soror Olivia C. Green again presided over the
sorority from 1964 – 1966. Her administrations continued
Our eleventh president, Soror Etta Alexander the previous programs of service, and under her urging, a
(1958 – 1962), led the chapter as we continued our work Delta choir, known as “the Delta Aires” was established
on nationally sanctioned projects, one of which was the to provide music for our programs.
national mental health initiative. Our chapter designed a
community service project that would acquaint the com-
munity with aspects of mental health. The chapter spon-
sored series of “Koffee Klatches” to accomplish that
task. In addition we sponsored three conferences. The
first featured discussions by local health professionals; at
the others we showed films followed by discussions.
As a public service project, we sponsored a bus trip to
Searcy Mental Hospital in Mt. Vernon, Alabama. The
purpose was to give sorors and others first-hand
knowledge of some problems involved in mental health
care and what the public can do to health. Free transpor-
tation was furnished by the sorority for relatives who
wished to visit their loved ones at the hospital.

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