Where It All Began
SEVEN YOUNG WOMEN, ONE UNITED VISION.
Sigma Gamma Rho was founded on November 12, 1922, in Indianapolis, Indiana by seven educators. Mary Lou Allison Gardner Little, Dorothy Hanley Whiteside, Vivian White Marbury, Nannie Mae Gahn Johnson, Hattie Mae Annette Dulin Redford, Bessie Mae Downey Rhoades Martin and Cubena McClure came together to create an organization that would change the world.
From the very beginning, Sigma Gamma Rho was focused on two things: service and education. This is exemplified both in the sorority’s original motto, “Not for ourselves, but for others,” as well as its current guiding principle, “Greater service, greater progress.” As a leading national service organization, Sigma Gamma Rho has always met the challenges of the day and continues to grow through Sisterhood, Scholarship and Service.
"We visualize a world in which all women and their families reach their full potential in all aspects of life and are able to create unlimited opportunities for future generations."
Sigma Facts
ESTABLISHED:
NOVEMBER 12, 1922 AT BUTLER UNIVERSITY
SORORITY FLOWER:
YELLOW TEA ROSE
SORORITY MASCOT:
THE POODLE
SORORITY COLORS:
ROYAL BLUE AND GOLD
SORORITY SLOGAN:
GREATER SERVICE, GREATER PROGRESS
SORORITY MAGAZINE:
THE AURORA
SORORITY VISION:
We visualize a world in which all women and their families reach their full potential in all aspects of life and are able to create unlimited opportunities for future generations.
Our Amazing Chapter Legacy
let's get social
#GREATER SINCE MAY 1940!
“In the Spring of 1940 Irene Johnson, a member of Omega Sigma Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. of Newport News, VA, came to Portsmouth to discuss the establishment of a chapter in Portsmouth, VA. She talked with Jeanette W. Walton and Virginia Scott, who called together several additional young women engaged in the field of education. They were: Mary Jones, Margaret K. Colden, Aurora Ashburn, Hilda Colthrop, Alease Murphy, Diana Murphy, and Mary Walton.
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The chapter was organized in the Northeast Region by the Regional Syntaktes, Edna Forrest Browne, on May 4th in the year of 1940. Alease Murphy was the first Basileus.
The first worship service was held in Emanuel AME Church. The chapter for many years sponsored an eyeglass clinic, supplying eye examinations and eyeglasses to needy persons and wheelchairs and other equipment and handicapped people in Portsmouth.
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The Alpha Beta Sigma Chapter has been inactive since 2006. They have recently reactivated the Portsmouth Chapter on September 15, 2014. The reactivating members of the chapter were: Francine P. Jackson, Maryland Spicely, Edna Stith (former member of Alpha Beta Sigma before it was deactivated), Madeline V. Williams Stokes, Mary F. Sherrod Whitley, Dr. Yvette B. Williams, Pamelia Small and Della D. Wright.
