…A legend in its own time! One of the ciphers of Black History… One of the joys in each of our individual lives… A cause for commitment! An agency of activism! A pleasure to participate with, and a glory to behold! Each and every member and affiliate was drawn to Sigma’s light because of its precepts and the distinguished women that represented it!
Seven so distinguished women in Indianapolis, Indiana, were the catalysts for this whole exceptional entity we now know as Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Immediately following Red Summer and the second historical peak of mob violence against African-Americans, these women decided to make their similar career directions, common life goals, and sisterly camaraderie official through developing a new organization… While they desired to establish a unit in which the ties that bind its members are as powerful and as sacred as the blood connection—a group structure through which the needs of all other relatives of humanity are the driving force of its output, they did wish to carve out of life a space for the struggles that Afrikan people faced and issues of womanhood. Education was at the hub of their collective concerns. They believed that through encouraging high scholastic achievement, igniting the desire for it, and creating the means to attain it, progress would come about. Thus, on November 12, 1922, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority was born!
And, amazingly, Founders Mary Lou Gardner Little, Cubena McClure, Nannie Mae Gahn Johnson, Vivian White Marbury, Dorothy Hanley Whiteside, Bessie Martin, and Hattie Mae Dulin Redford brought Sigma Gamma Rho to life on a predominantly white college campus! These ladies of Butler University (the latter six, schoolteachers) vowed to render service wherever needed and to uphold the integrity of this functional lighthouse through high standards and true congruence between word and deed. Sigma Gamma Rho is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life within the community. Public service, leadership development and education of youth are the hallmarks of the organization's programs and activities. Still today, Sigma Gamma Rho addresses concerns that impact society educationally, civically, and economically.
We are the keepers of our sisters and the lifeblood of this illustrious legacy. We represent today what Sigma is to be tomorrow. The struggle continues, and we as people of African descent still believe in the success of perseverance. We women of Sigma Gamma Rho are still in the bridge-building business in order that all people who are relegated to secondary status in this grand society may, through the efforts of organizations which share our purpose and benefactors, have greater opportunity to realize their dreams. The existence of Sigma Gamma Rho itself is living proof that dream-actualizing can be done! And, collectively, we press on against all odds and do not grow weary in well doing: for in due season we all shall reap, if we faint not.