Founders

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was founded on January 13, 1913 by twenty-two collegiate women at Howard University. These students wanted to use their collective strength to promote academic excellence and to provide assistance to persons in need. The first public act performed by the Delta Founders involved their participation in the Women’s Suffrage March in Washington D.C., March 1913. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was incorporated in 1930.

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. is a private, non-profit organization whose purpose is to provide assistance and support through established programs in local communities throughout the world. A sisterhood of more than 200,000 predominately Black college educated women, the Sorority currently has over 900 chapters located in the United States, England, Japan (Tokyo and Okinawa), Germany, the Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Republic of Korea. The major programs of the sorority are based upon the organization’s Five Point Programmatic Thrust:

Economic Development
Educational Development
International Awareness and Involvement
Physical and Mental Health
Political Awareness and Involvement

 (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.