Alpha Eta Zeta has displayed our beloved principles in the city of Memphis, TN since 1939. History of Alpha Eta Zeta Graduate Chapter
Close your eyes and relax as we take you back to the year 1939 in Memphis, Tennessee. African Americans wanted to establish themselves and provide support organizations for those in need. Nine women took it upon themselves to continue a tradition of Finer Womanhood, Scholarship, Service and Sisterly Love, the principles set forth by a sisterhood known as Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated. Zeta was founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C., 19 years earlier. But nine determined young women decided that this was the type of community oriented organization and sisterhood that Memphis longed for. The time had come to form ZETA PHI BETA SORORITY, INCORPORATED in Memphis, Tennessee. Working from a blueprint, nine women dared to be different and began what later, hundreds of women would eventually join, the ASTOUNDING ALPHA ETA ZETA CHAPTER of ZETA PHI BETA SORORITY, INCORPORATED. Many thanks and much love to those nine sorors:
• Soror Pytee S. Bolden
• Soror Winnie L. Foster Hill
• Soror Myrtle D. Hudson
• Soror Bernice Roberts McClellan
• Soror Ruth Hillard McDavid
• Soror Bernice West Scaggs
• Soror Evelyn Clark Tucker
• Soror Elmira J. Williams
• Soror Carlotta Stewart Watson
The nine charter members were community service oriented and engaged in the fields of education and social work in Memphis, Tennessee. Soror Carlotta Stewart Watson became the first Basileus (President) and guided the members as they utilized their leadership skills and talents to implement the sorority's ideals of Finer Womanhood, Scholarship, Service and Sisterly Love. The chapter became the immediate sponsor of the Pi Alpha Chapter at LeMoyne-Owen College, as also chartered in 1939, and much later the Rho Gamma Chapter at Memphis State University (The University of Memphis) and the Delta Iota Chapter at the University of Tennessee at Martin in Martin, Tennessee. Alpha Eta Zeta became the liaison with the Memphis Junior League, and began to provide eyeglasses for the needy school children. Today this project is known as the infamous Eyeglass Project. Other charitable projects have included visits and contributions to: Goodwill homes, Orange Mound Day Nursery, Jessie Mahan Center, Children's Bureau, Shelby county Hospital, Millington Naval Base, Veteran's Administration Hospital, Stork's Nest, NAACP, the United Negro College Fund and many more. The Astounding Alpha Eta Zeta Chapter continues to be a community conscious, action oriented service organization, fulfilling the goals of our founding and beloved sorors.
