The Herstory of our Illustrious Sorority

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. was founded on January 16, 1920, on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. by five collegiate women: Arizona Cleaver Stemons, Pearl Anna Neal, Myrtle Tyler Faithful, Viola Tyler Goings, and Fannie Pettie Watts.  These “Five Pearls” established four virtues - Scholarship, Service, Sisterhood, and Finer Womanhood - which are quintessential principles of Zeta Life.  

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These principles are reflected in the sorority's national programs, for which its members and auxiliary groups provide endless hours of voluntary service to community outreach programs and organized charities for the purpose of impacting social and civic change. Zeta is proud to be a sorority of “firsts’: constitutionally bound to a brother organization, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.; chartering a chapter in Africa (1948);forming adult (Amicae) and youth (Archonettes, Amicettes, and Pearlettes) auxiliary groups.

 

The Sorority was founded on the simple belief that sorority elitism and socializing should not overshadow the real mission of progressive organizations—to address societal mores, ills, prejudices, poverty, and health concerns of the day.  Zeta’s national and local service leadership programs include the National Education Foundation, Stork’s Nest and Z-HOPE, which are the signature programs of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated.