Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.
Zeta Mu Sigma Alumnae Chapter
Alumnae Chapter of the Greater Shenandoah Valley
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. was organized on November 12, 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana by seven young educators: Mary Lou Little, Dorothy Whiteside, Vivian Marbury, Nannie Johnson, Hattie Mae Redford, Bessie M. Martin and Cubena McClure. The group became an incorporated national collegiate sorority on December 30, 1929, when a charter was granted to Alpha chapter at Butler University.
Soaring to greater heights of attainment around the World, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., as a leading national service organization, has met the challenges of the day and continues to grow through Sisterhood, Scholarship and Service. Currently there are over 90,000 ladies of Sigma Gamma Rho in more than 400 chapters internationally. The sorority’s national programs focus on educational, economic, health, and social issues that affect our communities across the nation and abroad.
Sigma Gamma Rho’s commitment to service is expressed in its slogan, “Greater Service, Greater Progress.” The sorority has a proud history of offering service wherever chapters exist, including OPERATION Big Book Bag, a program designed to address the needs, challenges and issues that face school-aged children who are educationally at-risk in local homeless shelters and extended care hospitals. The objective is for chapters to provide their local homeless shelters and children hospitals with educational materials, equipment and supplies. Other national projects include Wee Savers, Project Reassurance and Habitat for Humanity for which, Sigma Gamma Rho built seven homes across the United States in Florida, District of Columbia, Wisconsin, California, and Texas.
The service of Sigma Gamma Rho from a global perspective includes Project Africa and Project Mwanamugimu. Through active participation in programs and through networking with other organizations such as the National Council of Negro Women, Urban League and the NAACP, Sigma’s legacy of service to improve the quality of life for all mankind continues.
National Herstory
Northeastern Region Herstory
The Northeast Region was organized in 1939 at the Boule in New York City hosted by Kappa Sigma Chapter. The chapters included were: Alpha Zeta, Virginia State College, Petersburg, V.A., Alpha Pi, Hunter College, New York, N.Y., Alpha Phi, Howard University, Washington, D.C., Tau, Virginia Union University, Richmond, V.A., Iota Sigma, Richmond, V.A., Kappa Sigma, New York, N.Y., Phi Sigma, Washington, D.C., and Omega Sigma, Newport News, V.A.
Soror Edna F. Browne, Phi Sigma, was elected the first Northeast Regional Syntaktes. In May 1940, the first Northeast Regional Conference was held Virginia Union University with Iota Sigma as the Hostess Chapter.
The Northeast Region is currently comprised of the following areas: Bermuda, eastern Canada, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Haiti, Korea, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.
