Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.

Founders Marbury, Little, Johnson, Redford, Whiteside, Martin, and McClure

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. was conceived by primary founder, Mary Lou Allison Gardner Little, as a means to strengthen educational skills amongst teachers in a sisterly atmosphere. On Sunday, November 12, 1922, Little and six of her choice friends, Dorothy Hanley Whiteside, Vivian White Marbury, Nannie Mae Gahn Johnson, Bessie Mae Downey Rhoades Martin, Hattie Mae Annette Dulin Redford, and Cubena McClure, met at McClure's home at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. There, these visionaries founded and incorporated the Grand Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho as a sorority of teachers. The sorority membership was opened to collegiate membership in 1925, and on December 30, 1929, became a corporate collegiate organization. Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. is one of the founding organizations of the National Pan Hellenic Council, and has focused on all phases of education since 1922. Over the years, Sigma Gamma Rho has contributed to the community with its Teen Towns (to invest in youth - similar to our current Youth Symposium), Carver (Black History) Week events, and partnerships with other community service organizations, like the March of Dimes, NAACP, Buckle-Up America, and Habitat for Humanity. For more information on the history, please visit the Iinternational Website.

Tau Chapter was chartered on the campus of Virginia Union University on Tuesday, January 29, 1929 by Thelma Woodfolk Wilson, Mary Smith Robinson, Mildred Lee Tynes, Alice LaRoche, and Nellie Lee. Tau Chapter is the oldest chapter in the Northeast Region of Sigma Gamma Rho. Tau Chapter is also the mother chapter of the Iota Sigma Alumnae Chapter, which was chartered six years later. These chapters hosted the 10th Boule Conference together at Virginia Union University from December 26-30, 1935. The first Northeast Regional Conference was also hosted at Union on May 11, 1940. SGRho's first endeavor onto the east coast has resulted in over 70 years of sisterhood, scholarship, and service cloaked in royal blue and gold - at Virginia Union University and in Richmond at large.

Sigma Facts

Mascot: Poodle Flower: Yellow Tea Rose Official Organ: The Aurora Colors: Royal Blue and Gold Affiliates: Philo and Rhoer Clubs Motto: "Greater Service, Greater Progress"

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