Our Sorority

Our Chapter

Atlanta Alumnae Chapter

Honoring the Legacy 1924-2024

We, the Sorors of the Atlanta Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, are proud of and honor our legacy. We reflect on our past, our present and our way forward. With the spirit of determination and guidance from above; we will not ponder at the pool of popularity nor meander in a maze of mediocrity. We will be vigilant and ever mindful of our legacy and our responsibilities. We are mindful of 1Corinthians 12:25-26…so that there should be no divisions in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it, if one part is honored every part rejoices with it. Therefore, we will love and care for each other.

We remember those who fervently lead us from January 1,1924, until now, ushering us successfully into the 24th year of the 21st century. We intone the names of the eleven charter members: Minnie Lee Perry Bowden, Lela Moore Brown, Marie Byas, Magnolia Latimer-Coleman, Margaret Nabrit Curry, Louise Holmes Elder, Sarah Brinson Forbes, Louise Pace Harris, Hazel Shanks Hynson, Altona Trent Jones, and Mattie Owens.

We intone the names of our past presidents: Magnolia Lattimer, Mae Proctor Lucus, Ruth Wheeler Lowe, Effie McGhee Brooks, Laura Duffey, Irene Wilson, Mildred Burch, Minnie Bowden, Mattie Harper Briscoe, Mattie Greenwood McCloud, Blanche Adams, Ruth Perry Scott, Clara Reynolds Johnson, Cecil Edwards, Maenelle Dixon Dempsey, Sammye Dennis, Anne Wright Bronner, Valjeanne Taylor Grigsby, Pearlie Craft Dove, Narvie Jordan Harris, Alverna Swanson Greene, Harriett Walton, Brunella Jackson Ransom, Beverly Bailey, Marion L. Baker, Victoria Jenkins, Verdelle B. Bellamy, Betty J. Blasingame, Ruby Harpe Howard, Judith Withers Hanson, Bobbie Jean Sharpe, Rosalyn Law Heard, Mary Crumbly, Patricia D. Ross, Patricia C. Summers, Nadine Baker Smith, Camille Smith Zeigler, Carol D. Carter, and Andrea L. Morgan.

We are grateful that these virtuous women moved us to this day with grace, dignity, and fortitude, keeping the faith and working for the greater good. We will continue to serve our community always fighting for economic development, educational development, international awareness, physical and mental health, and social action/political awareness. We seek guidance and grace as we persevere. Whatever the task, whatever the difficulties, we will raise the torch high and carry on. We will remember the words of Founder Vashti Turley Murphy’s favorite hymn: Be Strong! We are not here to play, to dream, to drift; we have hard work to do and loads to lift; shun not the struggle, face it, ‘tis God’s gift. Be strong, be strong, be strong!

The Atlanta Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, had its beginning in 1924 when it was chartered as Sigma Chapter. It was the first chapter established in Atlanta and in Georgia, the second in the Southern Region, and the nineteenth chapter in the United States.
Eleven young women from both Atlanta University (undergraduate at that time) and Spelman College were inducted as charter members. A group of graduate students in Atlanta petitioned the Executive Council of the Sorority to establish a chapter independent of the undergraduate chapter. The charter was granted in the fall of 1925, and the graduate chapter became known as Iota Sigma Alumnae Chapter. The name, Sigma, was transferred to the undergraduate chapter at Clark College in 1929 when Atlanta University became a graduate institution. It remains the official name of that chapter today. In 1958, the graduate chapters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, were changed from designation by Greek letters to the names of the cities in which they were located. Iota Sigma Alumnae Chapter was changed to the Atlanta Alumnae Chapter. The chapter has provided significant leadership and has conducted public service programs of distinction since it was established. The Five-Point Program Thrust of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, is the vehicle through which its members seek to project the image of the Sorority as a public service organization. These five areas – Economic Development, Educational Development, International Awareness and Involvement, Physical and Mental Health, and Political Awareness and Involvement – are all integral parts of the chapter’s services and programs. Chapter members have dedicated themselves to continuing the development and implementation of outstanding public service programs. Today, they stand proud of their legacy and their many accomplishments.

In 1960, at the Sorority’s National Convention, a new region was created to facilitate service delivery for chapters in the mid-Atlantic state; thus, North and South Carolina left the Southern Region to become part of the South Atlantic Region. The Southern Region holds the distinction of being the largest of the seven regions of the Sorority, with over 200 chapters spread across the diverse area that is Alabama, the Bahamas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

Grand Chapter

Delta Sigma Theta, Inc.

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to provide assistance and support through established programs in local communities throughout the world.
.

Founded on January 13, 1913, by twenty-two collegiate women at Howard University, Osceola Macarthy Adams, Marguerite Young Alexander, Winona Cargile Alexander, Ethel Cuff Black, Bertha Pitts Campbell, Zephyr Chisom Carter, Edna Brown Coleman, Jessie McGuire Dent, Frederica Chase Dodd, Myra Davis Hemmings, Olive C. Jones, Jimmy Bugg Middleton, Pauline Oberdorfer Minor, Vashti Turley Murphy, Naomi Sewell Richardson, Mamie Reddy Rose, Eliza Pearl Shippen, Florence Letcher Toms, Ethel Carr Watson, Wertie Blackwell Weaver, Madree Penn White, and Edith Motte Young. The Sorority is currently a sisterhood of more than 200,000 predominately Black college-educated women.

This includes 1,000 collegiate and alumnae chapters located in the United States, Canada, 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:

1. Economic Development

2. Educational Development

3. International Awareness and Involvement

4. Physical and Mental Health

5. Political Awareness and Involvement