About Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated was founded January 16, 1920 at Howard University, Washington, D.C. Five women envisioned a sorority that would directly affect positive change while raising the consciousness of their people, and encouraging the highest standards of scholastic achievement. They charted a course of action for the 1920s and beyond, and fostered a greater sense of unity amongst their members. These women believed that sorority elitism and socializing overshadowed the real mission for progressive organizations. The failure to address the societal mores, ills and prejudices affecting humanity and the black community solidified the principles of our organization.
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated is more than an organization. It is a belief system that reflects, at its core, the desire to provide true Service, embrace Scholarship, set a standard for Sisterhood and define the noble concept of Finer Womanhood. This belief has sustained and encouraged Zetas around the world to hold fast to the ideals initiated and developed by its earliest members.
Our Founders were strong, principled coeds who possessed a great deal of modesty, strength of character and pride in academic excellence. They established a strong foundation for our illustrious Sorority to be built upon.
Arizona Cleaver Stemons: Arizona Cleaver was the first president of Alpha chapter at Howard University, and the first national president of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority. She completed her graduate and post-graduate studies in the field of social work and was responsible for chartering numerous undergraduate and graduate chapters throughout the United States.
Pearl Anna Neal: After graduating from Howard University’s Conservatory of Music, Founder Neal continued her studies at the Julliard School of Music. In 1938, she was the first black woman in New York to earn a master’s degree in music from Columbia University. An extremely accomplished musician, Founder Neal taught music in North Carolina public schools and served as a director of seniors majoring in music at Teachers College in Winston Salem, NC.
Myrtle Tyler Faithful: Myrtle Tyler was the second national president of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority and blood sister to Viola Tyler. A high school mathematics and English teacher, Founder Tyler was an active member of Alpha Zeta chapter in Baltimore, Maryland.
Viola Tyler Goings: Viola Tyler graduated from Howard University with a teaching degree and a major in math. She taught school in Ohio for many years and was always very active in community affairs.
Fannie Pettie Watts: Fannie Pettie graduated from Howard with a Bachelor of Arts degree in education and taught junior and senior high schools in Savannah, Georgia. She was credited with organizing two additional Zeta chapters and had active membership in Delta Alpha Zeta chapter.
Since inception, Zeta has continued its steady climb into the spotlight with programs designed to demonstrate national and international concern for the human condition. The organization has been innovative in that it has chronicled a number of firsts.
1920: The first and the only National Pan-Hellenic Council sorority to be constitutionally bound to a Fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated.
1923: Established the first National Pan-Hellenic Council chapter South of the Mason-Dixon Line.
1947: Chartered auxiliary and youth groups: the Pearlettes (1994), Amicettes (1970), and Archonettes (1968).
1948: Chartered a chapter in Monrovia, Liberia, Africa (Delta Iota Zeta Graduate Chapter and Upsilon Beta Chapter).
1949: The first National Pan-Hellenic Council organization to centralize its operations in a national headquarters.
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated has chartered hundreds of chapters worldwide and has a membership of over 100,000 member. We take pride in enriching the lives of our communities through volunteer services and our Z-HOPE (Zetas Helping Other People Excel) initiatives.
Zeta’s national and local programs include the endowment of its National Educational Foundation, community outreach services and support of multiple affiliate organizations. Zeta chapters and auxiliaries have given countless hours of voluntary service to educate the public, provide scholarships, support organized charities, and promote legislation for social and civic change.
Zeta espouses the highest academic ideals, and has resulted in our members serving in groundbreaking roles in all fields. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated is poised for perpetual service to mankind into her second century and beyond.
For more information about our illustrious Sorority, please visit www.zphib1920.org