Sigma Gamma Rho's Beginnings
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. was founded on November 12, 1922 at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, by seven school teachers. They are
Nannie Mae Johnson
Mary Lou Little
Cubena McClure
Hattie Mae Redford
Dorothy Whiteside
Vivian Marbury
Bessie Martin
December 27 to December 29, 1925 marked the first national meeting, called Boule, in which Mary Lou Little was named the first Grand Basileus. The sorority became incorporated on December 30, 1929 and was granted its Alpha chapter.
The sorority pledge was written by Mary Lou Little and the pin was designed by Cubena McClure. The motto, "Greater Service, Greater Progress," was written by Bertha Black Rhoda, also a past Grand Basileus. Members of Delta chapter collaborated with Zenobia Laws Bailey to create the sorority song. Ruth Cooper Armstrong wrote the Aurora Club Ceremony, while Fannie O'Bannon designed the sorority Coat of Arms. With more than 72,000 members in over 400 chapter throughout the United States and the Caribbean, the torch lit in 1922 continues to burn brightly.
NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
8800 South Stoney Island Avenue
Chicago, Illinois
60617
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