African American sisterhood has a rich and powerful history, characterized by resilience, activism, and a commitment to uplifting the Black community. From the establishment of Black Greek-letter organizations (BGLOs) to the impactful work of Black Catholic nuns and the vibrant contributions of sororities, these sisterhoods have played a vital role in shaping American history and culture. These associations were established on the principles of personal excellence, racial uplift, community service, civic action and kinship.
During a period that is characterized as a low point in American race relations, Black Greek-letter organizations (BGLOs) emerged. Black students, whether studying at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) or predominantly white institutions, came together to create these organizations, forging familial ties to one another and outreach within the larger Black community. Those kinships and ties endure to this day.
The Divine Nine: Black Greek-Letter Organizations
Most Black Greek-letter fraternities trace their origins to Howard University. With the formation of the first Black fraternity in 1906 at Cornell University, three students wanted to create something that Howard University could have of its own. Initially, Howard University administrators opposed the formation of this group, reflecting the attitudes of many colleges nationwide, which were concerned that secret societies could erode trust among students and lead to immoral behavior.
Here is a brief overview of the first BGLOs:
* **Alpha Phi Alpha:** On December 4, 1906, seven young Black men, aspiring to foster a brotherhood, laid the foundation for the fraternity at Cornell University. Alpha Phi Alpha stands as the sole Black Greek-letter organization founded at an Ivy League institution. Their founding principles encompassed personal excellence, kinship, racial uplift via community service, civic engagement and philanthropy. Referred to as the "Seven Jewels of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity,” this group of founders included the influential intellectual and activist W.E.B. Du Bois.* **Alpha Kappa Alpha:** Established on January 15, 1908, at Howard University, Alpha Kappa Alpha emerged as the first Greek-letter organization founded by Black college women. Ethel Hedgeman Lyle, a Howard student, aspired to create a supportive network for women sharing similar goals-to uplift one another and leverage their talents for the greater good. On the activism front, the founders assumed leadership roles within the YWCA and engaged in activities within the campus chapter of the NAACP. Additionally, the group aided Southern migrants in adapting to Northern life during the Great Migration.* **Kappa Alpha Psi:** However, Kappa Alpha Psi is one of a few BGLOs that emerged among Black students at predominantly white universities. Elder Watson Diggs and Byron Kenneth Armstrong, who had forged a friendship at Howard, found themselves at Indiana University, where they confronted the stark realities of Black life. Diggs rallied nine fellow Black men and established Alpha Omega as an interim fraternity, a precursor to a permanent organization. By 1914, they officially adopted the name Kappa Alpha Psi.* **Omega Psi Phi:** President Wilbur P. Thirkield publicly denied the existence of Omega Psi Phi on campus, prompting members to personally lobby the faculty. After negotiations with the faculty, Omega Psi Phi transitioned from a local fraternity to a nationally recognized organization and was officially incorporated in 1924. During the Great Depression, the fraternity supported lawyer and civil rights activist John P. Davis, chairman of the Joint Committee on National Recovery, a coalition of 20 civil rights groups, in his efforts to secure fair employment for Black people.* **Delta Sigma Theta:** Delta Sigma Theta emerged from a division within Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) as members expressed dissatisfaction with the organization's limited focus on campus affairs. In 1912, at Howard University, these members voted to transition from AKA to Delta Sigma Theta. The turning point arrived in January 1930 when the organization’s Grand Chapter attained national incorporation. In 1913, Delta members marched side by side with white women in the 1913 Women’s Suffragette March, which featured 10,000 participants.* **Phi Beta Sigma:** While Phi Beta Sigma originated at Howard University, its conception sprouted in Memphis, Tennessee. In the summer of 1910, A. Langston Taylor, a high school student, encountered a Howard alum who not only regaled him with tales of campus life, but also shared insights about Greek fraternities. This encounter seeded the idea of forming a new organization. During the 1920s, Phi Beta Sigma actively engaged in advocacy efforts, notably supporting anti-lynching legislation.* **Zeta Phi Beta:** Charles Taylor, a member of Phi Beta Sigma, approached Howard student Arizona Cleaver about her interest in forming a sister organization. Following discussions, a meeting convened with 14 individuals, resulting in five members venturing to establish a new organization. The founders promptly crafted a constitution mirroring Phi Beta Sigma’s structure, marking the birth of the first brother-sister organization.* **Sigma Gamma Rho:** In the 1920s, Indiana was a hostile climate for Black people, with the reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan fueled by the 1915 film "The Birth of a Nation." Sigma Gamma Rho still managed to thrive in this environment. The organization held its first national convention in 1925 and was nationally incorporated in 1929. During the Great Depression, the sorority organized literary contests to provide books to young Black students and established the National Vocational Guidance program to help them launch their careers.* **Iota Phi Theta:** Iota Phi Theta was established on September 19, 1963, at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, marking the final addition to the National Pan-Hellenic Council. Founded amidst the civil rights movement by twelve men, most of whom were non-traditional students, the group dedicated itself to social service.These organizations provided a space for Black students to connect, support one another, and work towards racial uplift and social justice. Their impact extends far beyond college campuses, as many members have gone on to become leaders in various fields.
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Logos of the "Divine Nine" Black Greek-letter organizations. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Black Catholic Nuns: Pioneers of Faith and Justice
Another significant aspect of African American sisterhood is the history of Black Catholic nuns in the United States. Despite facing discrimination and exclusion within the Catholic Church, these women dedicated their lives to serving their communities and fighting for racial justice. Over 2,500 African American women have entered religious life in the US church.
The first is Venerable Mother Mary Lange, foundress of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the modern world’s first Roman Catholic sisterhood freely open to African-descended women and girls. Lange is one of the great revolutionary figures of the early American church. She and her friends ran a school for Black children out of her home, because the educational institutions run by the church at that time would not accept African American children.
The second successful African American sisterhood in the United States was founded by the Venerable Henriette DeLille. So she and several close friends founded the Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans in 1842. Like their counterparts in Baltimore, the Sisters of the Holy Family made a revolutionary commitment to the education of Black children, both free and enslaved. The nation’s oldest continuously serving Black Catholic school is St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, which was started and run by Mother Lange’s Oblate Sisters of Providence.
In 1965, Sister Mary Antona Ebo was a member of the first delegation of Catholic sisters to go to Selma, Alabama, in support of Black voting rights. The sisters who formed this conference were eager to tell their stories to the public in order to help people understand that they were there fighting for racial justice-and that if people didn’t see enough of them fighting, there was a reason for that. It’s not because they lacked a commitment to the fight. They had been in the vanguard, and yet they had been made invisible.
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The Impact of African Americans in the Catholic Church | EWTN News In Depth February 24, 2023
When we narrate the history of the American Catholic Church from the perspective of Black nuns, myths about the Catholic past fall quickly and they fall hard. It’s why Lange’s story is so important. People have made excuses for her slave-owning and/or segregationist counterparts, whether it is Katharine Drexel, Elizabeth Seton, or Philippine Duchesne. Mother Lange was also of those times. She didn’t do it.
These women go into that institution and embrace the religious state. This is why the story of African American sisterhoods is so powerful. It forces us to grapple with the role of the Catholic Church in the formation of anti-Blackness, in this largely unreconciled history of colonialism, slavery, and segregation. You cannot tell these women’s stories accurately and honestly without confronting those realities.
Sister Mary Antona Ebo at a civil rights demonstration in Selma, Alabama, 1965. Source: WV Gazette-Mail
Black Sororities: Leadership and Empowerment
The Deltas were part of a larger Black sorority movement that rose during the early 1900s. Sororities provided young Black women opportunities to lead in a society where such opportunities were rare. They now have hundreds of thousands of members, and each has a chapter in central Illinois.
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is proud to partner with Springfield’s African American sororities to help tell their stories in our museum through objects loaned by local chapters. Please join us in celebrating these sororities and their powerful legacies.
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For Black History Month, inspired by the Honorable Maxine Waters’ “reclaiming my time,” I want to change the narrative. I am tired of the media and television images portraying black women as ratchet thots that tear down one another. If we are not mammies or slaves, then we must be vixens, crackheads, prostitutes, or a white girl’s sassy best friend. That is not our legacy. We descend from a line of strong, intelligent, beautiful women that paved the way for the success of not only the Civil Rights Movement, but also the Women’s Right Movement.
White women can be housewives, professionals, damsels in distress and are honored for every attempt, no matter how minor, at standing up. Yet, if we do it, we are just angry black women or gold diggers. Our God given curves, lips, hips, and derriere are often imitated by other women, yet we are called “less classically beautiful.” People love the movie Pretty Woman about a white prostitute who changes her life, but cannot stand Cardi B, Amber Rose, or Blac Chyna but will praise the Kardashians even after joking they’re “the only KKK to accept black men.”
If I do not respect and protect my black sister, who will? We are the trendsetters and taste-makers! As a young girl, my older sister and I would argue constantly. From then on, whether we agreed or disagreed, my sister and I learned to get along and manage our differences. We still have disagreements, but we do not argue in public. That is why I am so fervent in my support of black women.
My black sisters, I see you. I see your crown. In the words of India Arie, you possess “strength, courage, and wisdom…It’s been inside of [you] all along.” Black women are magic. Thank goodness for Beverly Bond and her Black Girls Rock highlighting the accomplishments of our women. Thank you Issa Rae and Michaela Coel for your representation. Black women rock. We are resilient. We are supportive.
Notable Figures in African American Sisterhood
Throughout history, numerous African American women have exemplified the spirit of sisterhood through their achievements and contributions to society. Here are just a few examples:
* **Bessie Coleman:** Discrimination thwarted Coleman’s attempts to enter aviation schools in the United States. Undaunted, she learned French and in 1920 was accepted at the Caudron Brothers School of Aviation in Le Crotoy, France. On June 15, 1921, she became the first American woman to obtain an international pilot’s license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. She became a popular flier at aerial shows, though she refused to perform before segregated audiences in the South. Speaking at schools and churches, she encouraged blacks’ interest in aviation.* **Dr. Endia J.:** This dynamic Sisterhood, dedicated to improving and uplifting communities, has been a significant part of my life for 13 years. Founded 56 years ago, SWING PHI SWING is an acronym for Sisters With Interest Never Gone; Promoting Higher Intelligence; Supporting Women In Need of Growth. With numerous chapters nationwide, including both undergraduate and graduate levels, this organization is committed to community service and the growth of women in need.Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman to earn an international pilot's license. Source: National Women's History Museum
