Mission Statement
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated is an organization of college educated women committed to the constructive development of its members and to public service with a primary focus on the Black community.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. is a private, not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to provide assistance and support through established programs in local communities throughout the world. Since its founding more than 200,000 women have joined the organization. The organization is a sisterhood of predominantly Black, college educated women. The sorority currently has 1,000 collegiate and alumnae chapters located in the United States, England, Japan (Tokyo and Okinawa), Germany, the Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Jamaica and the Republic of Korea.
The major programs of the sorority are based upon the organization's Five Point Programmatic Thrust. More than ten thousand members typically attend Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated's biennial national conventions, and each of the seven regional conferences (held during years when there is no national convention) typically hosts thousands of members. At its recent 51st National convention held in the District of Columbia, more than 38,000 members registered and attended.
Our Story
Chapter History
The idea to consider forming a chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. began in 1988, when it was discovered that there were several Deltas living in the Lehigh Valley. Some knew each other through other organizations and others were known through mutual friends. To gather as many sorors as possible, an announcement was placed in the local newspaper to identify and invite interested sorors to attend a meeting to be held at the home of Soror Elizabeth Carson on October 4, 1988.
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Five women attended this initial meeting, and the group continued to meet until eventually the number grew to seventeen. The group kept in close contact with National Headquarters to ensure the correct procedures would be followed to form a chapter in 1990.
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On March 18, 1991, the group received the good news that the application had been accepted and the chapter would be chartered as the Allentown Alumnae Chapter. The Past Eastern Regional Representative Soror Alonda Canady conducted the chartering ceremony on April 14, 1991.
Charter Members
Gwendolyn Allen
Anita W. Baten
Sherlyn E. Bradford
Elizabeth W. Carson
Marvetta E. Coleman-Belk
Gladys J. Felton
Eula Humphrey
Beverly J. McNeil
Delois B. Nichols, Ph.D.
Olivia D. Roberts
JoAnne Spencer, Ph.D
Deborah A. Wilson
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Situated in the Lehigh Valley, the chapter strives to serve an area which encompasses Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton and Reading.
Founders
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. was founded on January 13, 1913 by 22 collegiate women at Howard University. These students wanted to use their collective strength to promote academic excellence and to provide assistance to those in need. In March of 1913, the Founders of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. performed their first public act. They participated in the Women's Suffrage March in Washington, D.C. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. was incorporated in 1930.
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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 Motte 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
The original artwork is a life-sized painting on canvas created by artist Tarleton Blackwell. The original hangs in the National Headquarters Office in Washington, D.C.
Did you know?
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This provides a glimpse of some of the women who helped mold a legacy to make Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. a powerful force more than a sorority.
Osceola Macarthy Adams, a founding member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., was one of the first Black actresses on Broadway. She was the Director of the Harlem School of the Arts and directed the theatrical debuts of Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier.
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Sadie T. M. Alexander, Ph.D., 1st National President (1919-1923), was the nation's first woman to earn a Ph.D. in economics (1921). A distinguished attorney, she was among the founders of the National Bar Association (1925) and she was appointed to President Truman's Commission on Civil Rights (1945).
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Tina Allen, sculptor and painter, sculpted a life-sized bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She was the conceptual designer of two major international projects: The International Children's Peace Park and the Monumental Statue of Nelson Mandela. Allen received the Essence Award, the Stellar Award and the Thurgood Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Brigadier General Hazel Johnson Brown, Ph.D., was the first African-American woman general in the United States Army.
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Selma Burke, Ph.D., sculptor, won the 1943 Fine Arts Competition for the District of Columbia for a profile of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This artwork was adapted for the United States dime.
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Alexa Canady, M.D., at age 26 became the first Black woman neurosurgeon in the United States. She specializes in pediatric neurosurgery.
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Elizabeth Catlett was an internationally acclaimed sculptor and lithographer. She was best known for her vast range of artwork, including prints and life-sized sculptures.
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Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman member of the U.S. Congress, was the first African-American and first woman to run as a major party candidate for the presidency of the United States.
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Ruby Dee Davis is an extraordinary actress with performance credits on stage, in film and on television. She has also written a collection of poetry.
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Myrlie Evers-Williams is the Chairman Emerita of the Board for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
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Frankie M. Freeman, noted attorney and 14th National President (1967-1971), was the first woman appointed to the Civil Rights Commission by President Lyndon B. Johnson and served 16 years.
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Patricia Roberts Harris served as Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.'s first Executive Director. She was also the first Black woman to be appointed ambassador to a European country (Luxembourg) and to be appointed to a presidential cabinet post as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). She was later appointed as Secretary of Health and Human Services. In January 2000, she was honored on the 23rd commemorative stamp in the United States Postal Service's Black Heritage Series. Other Deltas that have been ambassadors are Ann Holloway and Bynthis Perry.
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Dorothy I. Height, Ph.D., 10th National President (1947-1956), was appointed by President Carter to the Presidential Commission on a National Agenda for the 1980s. She served as president of the National Council of Negro Women for more than 40 years.
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Alexis Herman was the Secretary of Labor and a Cabinet Member in the administration of President William Clinton.
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Darlene Clark Hine, Ph.D., noted author, built her career on researching, publishing and raising the bar of how the experience of African-American women should be recorded. She was the first African-American to become the John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of History at Michigan State University.
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Shirley Jackson, Ph.D., is the 18th President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is the first African-American woman to head a leading technological university, the first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1973), and the first African-American woman to become a commissioner of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
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Elaine R. Jones is the first woman to serve as Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. She is also the first African-American woman graduate of the University of Virginia Law School and the first African-American woman elected to the American Bar Association Board of Governors.
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Barbara Jordan was the first African-American to serve in the U.S. Congress from the South since Reconstruction. She was the first Black woman to preside over a state senate and the first African-American to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.
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Jewel S. Lafontant was the first American woman to be admitted into the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. She was also the first female Deputy Solicitor General of the U.S. during the Nixon Administration.
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Carrie P. Meek served as Congresswoman for the 17th District of Florida for ten years. She was the first African-American elected to represent Florida in the United States House of Representatives since Reconstruction.
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Jane E. Smith, Ph.D. served as the President and CEO of the National Council of Negro Women.
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Mary Church Terrell was the first African-American chosen to represent the United States Congress of Women and to serve on the board of education of a major city.
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Stephanie Tubbs-Jones was a Congresswoman in the United States House of Representatives for the 11th District of Ohio.
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Barbara Watson was the first African-American woman to serve as chief of a State Department bureau. She became Administrator of the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs in 1968, served through 1974, and was re-appointed in 1977. Later that year, she became Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs.