Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.

 

       January in the early 1900’s was busy for the campus

 

of Howard University. On January 16, 1920, they welcomed

 

a new sorority named Zeta Phi Beta Sorority. The Zeta

 

emerged during a time of economic depression in America,

 

and through the vision of five black female students, an

 

organization was built that is now over 100,000 strong.

 

 

      The organization was founded by five top students

 

of Howard University: Arizona Cleaver Stemons,

 

Pearl Anna Neal, Myrtle Tyler Faithful, Viola Tyler Goings

 

and Fannie Pettie Watts. As the organization gained

 

momentum, the need for intake had come and the search

 

for a second class began. With the strict educational guidelines

 

of the organization and initiation fees, the initiation period

 

left 21 women disappointed when the founders chose only four

 

women to join their prestigious sorority: Gladys Warrington,

 

Harriet Dorsey, Pauline Phillips and Nellie Singfield – also

 

known as the second class. Zeta Phi Beta member Pauline

 

Phillips graduated summa cum laude from her class, setting

 

a high academic mark for future members of the sorority.

 

 

         Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated was the first organization under the National Pan-Hellenic

 

Council to have a national headquarters for all operations, the first to charter a chapter in Africa

 

(Monrovia, Liberia), the first to form auxiliary groups, and the first to be constitutionally bound to a

 

fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated. During their initial expansion, they were also the

 

first chapter of any black sorority to organize a collegiate chapter in Texas (Wiley College).

 

 

       In 1937, when no other black Greek-lettered organization had ever held a national convention south of

 

the Mason-Dixon line, Zeta Phi Beta held their convention in a black business sector of Houston, Texas.

 

The Lambda Zeta chapter and surrounding black community pulled together to host the engagement, with

 

private homes taking in the delegates and the YWCA providing meals to the sorority members.