Founders

Question 1

Osceola Macarthy Adams

Answer 1

• Selected the Delta mottoes
• Served as Directress of the Harlem School of the Arts/America Negro Theater
• Acclaimed Actress

Question 2

Marguerite Young Alexander

Answer 2

• Chicago, Illinois

- Constant supporter of Alpha Chapter

Question 3

Winona Cargile Alexander

Answer 3

• First black social worker for the New York City and County Charities
• Alpha Chapter’s first custodian (historian)

Question 4

Ethel Cuff Black

Answer 4

• First, Vice President of Alpha Chapter
• Charter member of Queens, NY Alumnae Chapter
• She was the first black teacher in Richmond County, NY

Question 5

Bertha Pitts Campbell

Answer 5

• Born in Winfield, Kansas
• On March 13, 1913, she participated in the March on Washington, Delta’s first public act as a sorority. Sixty-Eight years later, she repeated this momentous walk on August 2, 1981
• Only black student enrolled at her school
• Valedictorian of class of 1908

Question 6

Zephyr Chisom Carter

Answer 6

• El Paso, Texas
• Alpha Chapter’s first reporter
• Gifted singer and actress, sang for television shows
• Featured in The Crisis Magazine 1913

Question 7

Edna Brown Coleman

Answer 7

• Class president and valedictorian of her graduating class @ Howard in 1913
• Married a founder of Omega Psi Phi
• From Washington, DC
• Father was professor of religion for 31 years at Howard University

Question 8

Jessie McGuire Dent

Answer 8

• First Corresponding secretary of Alpha Chapter
• Battled the Galveston School District in court and won equal wages for Black teachers
• Upon her death in 1948, her portrait was displayed in the Texas Cultural Archives

Question 9

Frederica Chase Dodd (chasing people out)

Answer 9

• The first sergeant-at-arms of Alpha Chapter
• Charter the graduate chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority in Dallas, 1924 (Dallas Alumnae Chapter). Became chapter with first Greek letter organization in the city.
• Helped establish YWCA for Black women in Dallas

Question 10

Myra Davis Hemmings

Answer 10

• From Gonzales, Texas
• Served as first president of Alpha Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated
• Active member NAACP and National Council of Negro Women
• Co-chairman of the 19th National Convention

Question 11

Olive Claire Jones

Answer 11

• From Washington, D.C.
• Music Teacher in the Washington, D.C. public school system
• Accomplished pianist

Question 12

Jimmie Bugg Middleton (bugged women to participate)

Answer 12

• Lynchburg, Virginia
• She helped lobby Delta Sigma Theta to participate in the March for Women’s Suffrage
• Served as Dean of Girls at the Black High School in Raleigh, NC
• President and National Treasurer of the National Association of College Women

Question 13

Pauline Oberdorfer Minor

Answer 13

• Charlottesville, Virginia
• Alpha Chapter’s first treasurer
• Excellent musician
• 1914, Graduated as valedictorian of the Teacher’s College
• She authored a book of hymns titled “Get Off the Judgement Seat”
• Soprano Soloist

Question 14

Vashti Turley Murphy

Answer 14

• Graduated from M. Street High School, later known as Dunbar High School(The first public high school for Blacks in the US)
• Member of the Baltimore Branch of the National Association of College Women.
• Mother of five daughters, four of whom became Deltas
• Granddaughter Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, has served as the National Chaplain.

Question 15

Noami Sewell Richardson

Answer 15

• First Black graduate of Washingtonville High School
• Last surviving founder died in 1993
• Married Clarence W. Richardson, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha

Question 16

Mamie Reddy Rose

Answer 16

• From Beta, South Carolina
• On February 17, 1919 she became the first founder to enter the Omega Omega Chapter
• Received an award for her outstanding talent as a dramatic reader

Question 17

Eliza Pearl Shippen

Answer 17

• Graduated Magna Cum Laude from Howard University
• Received M.A. and Ph.D.
• Only founder to receive a doctorate degree
• One of two Founders who never married.

Question 18

Florence Letcher Toms

Answer 18

• Introduced First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to an audience of parents at John Wesley AME Zion Church, 1945
• Interacted with multiple presidents including JFK and William Howard Taft
• Collected Elephants

Question 19

Ethel Carr Watson

Answer 19

• Teacher for over thirty years

- second career in dramatics

Question 20

Wertie Blackwell Weaver

Answer 20

• Kansas City, Missouri

- Wrote a novel entitled “The Valley of the Poor” focused on racism and poverty in the south

Question 21

Madree Penn White

Answer 21

• Driving force and inspiration behind Delta
• Accomplished linguist (German, French, Greek, Latin)
• Drafted the initial constitution and by-laws
• Designed ceremony for inducting honorary members
• Designed sorority pin
• Second president of the Alpha Chapter and Delta (1913-1919)
• First woman of the campus paper, Howard University Journal

Question 22

Edith Motte Young

Answer 22

• Recording secretary of Alpha Chapter
• Taught at Claflin College, Orangeburg, S.C.
• Received M.A. in Biblical Literature