This provides a glimpse of some of
the people who helped mold a legacy to make Delta Sigma
Theta a powerful force -- more than a sorority.
Osceola
Macarthy Adams, a founding member of Delta,
was one of the first Black actresses on Broadway. She
was the Director of the Harlem School of the Arts and
directed the theatrical debuts of Harry Belafonte and
Sidney Poitier.
Sadie T. M.
Alexander, Ph.D., 1st National President
(1919-1923), was the nation's first woman to earn a
Ph.D. in economics (1921). A distinguished attorney, she
was among the founders of the National Bar Association
(1925) and she was appointed to President Truman's
Commission on Civil Rights (1945).
Tina Allen,
sculptor and painter recently sculpted a life-sized bust
of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She is the conceptual
designer of two major international projects: The
International Children's Peace Park and the Monumental
Statue of Nelson Mandela. Ms. Allen has received the
Essence Award, the Stellar Award and the Thurgood
Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award.
Brigadier
General Hazel Johnson Brown, Ph.D., was the
first African American woman general in the United
States Army.
Selma Burke,
Ph.D., sculptor, won the 1943 Fine Arts
Competition for the District of Columbia for a profile
of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This artwork was
adapted for the United States dime.
Alexa
Canady, M.D., at age 26 became the first
Black woman neurosurgeon in the United States. She
specializes in pediatric neurosurgery.
Elizabeth
Catlett is an internationally acclaimed
sculptor and lithographer. She is noted for the vast
range of works she creates, including life-size
sculptures and even larger pieces.
Shirley
Chisholm, the first Black woman member of the
U.S. Congress, was the first African American and first
woman to run as a major party candidate for the
presidency of the United States.
Ruby Dee
Davis is an extraordinary actress with
performance credits on stage, in film and on television.
She has also written a collection of poetry.
Myrlie
Evers-Williams is the Chairman Emerita of the
Board for the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP).
Frankie M.
Freeman, noted attorney and 14th National
President (1967-1971), was the first woman appointed to
the Civil Rights Commission by President Lyndon B.
Johnson and served 16 years.
Patricia
Roberts Harris served as Delta Sigma Theta's
first Executive Director. She was also the first Black
woman to be appointed ambassador to a European country
(Luxembourg) and to be appointed to a presidential
cabinet post as Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD). She was later appointed as Secretary
of Health and Human Services. In January 2000, she was
honored on the 23rd commemorative stamp in the United
States Postal Service's Black Heritage Series. Other
Deltas that have been ambassadors are
Ann Holloway and
Bynthis Perry.
Dorothy I.
Height, Ph.D., 10th National President
(1947-1956), was appointed by President Carter to the
Presidential Commission on a National Agenda for the
1980s. She has served as president of the National
Council of Negro Women for over 40 years.
Alexis
Herman was the Secretary of Labor and a
Cabinet Member in the administration of President
William Clinton.
Darlene
Clark Hine, Ph.D., noted author, built her
career on researching, publishing and raising the bar of
how the experience of African American women should be
recorded. She was the first African American to become
the John A. Hannah of History Endowed Chair at Michigan
State University.
Shirley
Jackson, Ph.D., is the 18th President of
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is the first
African-American woman to head a leading technological
university, the first African-American woman to earn a
Ph.D. at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (in
1973), and she was the first African-American woman to
become a commissioner of the United States Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.
Elaine R.
Jones is the first woman to serve as
Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. She is
also the first African American woman graduate of the
University of Virginia Law School and the first African
American woman elected to the American Bar Association
Board of Governors.
Barbara
Jordan was the first African-American to
serve in the U.S. congress from the South since
reconstruction; first Black woman to preside over a
state senate; and the first Black person to deliver the
keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.
Jewel S.
Lafontant was the first American woman to be
admitted into the International Academy of Trial
Lawyers. She was also the first female Deputy Solicitor
General of the U.S. during the Nixon Administration.
Carrie P.
Meek is a Congresswoman in the United States
House of Representatives for the 17th District of
Florida.
Jane E.
Smith, Ph.D. served as the President and CEO
of the National Council of Negro Women.
Mary Church
Terrell was the first African American chosen
to represent the United States Congress of Women and to
serve on the board of education of a major city.
Rae
Lewis-Thornton is an AIDS activist who has
been featured on the cover of Essence magazine, as well
as in numerous feature stories in Ebony and Emerge
magazines, Chicago Tribune newspaper, Chicago Sun Times
newspaper, and the Washington Post. She was also
featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and Nightline with
Ted Koppel. She received an Emmy award in 1996 for her
WBBM-TV's ongoing series of first person stories on
living with AIDS.
Stephanie
Tubbs-Jones was a Congresswoman in the United
States House of Representatives for the 11th District of
Ohio.
Barbara
Watson was first African American woman to
serve as chief of a State Department bureau. She became
Administrator of the Bureau of Security and Consular
Affairs on July 31, 1968, served until December 31,
1974, and was re-appointed on April 7, 1977. On August
17 of that year, she became Assistant Secretary of State
for Consular Affairs.
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