By Nourisha Wells
Special to The Medium
On September 9th, members of the Seattle Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta will celebrate 35 years of public service in King, Kitsap and Snohomish Counties, but their legacy in the Pacific Northwest goes back much further.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. was founded on the campus of Howard University in 1913 by twenty-two collegiate women. Within a few months, these young, bold and bodacious women would make their first political statement marching with Ida B. Wells and Mary Church Terrell for the right for women to vote in the infamous 1913 Suffrage Parade. The White organizers for the march had asked them not to participate because they did not want to offend their southern counterparts. The founders of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. refused to honor their request. Approximately three hundred women were physically hurt by spectators viewing the parade.
Bertha Pitts Campbell, one of the founders of Delta Sigma Theta, brought her political activism to the Pacific Northwest when she moved to Seattle in 1923. She served on the first board of the newly formed Urban League in 1929, an indication of how quickly she was active in and respected by Seattle’s Black community.
In 1933, Campbell, along with seven other women, chartered the Alpha Omicron chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. The joint graduate and undergraduate chapter was the first Black Greek organization in the Pacific Northwest. Under the banner of Alpha Omicron, its members continued to perform hours of community service and in 1936, Founder Campbell became the first Black woman to chair the board of directors for the Phillis Wheatley YWCA (East Cherry). Alpha Omicron continued to make its presence felt until 1979.
In 1979, Delta’s national leadership separated graduate chapters from undergraduate chapters and once again Founder Campbell was a charter member of her second chapter in the PNW, the Seattle Alumnae chapter. As remarkable and rare as it is to have a Founder start her third chapter, the chartering was conducted by the newly installed 17th National President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Mona H. Bailey, also a prominent resident of Seattle. Since the change in the relationship between the two chapters, both Alpha Omicron and the Seattle Alumnae Chapter, continue to do the work of its 22 visionary Founders, many times collaborating to support each other.
Since 1979, the Seattle Alumnae Chapter has awarded over one hundred scholarships to graduating seniors from King, Kitsap and Snohomish Counties; showcased local talent at its Jabberwock shows; honored community activists at Trajectory to Excellence; mentored and organized monthly activities for young ladies ages 11-18, and partnered with other organizations such as Madrona PreK-8; El Centro de la Raza, African Americans Reach and Teach Health Ministry, the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee, Green Plate Special, Emergency Feeding Program, Microsoft and the City of Seattle’s Power of Place- Parks Youth Violence Prevention Program and many more.
Deltas participate in community rallies, work with county and state legislators, and collaborate with other Greek organizations to effect change. Most recently Deltas organized and/or participated in community forums about the killing of Michael Brown and subsequent unrest in Ferguson, MO.
“Through the years I have never ceased to be amazed and humbly proud of the work and progress of Delta. I am sure the founders never dreamed that their struggling efforts would lead to an organization through which Negro college women would be working to meet so many human needs. They only realized that because of the opportunities and advantages they enjoyed, they also carried the responsibility of those less fortunate.”
Excerpted from Founder Bertha Pitts Campbell’s speech, Founders’ Day 1970
As the home chapter of one of the sorority’s Founders and the 17th National President, Seattle Alumnae is considered one of the sorority’s esteemed chapters as it is also the home of two members who served on the national leadership board, a former 2nd National Vice President, Barbara Bagneris and a National Secretary, Doris McEwen.
In 2013, Delta had a year-long celebration commemorating its 100th anniversary. As a chapter held in high esteem, Seattle was one of twenty-two cities to host a Centennial Celebration. Sorors from as far away as the east coast, midwest, Alaska and California and as near as the seven undergraduate and graduate chapters in Washington and Oregon joined us for a weekend of public service activities, a special gala and church service at Founder Campbell’s church, First AME. The Seattle Alumnae Chapter also donated a portrait of Founder Campbell and plaque to the East Cherry YWCA for her years of service.
As we begin our year-long celebration of our 35th anniversary, we send a heartfelt thanks to you, our community, for answering our fundraising calls. Without your contributions and support financing our social action projects and Bertha Pitts Scholarship would be more difficult. Thank you.
For additional information about Seattle Alumnae Chapter’s upcoming events, please email us at events@seattledeltas.org or visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DSTSeattleAlumnae.
