Now we're going to tell some history about our beloved sorority!
Sigma Sigma Sigma was founded on April 20, 1898 at Longwood College in Farmville, Virginia. Margaret Batten, Louise Davis, Martha Trent Featherston, Isabella Merrick, Sallie Michie, Elizabeth Watkins, Lucy Wright, and Lelia Scott had bonded together into a tight circle of friendship and first formed the S.S.S. Club. Then they announced the establishment of their own Greek-letter society to be known as Sigma Sigma Sigma.
The Mabel Lee Walton House is a gracious, old Southern home with 16 rooms; six with fireplaces and hand carved mantels. It was acquired by Sigma Sigma Sigma in 1963 to be the National Memorial Headquarters. Adequate space exists for chapter house parties, officer workshops, and overnight guests. The house is named in honor of Mabel Lee Walton, National President for 34 years, as a tribute to her inspiration and leadership to Tri Sigmas everywhere.
SIGMA SYMBOLS
The Coat of Arms was created by Harriet Hankins
- an Alpha - in 1902. It's a shield with a banner
running from upper left to lower right, bearing the
3 Greek letters, Sigma Sigma Sigma.The Greek inscription
translatesinto "Faithful Unto Death." The meanings of the
other emblems are explained during the initiation rituals.
Purple violets have been our flower since 1898
when our founder's at the Farmville school used
them in their first meetings.
Our jewel is the pearl.
It is the jewel of the sea, and it's cultivated
and grows from the smallest speck of sand.
Like the pearl, no Sigma is the same as any other Sigma sister.
The skull and crossed bones represents
"Faithful Unto Death"
which is our open motto.
The sailboat symbolizes ever forward motion,
never moving backward, never sinking,
but progressing towards its destination.
The triangle badge has indented borders set
in pearls with a Sigma in each corner.
Once again, the skull and crossedbones represents
"Faithful Unto Death." The trianglebadge is only
worn by iniated members and is very sacred.
When a Sigma dies, her badge is often buried with her.
This is our banner.
Our philanthropy is the Robbie Page Memorial.
The Robbie Page Memorial (RPM) was established in 1951 after the death of Robbie Page, son of Tri Sigma's fourth National President, Mary Hastings Holloway Page. His tragic death from bulpar polio, at a time when there was no cure or preventative from polio, prompted Mary and her husband Rob to establish a memorial fund for polio research. Tri Sigma decided to help their National President by launching the RPM fund. In 1954, Tri Sigma adopted the Robbie Page Memorial as its national philanthropy and began Sigma's long range programming in support of recreational therapy for hospitalized children. At the 1974 Convention, the sailboat became the official symbol of Sigma and the RPM program.
