List of Delta Sigma Theta sisters

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Crest of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated
Crest of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated

Below is the list of Delta Sigma Theta sisters (commonly referred to as Deltas). Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated (ΔΣΘ) was founded on January 13, 1913, at Howard University.[1] Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated was first incorporated in Washington, D.C. on February 9, 1913.[2] In 1930, the organization's Grand Chapter was nationally incorporated.[1] The nomenclature of graduate chapters consist of the city's and the word "alumnae" annexed to the city's name.[3]

Contents

[edit] "Delta Girl"

"Delta Girl is a poem written by honorary member Mary McLeod Bethune.

Delta Girl

The Delta girl is one who has been given the opportunity of education and broad development: she is one who has enjoyed the privileges of culture and selected environment.

It is pleasing to a heartfelt depth to see her not as self centered, not desirous of selfish power, not wanting the plaudits of people, not wanting glory- but with a purpose which directs her activities and all that she may control toward lifting somebody else.
by Mary McLeod Bethune[4]

[edit] Founders

Twenty-two founders of Delta Sigma Theta
Twenty-two founders of Delta Sigma Theta
Osceola Macarthy Adams
Osceola Macarthy Adams
Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Osceola Macarthy Adams Alpha Founder; noted actress [1]


Pauline Oberdorfer Minor Alpha Founder [1]


Zephyr Chisom Carter Alpha Founder [1]


Edith Motte Young Alpha Founder [1]


Edna Brown Coleman Alpha Founder [1]


Bertha Pitts Campbell Alpha Founder [1]


Frederica Chase Dodd Alpha Founder [1]


Myra Davis Hemmings Alpha Founder; actress in Go Down Death: The Story of Jesus and the Devil [1]


Ethel Cuff Black Alpha Founder [1]


Winona Cargile Alexander Alpha Founder [1]


Marguerite Young Alexander Alpha Founder [1]


Ethel Carr Watson Alpha Founder [1]


Florence Letcher Toms Alpha Founder [1]


Jimmie Bugg Middleton Alpha Founder [1]


Jessie McGuire Dent Alpha Founder [1]


Madree Penn White Alpha Founder [1]
Wertie Blackwell Weaver Alpha Founder [1]
Olive C. Jones Alpha Founder [1]
Naomi Sewell Richardson Alpha Founder [1]
Vashti Turley Murphy Alpha Founder [1]
Eliza Pearl Shippen Alpha Founder [1]
Mamie Reddy Rose Alpha Founder [1]

[edit] International Presidents

v • d • e
Delta Sigma Theta National Presidents[5]
Sadie T. M. Alexander, 1919-1923  • Dorothy Pelham Beckley 1923-1926  • Ethel Lemay Calimese, 1926-1929  • Anna Johnson Julian, 1929-1931  • Gladys Byram Shepperd, 1931-1933  • Jeannette Triplett Jones, 1933-1935  • Vivian Osborne Marsh, 1935-1939  • Elsie Austin, 1939-1944  • Mae Wright Downs Peck Williams, 1944-1947  • Dorothy I. Height, 1947-1956   • Dorothy P. Harrison, 1956-1958  • Jeanne L. Noble, 1958-1963  • Geraldine P. Woods, 1963-1967  • Frankie M. Freeman, 1967-1971  • Lillian Pierce Benbow, 1971-1975  • Thelma Thomas Daley, 1975-1979  • Mona Humphries Bailey, 1979-1983  • Hortense Golden Canady, 1983-1988  • Yvonne Kennedy, 1988-1992   • Bertha M. Roddey, 1992-1996  • Marcia L. Fudge, 1996-2000  • Gwendolyn E. Boyd, 2000-2004  • Louise A. Rice, 2004–present  

[edit] Arts and Entertainment

[edit] Actresses

Ruby Dee Davis
Ruby Dee Davis
Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson
Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Ruby Dee Davis Honorary American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and activist. She won a Screen Actor's Guild Award for her acting in "American Gangster" with Denzel Washington. [6]


Suzzanne Douglass Honorary actress on The Parent Hood


Gloria Foster Honorary theater actress and two time Obie Award winner for In White America, and A Raisin in the Sun


Adrienne-Joi Johnson Eta Kappa actress in A Different World, In the Heat of the Night, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Amen; fitness trainer


T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh Beta Alpha comedian; appeared on In Living Color and That's So Raven


Keshia Knight Pulliam Eta Kappa Rudy Huxtable on The Cosby Show [7]


Theresa Merritt Honorary Actress known as a star of stage, screen and television. She starred on television in the family sitcom That's My Mama and in the memorable The Wiz.


Sheryl Lee Ralph Honorary Deidra "Dee" Mitchell on Moesha


Kellie Shanygne Williams Laura Winslow on Family Matters


Cicely Tyson Honorary Emmy award winning actress; notable for roles in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Roots


Sharon Warren Alpha Ray Charles's mother Aretha Robinson in Ray (film)


Kym Whitley Alpha Beta actress on Married... with Children, and Moesha [8]

[edit] Artists and Illustrators

Elizabeth Catlett
Elizabeth Catlett
Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Tina Allen Honorary sculptress and painter; sculpted bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [9]
Selma Burke Honorary American Female artist who designed the profile of President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the United States dime; Sculptress of President Franklin D. Roosevelt portrait [9]
Elizabeth Catlett Honorary sculptress and printmaker; Mother and Child [9]

[edit] Authors

Alice Dunbar-Nelson
Alice Dunbar-Nelson
Jessie Fauset
Jessie Fauset
Nikki Giovanni
Nikki Giovanni
Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Darlene Clark Hines historian; author of Black Women in White: Racial Conflict and Cooperation in the Nursing Profession, 1890-1950
Harriette Cole Alpha Current Creative Director for EbonyMagazine; Author How to Be: A Guide to Living with Grace and Integrity; Image Consultant
Alice Dunbar-Nelson Honorary poet; wife of Paul Dunbar [10]
Paula Giddings Alpha author of When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America and In Search of Sisterhood [11]
Nikki Giovanni Honorary renowned poet [12]
Yolanda Joe Author of "Bebe's By Golly Wow!", "He Say, She Say" and "Falling Leaves of Ivy". A former newswriter at the CBS affiliate in Chicago, Joe graduated from Yale University and the Columbia School of Journalism
Ethel L. Payne "First Lady of the Black Press", First Black woman journalist to cover international affairs; she was a columnist, lecturer, and free-lance [13]
Jessie Redmon Fauset Honorary novelist during the Harlem Renaissance [14]

[edit] Dancers

Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Mfon Akpan Pi Delta Currently a member of the Step Afrika dance troupe. She began her training at the Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center and had graced the stages of Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Apollo Theater, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Lincoln Center. Mfon has recently toured with the off-broadway show "Hoofin' 2 Hittin" where she was a featured stepper and dancer. [15]
Judith Jamison Honorary American dancer and choreographer, best known as the Artistic Director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Jamison's numerous awards include Kennedy Center Honors (1999) and the National Medal of Arts (2001). She won a prime time Emmy Award and an American Choreography Award for Outstanding Choreography for the PBS "Great Performances: Dance In America" special, "A Hymn for Alvin Ailey." She wrote an autobiography, "Dancing Spirit", published in 1993. [16]
Aseelah Shareef Kappa Epsilon Currently a member of the Step Afrika dance troupe. She began her dance training at the Palm Beach County School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, FL. As a teenager, she studied in the prestigious Alvin Ailey Summer Dance Program; has trained at the Urban Bush Women Summer Institutes in Brooklyn, New York; and performed with Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theatre. [15]

[edit] Miss America Contestants

Ericka Dunlap
Ericka Dunlap
Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Kimberly Clarice Aiken-Cockerham Epsilon Tau Miss America in 1994 [8]
Ericka Dunlap Mu Iota Miss America in 2004 [17]

[edit] Miss Deaf America

Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Tyese Wright University of Maryland Miss Deaf America from 2002-2004; [18]

[edit] Singers and Musicians

Natalie Cole
Natalie Cole
Leontyne Price
Leontyne Price
Nancy Wilson
Nancy Wilson
Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Harolyn Blackwell soprano; opera singer
Shirley Caesar Honorary Known as the "First Lady of Gospel"; gospel singer; [8]


Florence Cole Talbert Honorary opera singer; composer of the official "Delta Hymn" [19][20]


Natalie Cole Upsilon singer of "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)" [8]
Roberta Flack Alpha singer of "Killing Me Softly with His Song" [21]
Aretha Franklin Honorary R&B singer of "Respect" [8]
Lena Horne Honorary jazz, pop, and Broadway singer [8]
Dorothy Maynor soprano; opera singer
Leontyne Price soprano; opera singer [22]
Leslie Uggams Tony Award-winning singer in Hallelujah, Baby! [22]
Nancy Wilson Honorary Grammy Award winning blues, jazz, cabaret and pop singer [16]

[edit] Television

Charlayne Hunter-Gault
Charlayne Hunter-Gault
Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Mara Brock Akil Theta Alpha Television writer and producer. Creator of the TV Show Girlfriends and The Game. [23]
Cheryl Burton Chicago Alumnae News Anchor at WLS-TV in Chicago. [24]
Charlayne Hunter-Gault Tau Africa Bureau Chief for Essence Magazine; Journalist on CNN [22][16]
Jacque Reid New York Alumnae Current News Contributor for The Tom Joyner Morning Show; Former anchorwoman on BET Nightly News; Former co-host of The Steve Harvey Show - radio show. [25]
Robi Reed-Humes Gamma Iota Emmy Award Winning Casting Director (The Tuskegee Airmen & Malcolm X) who has been a major contributor to the success of over 30 films, including eight with director Spike Lee (Malcolm X). TV credits include Bill Cosby's A Different World and LL Col J's In the House [26]

[edit] Civil Rights

Fannie Lou Hamer
Fannie Lou Hamer
Mary McLeod Bethune
Mary McLeod Bethune
Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander
Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander
Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Daisy Bates Honorary Advisor to the Little Rock Nine to integrate Little Rock Central High School; civil rights activist [27]
Myrlie Beasley Evers-Williams Wife of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers; former NAACP chairwoman [16]
Nannie Burroughs Honorary One of the founders of National Association of Colored Women; civil rights activist [28][29]


Mary Church Terrell Honorary writer and civil rights and women's rights activist; first president of the National Association of Colored Women [9]


Coralie Franklin Cook Honorary One of the founders of National Association of Colored Women; civil rights activist
Fannie Lou Hamer Honorary American voting rights activist and civil rights leader
Mary McLeod Bethune Honorary Eighth President of the National Association of Colored Women; founder of the National Council of Negro Women; founder of the Literary and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls; civil rights activist [30]


Frankie Muse Freeman civil rights attorney; the first woman to be appointed to the United States Commission on Civil Rights (1964 to 1979)
Betty Jean Sanders-Shabazz civil rights activist; wife of slain civil rights leader Malcolm X [16]
Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Gamma One of the first African Americans to receive a Ph.D. in the United States, the first woman to receive a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School [9]

[edit] Education

Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Mary Frances Berry Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania and the former chairwoman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights
Johnnetta Cole first African American female president of Spelman College from 1987-1997 and president of Bennett College from 2002-2007 [16]
Julia Gee Hunnicut Honorary Wilberforce University instructor [31]


Shirley Ann Jackson eighteenth president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Hallie Quinn Brown Honorary Wilberforce University Board of Trustees member [31]
Sarah Scarborough Honorary wife of William Sanders Scarborough, who was president of Wilberforce University [31]
Niara Sudarkasa first female president of Lincoln University [16]
Josephine Washington Honorary Wilberforce University Dean of Women [31]

[edit] Heads of Organizations and Business Executives

Edith Irby Jones
Edith Irby Jones
Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Eunice W. Johnson executive of Johnson Publishing Company [22]
Edith Irby Jones first African American student to attend the University of Arkansas School of Medicine; former President National Medical Association
Elaine Jones former NAACP Legal Defense Fund Director and General Counsel [32]
Gloria Randle Scott first African-American to get a degree in zoology from Indiana University; First African-American president of the Girl Scouts of the USA
Jane E. Smith former President and CEO of the National Council of Negro Women
Shelia Ruth Wheatley Clark Zeta Eta first African-American accountant at firm Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Company [33]


[edit] Health and Science

Joan Higginbotham
Joan Higginbotham
Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Alexa Canady Nu first African-American female neurosurgeon
Joan Higginbotham an American engineer and a former NASA astronaut who flew on the Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS-116 as a mission specialist

[edit] Judges

Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Juanita Kidd Stout Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1988-1989
Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Anne Williams Justice of the Seventh Circuit Court ref=

[edit] Military

Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Hazel Johnson Brown chief of the Army Nurse Corps


Marilyn D. Wills Hampton Alumnae Chapter awarded a Purple Heart for helping to aid victims out of The Pentagon during the September 11 attacks [34]


Karen Wagner Lieutenant-Colonel who was killed on during the September 11 attacks; a high school is named after her


[edit] Political Figures

[edit] Humanitarian and Social Causes

Marian Wright Edelmen
Marian Wright Edelmen
Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Camille Cosby Honorary wife of Bill Cosby; philanthropist [8]
Clara Hale Honorary founder of Hale House, a home for unwanted children
Dorothy Irene Height administrator, educator, social activist, and a recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal; President of the National Council of Negro Women
Marian Wright Edelman president and founder of the Children's Defense Fund

[edit] Non-elected officials

Joycelyn Elders
Joycelyn Elders
Alexis Herman
Alexis Herman
Patricia Roberts Harris
Patricia Roberts Harris
Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Ruth Bates Harris first female Deputy Assistant Administrator of NASA
Pamela E. Bridgewater ambassador to Ghana [35]
Joycelyn Elders United States Surgeon General from September 8, 1993 to December 31, 1994
Alexis Herman Gamma Alpha first African-American Secretary of Labor (1997-2001) [9]
Patricia Roberts Harris Alpha first black female U.S. ambassador (1965; Luxembourg), first African-American Secretary of Housing and Urban Development [9]
Christine Rowland Beatty Alpha Chief of Staff to Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick [36][37]
Jewel Carter Stradford Lafontant Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois under President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Barbara Watson former Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs for the U.S. State Department

[edit] U.S. Politicians

Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm
Stephanie Tubbs Jones
Stephanie Tubbs Jones
Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Shirley Chisholm First African-American woman elected to Congress; First African-American and the First female to run as a major party candidaate for Presidential candidate in 1972 [9]
Shirley Franklin Honorary The mayor of Atlanta, Georgia
Edith Green Honorary former U.S. Congresswoman of Oregon's 3rd congressional district (1955-1974)
LaDonna Harris Honorary Vice Presidential nominee of the Citizens Party
Barbara Jordan Delta Gamma Congressional member from Texas's 18th congressional district (1973-1979) [9]
Carrie Meek Beta Alpha former U.S. Congresswoman of Florida's 17th congressional district (1993-2003)
Carol Moseley Braun Honorary first African-American female U.S. Senator, represented Illinois 1992-1998 [9]
Stephanie Tubbs Jones Greater Cleveland, Ohio Alumnae U.S. Congressional Member from Ohio's 11th congressional district [9]

[edit] World Leaders

Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Winnie Mandela Honorary leader of the African National Congress, Women's League, member of the ANC's National Executive Committee; ex-wife of former South African president

[edit] Religion

Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Edith White Ming First African American world president of the World Federation of Methodist Women.
Rae Lewis-Thornton Honorary Baptist minister; founder of Rae Lewis-Thornton, Inc.; an AIDS educational speaker [38]
Pauli Murray Honorary an American civil rights advocate, feminist, lawyer, poet, teacher and ordained minister.
Vashti Murphy McKenzie Baltimore, Maryland Alumnae Chapter First Female Bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church; National Chaplain of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. [9]


[edit] Sports

Wilma Rudolph
Wilma Rudolph
Name Original Chapter Notability Reference
Tynesha Lewis Mu Omicron former WNBA player for the Charlotte Sting and Minnesota Lynx [39]
Wilma Rudolph Alpha Chi the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during one of the Olympic Games [40]
Olympia Scott-Richardson Omicron Chi WNBA player for the Indiana Fever [8]

[edit] Other

[edit] Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Delta Sigma Theta History. Retrieved on December 13, 2007.
  2. ^ District of Columbia Organization Information. dcra.dc.gov. Retrieved on October 9, 2007.
  3. ^ Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved on December 20, 2007.
  4. ^ Delta Poems. Omicron Rho Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
  5. ^ Past National Presidents. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated (2006). Retrieved on 2007-05-09.
  6. ^ Giddings 1988, op. cit., p. 288-289.
  7. ^ "Grown Up Grad - Keshia Knight Pulliam". Jet. June 4, 2001. Retrieved on December 19, 2007.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Famous Sorors. Wofford College Delta Sigma Theta. Retrieved on 2007-12-24.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Delta Sigma Theta - Notable Deltas. Retrieved on December 14, 2007.
  10. ^ Giddings 1988, op. cit., p. 72.
  11. ^ PEN America Center. Retrieved on December 19, 2007.
  12. ^ Giovanni, Nikki. Awards and Honors. Nikki Giovanni. Retrieved on 2007-12-24.
  13. ^ Famous Delta Members. Delta Sigma Theta - Nu Delta. Southern Louisiana State University. Retrieved March 25, 2008.
  14. ^ Giddings 1988, op. cit., p. 84.
  15. ^ a b About Step Africa. Retrieved on March 24, 2008.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g Famous Members. Eta Rho Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta. Retrieved on 2007-12-24.
  17. ^ Meet Miss America 2004. Retrieved on December 14, 2007.
  18. ^ National Black Deaf Advocates. Retrieved on March 25, 2008.
  19. ^ Giddings 1988, op. cit., p. 86.
  20. ^ BLACK SWAN'S OTHER STARS. Retrieved on December 19, 2007.
  21. ^ Giddings 1988, op. cit., p. 110.
  22. ^ a b c d Marshall, Marylin. "Delta Sigma Theta: sorority, founded at Howard University, stresses service, scholarship and the arts", Ebony, Johnson Publishing Company, Feb 1990. Retrieved on 2007-12-24. 
  23. ^ Mara Brock Akil. CBS PressExpress. CBS Corporation. Retrieved on December 26, 2007.
  24. ^ Cheryl Burton. WLS-TV ABC Corporation. Retrieved on February 18, 2008.
  25. ^ "Women Shaping the World: Jacque Reid". Essence. Retrieved on December 24, 2007.
  26. ^ Famous Deltas. Retrieved on February 22, 2008.
  27. ^ Giddings 1988, op. cit., p. 262.
  28. ^ Giddings 1988, op. cit., p. 62-63.
  29. ^ Women and Jim Crow: Virginia. Jim Crow History. Retrieved on December 19, 2007.
  30. ^ Giddings 1988, op. cit., p. 84.
  31. ^ a b c d Giddings 1988, op. cit., p. 70.
  32. ^ "LDF Receives $1 Million Gift from Delta Sigma Theta Sorority to Support Voting Rights Programs", NAACP Legal Defense Fund, NAACP, 2005-06-02. Retrieved on 2008-01-06. 
  33. ^ Zeta Eta History. Zeta Eta chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. Retrieved January 5, 2008.
  34. ^ "The Purple Heart". National Public Radio. Published May 27, 2002. Retrieved on January 6, 2008.
  35. ^ United States Ambassador to Ghana: Pamela E. Bridgewater. U.S. State Department. Retrieved on January 6, 2008.
  36. ^ Ardorous 37 (Spring 1991). Alpha Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  37. ^ Schmitt, Ben (2008-03-18). Christine Beatty's mother: 'This breaks my heart'. freep.com. Gannett. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  38. ^ About Rae Lewis Thornton. Rae Lewis-Thornton, Inc. Retrieved January 5, 2008.
  39. ^ Tynesha Lewis Player Profile. WNBA. Retrieved on January 4, 2007.
  40. ^ Wilma Rudolph biography. Women in History. Retrieved on 2007-06-11.

[edit] References

  • Giddings, Paula (1988). In Search of Sisterhood: Delta Sigma Theta and the Challenges of the Black Sorority Movement. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. 
  • Ross, Jr., Lawrence (2000). The Divine Nine: The History of African-American Fraternities and Sororities in America. New York: Kensington. 

[edit] External links

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