Delta Sigma Theta History

Delta Sigma Theta founders painting

The Founding of Delta Sigma Theta

Dover Alumnae Chapter Group Portrait - 1955

On January 13, 1913, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. was founded by twenty-two women at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Some of these women were already members of the Alpha chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) sorority, including the elected officers of Alpha Kappa Alpha: Myra Davis Hemmings, president; Ethel Cuff Black, vice-president; Edith Motte Young, secretary; Jessie McGuire Dent, corresponding secretary; Winona Cargile Alexander, custodian; Frederica Chase Dodd, sergeant-at-arms; and Pauline Oberdorfer Minor, treasurer.

Photograph of two of the twenty-two Delta Sigma Theta founders. Bertha Pitts Campbell, right, with Osceola Macarthy Adams, left. The twenty-two Delta Sigma Theta (DST) founders were not pleased at the lack of progress of Alpha Kappa Alpha to move beyond organizing the affairs of campus society at Howard and wanted to reorganize the sorority to address topics like public service and women’s advancement. These new members wanted to establish a national organization, a broadening of the sorority’s activities, and ultimately change the sorority’s name to reflect this new purpose. They also wanted to change the symbols, change the sorority colors, and be more politically oriented. In 1912, they voted to change the Alpha Kappa Alpha name to Delta Sigma Theta. This new name was to reflect the group’s desire to change the direction of the group towards social activism and greater public service; rather than continue to focus on social activities.

Photograph of four of the twenty-two Delta Sigma Theta founders. Left to right: Winona Cargile Alexander, Bertha Pitts Campbell, Zephyr Chisom Carter and Osceola Macarthy The grand push caused conflict between graduate members who wished to keep the previous name and functional status quo, and the new Alpha chapter members who voted in favor of the name change. After a graduate member of the Alpha chapter gave the new members a deadline to stop the reorganization of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the twenty-two women split off from Alpha Kappa Alpha and created the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority on January 13, 1913. On January 20, 1930, the organization’s Grand Chapter was nationally incorporated after Delta became the first sorority composed of undergraduate African American women to apply to the trustees of any university for the right to become an incorporated body.

Delta Sigma Theta Today

Today, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., is one of four college sororities for African American women, and is the largest African American Greek-letter sorority in the world. Since its founding, more than 350,000 women of all racial and ethnic backgrounds hold membership in Delta Sigma Theta. The sorority currently has 1,000 collegiate and alumnae chapters located in the United States, Canada, Japan (Tokyo and Okinawa), Germany, the Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Jamaica and the Republic of Korea.

Delta Sigma Theta’s community service, social, and philanthropic projects revolve around the “Five-Point Thrust.” The five points include: economic development, educational development, international awareness and involvement, physical and mental health, and political awareness and involvement.

Delta Sigma Theta Founding Sorors

  • Osceola Macarthy Adams
    • Birth
      Albany, Georgia
      June 13, 1890
    • Death
      New York City, New York
      November 20, 1983 (aged 93)
  • Marguerite Young Alexander
    • Birth
      Springfield, Illinois
      March 1, 1889
    • Death
      Chicago, Illinois
      December 3, 1954 (aged 65)
  • Winona Cargile Alexander
    • Birth
      Columbus, Georgia
      June 21, 1893
    • Death
      Jacksonville, Florida
      October 16, 1984 (aged 91)
    • Birth
      Wilmington, Delaware
      October 17, 1890
    • Death
      Flushing, New York
      September 17, 1977 (aged 86)
  • Bertha Pitts Campbell
    • Birth
      Winfield, Kansas
      June 30, 1889
    • Death
      Seattle, Washington
      April 2, 1990 (aged 100)
  • Zephyr Chisom Carter
    • Birth
      Texas, USA
      November 14, 1891
    • Death
      Los Angeles, California
      September 8, 1976 (aged 84)
  • Edna Brown Coleman
    • Birth
      Washington, D.C.
      June 25, 1895
    • Death
      Washington, D.C.
      September 25, 1919 (aged 24)
  • Jessie McGuire Dent
    • Birth
      Galveston, Texas
      March 24, 1891
    • Death
      Galveston, Texas
      March 12, 1948 (aged 56)
  • Frederica Chase Dodd
    • Birth
      Dallas, Texas
      November 3, 1893
    • Death
      Dallas, Texas
      January 21, 1972 (aged 76)
  • Myra Davis Hemmings
    • Birth
      Gonzales, Texas
      August 30, 189
    • Death
      San Antonio, Texas
      December 8, 1968 (aged 73)
  • Olive C. Jones
    • Birth
      South Carolina, USA
      July 19, 1889
    • Death
      Washington, D.C.
      October 24, 1925 (aged 36)
  • Jimmie Bugg Middleton
    • Birth
      Lynchburg, Virginia
      February 10, 1890
    • Death
      Raleigh, North Carolina
      February 17, 1967 (aged 77)
  • Pauline Oberdorfer Minor
    • Birth
      Charlottesville, Virginia
      February 18, 1895
    • Death
      Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
      January 23, 1963 (aged 67)
  • Vashti Turley Murphy
    • Birth
      Washington, D.C.
      February, 1884
    • Death
      Baltimore, Maryland
      March 17, 1960 (aged 76)
  • Naomi Sewell Richardson
    • Birth
      Chester County, Pennsylvania
      September 21, 1892
    • Death
      Washingtonville, New York
      August 5, 1993 (aged 100)
  • Mamie Reddy Rose
    • Birth
      Belton, South Carolina
      March 9, 1888
    • Death
      Le Roy, New York
      February 17, 1920 (aged 31)
  • Eliza Pearl Shippen
    • Birth
      Unknown
      February 2, 1888
    • Death
      Hyattsville, Maryland
      May 17, 1981 (aged 93)
  • Florence Letcher Toms
    • Birth
      Unknown
      March 13, 1892
    • Death
      Hyattsville, Maryland
      May 31, 1972 (aged 80)
  • Ethel Carr Watson
    • Birth
      Parkersburg, West Virginia
      August 4, 1894
    • Death
      Windham, Connecticut
      May 1, 1960 (aged 65)
  • Wertie Blackwell Weaver
    • Birth
      Kansas City, Missouri
      1890
    • Death
      United States
      Unknown
  • Madree Penn White
    • Birth
      Atchinson, Kansas
      November 21, 1892
    • Death
      Shaker Heights, Ohio
      January 31, 1967 (aged 74)
  • Edith Motte Young
    • Birth
      North Carolina
      Unkown
    • Death
      Unknown
      Unknown