01/16/2023
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated was founded on January 16, 1920, at Howard University, Washington, D.C. An ugly history perpetrated against Black communities enveloped America during this period, and the Harlem Renaissance was acknowledged as the first important movement of Black artists and writers in the U.S. This same year the Volstead Act became effective, heralding the start of Prohibition and Tennessee delivered the crucial 36th ratification for the final adoption of the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote. The worst and longest economic recession to hit the U.S. would define the end of the decade-The Great Depression.
Within this environment, five coeds envisioned a sorority that would directly affect positive change, chart a course of action for the 1920s and beyond, raise peopleβs consciousness, encourage the highest standards of scholastic achievement, and foster a greater sense of unity among its members. These women believed that sorority elitism and socializing overshadowed the real mission of progressive organizations and failed to address fully the societal mores, ills, prejudices, and poverty affecting humanity in general and the black community in particular.
The organization has been innovative because it has chronicled several firsts. It was the first National Pan-Hellenic Council organization to centralize its operations in a national headquarters, first to charter a chapter in Africa, first to form auxiliary groups, and first to be constitutionally bound to a fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated.
As the sorority celebrates 103 years since itβs founding today, it retains its original zest for excellence. It espouses the highest academic ideals, resulting in its members serving in groundbreaking roles in all fields of endeavor.
Watch us closely this year as members of the sorority Embrace The S.W.E.L.L. by providing Service, World-Wide Wellness, Extraordinary Leadership and Legacy during this year of the International Woman for our sisterhood.
Happy Foundersβ Day! πποΈ