Hello everyone my name is rick italski chair and patrick morrissey our vice chair of the town of mount pleasant historical commission we wanted to welcome you to our final event for black history month for 2021. this is our seventh celebration year we have uh in celebrating black history and while
This year’s events have all been virtual we hope that you will enjoy these presentations once again today’s event gives a history a brief history of the nine black sororities and fraternities with charleston chapters that are sometimes referred to as the divine nine black history month is just one of the
Many initiatives of the town of mount pleasant historical commission we are responsible for over 70 historical markers with a verbal app spread throughout the community we award the cresco plaque annually to individuals or groups that helped preserve our town’s history we have available self-guided tours throughout the town
We publish a weekly qff quick fact friday that touches on historical events and artifacts that are interesting to the community people can actually request something and we’ll research it and put it on the quick fact friday you can sign up for that on the town’s website we have distributed rack cards
Throughout the community and this is an example of them and on the front and in the back you can see and get these at town hall or in various other locations throughout town and get better information as to what the historical commission does we provide various various community groups with speaking engagements we’ve
Participated in many places around town and basically focuses on the history of the uh of the of the town we are filling our new back our history room and town hall with artifacts patrick would you please elaborate good day uh patrick morrissey outgoing vice chair of the uh
Historical commission and uh from the design phase forward the historical commission recognized the need to have a space in the town hall to preserve maintain and grow a collection an archive we now have such a space you can go online to our our history page within the town website
And you can browse some of that collection not not all of it has been digitized online but some of it has but the point of me mentioning this today is the collection contains varied items from the dupree quilt uh to the digitized collection of abby monroe’s papers which the historical commission
Brought to us with the south carolinian library the personal papers and effects of abby monroe’s second principle of lang and administrator of the orphanage in the old village we also have old building historical building surveys from the old village and limited properties throughout the town which brings us to our request if you
Have a connection in mount pleasant history have a connection to mount pleasant are aware of items in in your family’s past or perhaps just material that’s out there that you think is is publicly aware but the commission might not know uh we have a donation process if you have original materials or artifacts
We’re happy to take those if you have material that’s suitable for copying we we can arrange that but the procedures for donating materials and giving them to the historical commission for preservation in our archive or online again in the art history page and another part of that is a oral history program
If you are someone who has some insight into elements of mount pleasant history certain events that you don’t think that have been captured we would love to hear from you and and this same mechanism going online contacting the historical commission we’d like to hear your words your memories and if if you have
Artifacts documentation flags photographs maps we’re happy to collect them and maintain them for you for future generations thank you thank you patrick and finally uh i’d like to let you know this is patrick and my last year uh last events uh for black history month we’ve been
Doing this for this is our seventh year that we’ve been doing black history month since 2015. there will be openings on the commission for people to sign up if you’re interested in the history of our town and want to get further involved you can always do that
So good evening and enjoy the event thank you hi i’m nadine ori and i’ll be singing lift every voice and sing and i’m a member of am friendship amy baptist or amy church lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring ring with the harmonies of liberty let our rejoicing rise high
As a listening skies let it resound loud as the rolling sea Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has us singing a song full of the hope that the present has facing the rising sun of our new day gone let us march until victory is one god of our weary ears god of our silent tears who has brought
Us us far on my way let us into the light may we forever stand true to our god true to our native land lest our feet stray from the places our god where we met thee lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world we forget shadowed beneath the land
May we forever stand true to our gods true to our native land thank you good evening my name is fred paisley and i am the president with the national panhellenic council here in charleston south carolina and i’ll give you a brief history about the panhandle on the council panhandling the council meeting related
To all greeks and panhellenism not to confuse it with panhellenic conference which is held annually the national panhellenic conference or national paneling council nphc is a collaborative umbrella organization composed of historically african american intercollegiate greek letter fraternity sororities the mphc was formed as a permanent organization on may 10 1930
On the campus of howard university as a coalition member in washington dc with matthew w bullock as the active chairman and b beatrice scott as the vice chairman mphc was incorporated under the laws of the state of illinois in 1937 and his headquarters in decatur georgia the national panhellenic council council
Was formed as a permanent organization with the stated purpose and mission of unanimity of thought and action as far as possible in the conduct of greek letter collegiate fraternities and sororities and to consider problems of mutual interest to its members organization the national panhellenic council was established in an era when greek
Letter organization founded by african americans were banned from being affiliated with greek letter organizations founded by whites the founding members of nphc were kappa alpha psi omega scifi alpha kappa alpha delta sigma theta and zeta phi beta the council member extended as alpha phi alpha in 1931 phi beta sigma
In 1931 sigma gamma rho in 1937 and iota 5 theta in 1996 joined this coalition of black letter greek organization in his book on black greek letter organization the divine nine a history of african american fraternities and sororities in america in 19 corrections in 2001 by lawrence ross coined the phrase
The divine nine when referring to the coalition the nine nphc organizations are sometimes collectively referred to as divine nine or d9 the member partner organizations have not formally adopted nor recommended the use of the term to describe their collective grouping the npac now consists of nine historical black colleges correction nine
Historical black fraternities and sororities which are alpha phi alpha alphas kappa alpha kappa akase kappa alpha psi kappas or k size omega psi phi omega or qs delta sigma theta deltas are red phi beta sigma sigmas zeta phi beta zetas sigma gamma rho sg rose and iota phi theta
Iotas all of which are incorporated the council promotes interaction through forms meetings and other media for the exchange of information and exchange of cooperative programming and initiative through various activities and forms each constituent member organization determines its own strategic direction and programming agenda today the primary purpose and focus
Of the member organization remains camaraderie and academic excellence for its members and service to their communities each promotes community awareness and action through educational economic and cultural service activities as required by the various campus recognition policies neither mphc nor is members national or chapter organization discriminate
On the basis of race or religion in 1992 the first permanent national office of nphc was established in bloomington indiana on the campus of indiana university through a joint cooperative agreement of indiana university and the national board of directors of nphc prior to its establishment for over 62 years the national office was
Adjourned from one office to the next and there you have a brief history of the national panhellenic council thank you i bring you greetings from the alpha phi alpha fraternity incorporated my name is darius jerome gerdin and i’m a spring 1990 initiate of alpha phi alpha at the chapter called
Beta chapter at howard university our fraternity was founded december 4th 1906. we are the first fraternity founded in what’s called the d-9 which is a abbreviation for the divine nine the divine nine consists of five fraternities and four sororities that make up the african-american fraternities and sororities held within the pan hellenic council
Alpha phi alpha was founded on the campus of cornell university in ithaca new york it was founded by seven young men who were college students who came together and noticed that there was no network at that time for negro students who were struggling with their grades struggling getting to know one another
Trying to matriculate through campus and through college life whereas their counterparts their colleagues they have fraternities in place as a matter of fact two of our founders worked at the fraternity homes that were white fraternities so they learned a lot by witnessing what they saw with the banquets
With the comings and goings of the brothers and they got together and they firm they formed a literary society this literary society was used to help to collaborate with notes from different classes information from teachers from professors and things that would help incoming freshmen or students after them matriculate through the university
Through dealings with the literary society they decided to lean more toward a service oriented organization and they felt like a brotherhood was timely and it would be in place for them to move forward in transitioning from the literary society to a fraternity so they made the decision
And on december 4th they made it official within a year they decided to expand to include other universities and on december 20th 1907 they chartered the beta chapter which is held at howard university in washington dc and then a week later on december 27th they chartered gamma chapter which is
Seated at virginia union university in virginia richmond virginia here in the charleston south carolina area the brothers of alpha phi alpha are very active there are several chapters in the area but i belong to beta kappa lambda chapter which is called the uh charleston alphas we have a lot of
Local brothers who are dignitaries who are in law enforcement who are in medicine who are in entertainment who are in religion and uh who pastors who have had their own churches we have a senator in our chapter mckinley washington who was a former senator we have two judges daniel e
Martin and his son daniel e martin jr both serve on the court and a host of other brothers who are very active in the communities of charleston mount pleasant and other surrounding areas we also have a chapter in somerville south carolina we’ve got chapters all over the low country in terms of nationally
We are located in just about every state on every campus in the united states we have chapters who are international we’ve got a very active chapter in johannesburg south africa we’ve got a chapter in the middle east we’ve got brothers who crossed in germany we have chapters in japan and uh in the
Asian countries we have a lot of brothers who are military who are from generals all the way down as a matter of fact we have a general in our chapter here in charleston in terms of our notable members the most notable member that we have is dr martin luther king jr who was
Initiated at the sigma chapter in boston he is the only american with his own statute who is not a former president and he has his own holiday we all know who dr king is and so his contribution to our society to our world has been unprecedented and he is a proud
Member of our fraternity uh the list goes on and on by the third good marshall who was the first african-american to serve on the supreme court uh jackie um jesse owens who broke the color barrier in the u.s olympics and the list goes on and on we have members who have been
In education members who have been in religion brother white t walker who marched with king um brother lowry joseph larry who just passed away who also marched with king these are freedom fighters the current president of the national urban league brother mark morial his father uh brother dutch morial
Was also president of the national urban league he was also the first black mayor of new orleans the convention center in new orleans is named the dutch morial convention center the national urban league was actually founded by one of the alpha founders jewel eugene kinkel jones he then passed it on to whitney
Whitney young the whitney young classic is held in new york every year and so all these brothers have been members of alpha phi alpha and they’ve all contributed to our society the naacp is an organization who is set to make sure that the legal ramifications of incidents that happen in our communities
Are fair across the board this is another organization that was spawned from the brothers of alpha phi alpha so our contribution to our community is indeed impactful and we work closely with the other fraternities and the other sororities and reaching as many as we can we recently celebrated a new election in
Which the first african-american and female vice president of this country was elected she is a member of our sister organization alpha kappa alpha sorority and she was initiated at my alma mater harvard university which is their alpha chapter their first chapter was founded at howard two weeks after the alphas founded the chapter
Of alpha phi alpha at howard university so we are striving to do more in our community our aims our manly deeds scholarship and love for all mankind and we try to exhibit that in all that we do whether it’s through the chapter level to the national level we have national programs
Called go to high school go to college in which we visit all the way down to middle schools and we encourage young people to attend college to figure out what their major is going to be to uh map out their life plan and then to walk along them in a mentorship style fashion
As they matriculate through their college and university we have voter registration drives we go out to the communities we knock on doors we give out information we want to encourage everyone to get out and vote who you vote for is your business but we want you to participate in the process
So we can have a voice in what happens in our communities we want to be able to hold our elected officials accountable so the alphas go out and we make sure that everyone understands the voting process we understand the impact a vote will have on you and your family
We want you to understand what the conditions are what the terms are what this candidate stands for what they are saying what they are committing to and what they are asking of us of our vote how important our alvo is how impactful our vote is and what our vote
Means when we go into that ballot booth and you make your selection so the alphas are are committed to making sure that we can do as much as we can to encourage everyone who is of age to vote and vote with the knowledge of what you’re voting for who you’re voting for
And what you can expect if your candidate is elected these are some of the things that the brothers of alpha phi alpha are committed to whether it’s the local or the national level and we have been doing that for 114 years so i beat you greetings on this black
History month from the brothers of alpha phi alpha and specifically from the charleston alphas the beta kappa lambda chapter president by brother bernie broughton ii thank you hello my name is melissa yaldell and i’m a member of alpha kappa alpha sorority incorporated alpha kappa alpha had its humble beginnings
As the vision of nine college students on the campus of howard university in 1908 since then the sorority has flourished into a globally impactful organization of nearly 300 000 members bound by the bonds of sisterhood and empowered by a commitment to servant leadership that is both domestic and
That is both domestic and international in its scope as alpha kappa alpha has grown it has maintained its focus in two key areas the lifelong personal and professional development of each of its members and galvanizing its membership into an organization of respected power and influence consistently at the forefront of effective
Advocacy and social change that results in equality and equity for all citizens of the world alpha kappa alpha has five targets of service hashtag cap hbcu for life hbcu stands for historically black colleges and universities this program focuses on the admission process and prepares students for college life women’s health breast cancer awareness
Heart health nutritional well-being and caregivers are just a few of our many impact days economic legacy personal financial planning credit repair and entrepreneurship the arts the harlem renaissance and the black arts movement celebrates the contributions of african-american artists global impact some of the organizations we support our souls for souls lions club
The pillowcase project which supports little girls and little boys in providing dresses and t-shirts both domestically and also internationally the north charleston chapter members have been anchored in the community for over 35 years and some of our most recognized members one locally is the honorable judge tamara cunningham curry
Some other names that you might know is maya angelou the poet an activist tony morrison the playwright and author but most notable would be madam vice president kamala harris we are proud of all of their accomplishments but most important we’re proud and delighted to call them sister
Uh first of all i just want to thank mount pleasant um for allowing us to come out this evening to talk about the history of kappa fsi uh my name is calvin williams and i’m the president of the charleston alumni chapter and i’m randall dunn i’m the pomar
Also known as president of the mons corner alumni chapter and i am art williams president slash polemart if you will of the walterbur alumni chapter in walterbury south carolina and today we are here to give you the history of kappa facade fraternity incorporated which was established at january 5th 1911
On the campus of indiana university in bloomington indiana we have 10 illustrious founders who actually came up with the idea of the fraternity in itself it started out as a social group because of the fact that during that time in 1911 a lot of the students are not allowed to
Participate and such activities on campus so they decide to come up with a social group start out by the name of cap alpha nu um in 1911 um later on it got charted uh may 15 1911 as cap alpha new um unfortunately during the time of the activities around the school
Founder diggs overheard a group of white students made fun of one of the brothers of the fraternity and started saying that he’s from kappa alpha knee um after that time in april 15 1915 they did a name change to cap alpha psi maternity incorporated yeah and the father expand on
On what brother williams said and i’m also williams but uh we’re brothers in california uh one of the focuses were with uh two of our most famous brothers uh brother elder watson diggs and brother byron armstrong uh they were two of the premier founders of the ten founders that we have uh they
Were the two brothers that actually got together and uh invited eight other uh african-american males to participate and be a part of of a meeting that they were holding because like brother williams said that it was a social uh it was a social gathering at first because they didn’t have any other social
Events on campus while they were there because they weren’t even allowed to live on campus or perhaps uh wasn’t afforded the pleasure to participate in any sports or anything other than track they could participate in individual sports but not group sports and during that time it was hard for them to adjust because
They didn’t have the same social activities that was actually taking place on campus around some of the classmates that were there also with the history of capital we want to let everyone know that kappa does not discriminate because of race creed of color we have white brothers uh in our organization as well
As uh we don’t discriminate because of religion uh we just an organization that seek after good uh spiritual men and uh and high achievers cap alpha psi fraternity incorporated has the national guide right initiatives those initiatives include kappa league junior kappa league the amen program st jude research hospital and the premier
Kappa camp program with kappa camp that allows inner city boys to attend camps across the country and then the um other initiatives um as far as the saint jude research hospital allows uh families to get support financially as they are caring for or or having care given to their children that are
I mean that have been affected with cancer now if you will there are some other things that uh kappa has notoriously done we’ve helped a lot with with storms hurricanes typhoons uh we’re big on supporting those type initiatives uh just recently for our founders day
A part of our project was one of the projects that we had was funding the national uh uh me the museum and uh washington d.c uh because we felt strongly that we need to have a presence there so we have done quite a bit of giving and supporting of many of the
Organizations that are there and also um to add to what brother dunn mentioned about our initiatives um recently what was added is that our senior kappa’s endowment program was established and also the achievement academy the achievement academy is actually reaching out to the undergraduate chapters and the undergraduate brothers to bring them
Into the workforce so basically the alumni brothers or any of the brothers that in a professional aspect or professional field they were actually linked with the undergraduate brothers to bring them into mentoring them into the business field the senior kappa endowment basically is money set aside for each
Alumni chapter to have to help with our senior cappers most times when you know our brothers get up and age they feel that they’re forgotten and so now with the senior kappa endowment and the senior kappa initiative we are able to reach back and to get our older brothers because right now
We actually stand on their shoulders because they actually have led the way into what kappa fsi is all about and one of the other initiatives that we have that we have discussed uh as the brothers with the uh with the lot that we have uh with the low country chapters with
Brother williams and brother dunn is that we’re hoping that sometime on the latter part of the month we can get together with some of the other greek organizations and set something up where we help our some of the seniors and the community get registered for the vaccination of or for the vaccine with
Cover 19 vaccine or we are always active and trying to get things done that’s going to benefit the community because one of the things about kappa is that we’re always out there trying to do something for mankind and uh that’s part of our thrust to achieve certain things and have goals set
So we can get those community activities and services done also a point of clarification on brother williams introduction of the army of the lock lock that stands for the low country coalition of kappas each of us here represents a different chapter within kappa within the low country
And to that end we have collective initiatives that we’ve done as brother williams has just mentioned and then individually our chapters do other things in the respective area that we occupy for specifics um i mean specifically with the monk’s corner during the voter i mean for for voters
Um i mean for the for the last election my apologies we collaborated with some other greek organizations within berkeley county and we set up like a just kind of a i mean it was a relief station just with the anticipation of long lines for voters to get water snacks
Just just something to help them to endure and be there and stand in line to make sure that their votes are counted and that was a very special moment because it was a very important election and we just wanted to make sure that we provided an atmosphere that would
Allow people to cast their vote and be comfortable and not have to have other deterrents that would cause them not to be able to do that and also in the charleston um alumni chapter our recent and greatest accomplishment uh would be the guide right program through our kappa league that we’re have
Established in the north woods uh middle school which is in the northwoods uh north charleston area we’ve been working with that school for the last three years now and we’ve tried to develop the young men as they come through middle school and and going on to high school in one of carleton’s uh
Most recent event last year for black history month uh we got together with the akas uh another uh greek sorority and uh we sponsored a home buying seminar and we had great turnout and there was a lot of people that as a result of that seminar being set up
And taking place they were able to work toward getting better interest rates or some actually got an opportunity to talk to builders uh as well as financing banks and so forth so some of those people actually got homes now that was just right before the pandemic took place in in march so
This year we we won’t be able to meet face to face but we’re still hoping to or have another seminar of similar to that to see if we can definitely help some of the people that are struggling now because of the economy uh and people that have having problems making their mortgage
Payments and uh rental payments and so forth again we’re about service and assisting others achievement in every field of human endeavor is our motto that’s what kappa alpha psi is all about is achievement uh we’re strive to achieve in everything that we we do and we work
Diligently on making that uh known in the community and also in the world not only that we have alumni chapters here in the us but we do have alumni chapters abroad and throughout the world um africa uh abu dhabi uh tokyo japan and recently in canada we just established those
Alumni chapters so as you can see kappa phasar is not only statewide but is also worldwide also some some famous or notable kappas include uh ralph abernathy uh john singleton um cedric the entertainer uh hakeem jeffries um there are there are several notables uh mike tomlin who’s the coach of the pittsburgh steelers
Um can you think of any others that we well we have the astronaut uh bernard harris he’s one of the first african americans that walked on the moon or out in space uh we have uh arthur ashe one of the uh first tennis black tennis professional that that was actually out
There gail says football player chicago bears one of the most popular athletes that uh ever played football so we had colin kaepernick one of the uh most recent activists for uh for for human uh dignity and respect uh so we we do have uh a lineage of uh of of great men that
Are catholics and one of the things about it are we do not seek after good men good men seek after being better kappa man and uh so we don’t seek after or any individual because of their uh financial worthiness or their expertise or their profession they seek after us being a kappa man
And uh one of the things that you notice me carrying this cane here and i probably should have left it on the table because i kept playing with it but uh it’s this cane represents being a gentleman most people admire this cane because of the color crimson and cream
And uh so most people admired for that now i’ve been spinning it while i was standing here but most real kappa man they twirl it you know and i don’t want to twirl it because i got my brother right next to me so i don’t want to hit him with
The with the with the king but uh but this is something that you commonly see with the uh especially young brothers that have good wrist coordination they usually keep a cane right and that’s mostly done like in step shows and it’s a heavier wood wooden cane that allows you to
Tap twirl and throw and just do whatever else dance you’ve got to do with it yeah so that’s one of the things that i’m capitals are known for as well well again monks mount pleasant uh we just want to thank you so much for giving us this opportunity to share our history
About kappa alpha psi fraternity incorporated once again my name is kelvin williams paul mark of charleston alumni chapter and i’m randall dunn paul mark montz corner alumni chapter and i am art williams of the walterborough alumni chapter and walter burr south carolina why should i feel discouraged and why should the shadows come
Why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home when jesus is my portion a constant friend is he his eye long the sparrow and i know he watches me why should i feel discouraged and why should the shadows come why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and
Home when jesus is my portion a constant friend is he his eyes despair and i know he watches me i sing because i’m happy i sing because i’m free his eyes on the sparrow and i know he watches me i sing because i’m happy i sing because i’m free his eyes on
The sparrow and i know he watches i know he watches i know he watches of me hello my name is jennifer grant buggs and i’m speaking on behalf of my beloved sorority sigma gamma rho sorority incorporated our motto is greater service greater progress scholarship sisterhood and service sigma gamma rho was founded
On november 12 1922 on the campus of butler university in indianapolis indiana right across from the home of the grand wizard of the kkk it was founded by seven young school teachers who were committed to service and education to all mankind the local chapter here in charleston is
The delta iota sigma alumni chapter and was chartered by six local area educators as well in november 3rd 1973 the chapter has grown to over 50 members our national projects include saint jude’s project reassurance and swim 1922. our colors are royal blue and gold our sorority flower
Is the yellow tea rose our mascot is the poodle some of our notable members include congresswoman robin kelly and congresswoman nina turner we have some people in education that have been noted throughout um history our sorority was founded on education so we have a lot of educators within our within our
Order and our sorority we also have some entertainment as well um soror mc light and sorry kelly price are two of the most notable members as far as entertainment goes within the sorority um if interested in our sorority please visit our website at www.sgrow1922.org please follow the local chapter on instagram and facebook
At delta iota sigma chapter of sigma gamma rho sorority incorporated thank you for the city of mount pleasant for allowing me to showcase and speak on behalf of my beloved sorority sigma gamma rho sorority incorporated Thank you good afternoon my name is rita nesbitt and this is terry burns we are members of zeta phi beta sorority incorporated at this time i definitely want to acknowledge our international president valerie hollingsworth-baker our southeastern regional director lawanda e harper our state director maxi moses adams and our
Local chapter president of gamma zeta kisa homes at this time we’re going to provide you a brief history of zeta phi beta sorority incorporated zeta phi beta sorority incorporated was founded on the campus of howard university january 16 1920 we were founded by five co-eds arizona cleaver stemmons pearl anna neal
Myrtle tyler faithful viola tyler goings and fanny petty watts these women had five um their vision encompassed five things for the sorority they wanted to ensure that there was unity amongst the members they also wanted to ensure that the they represented our community that they
Had a plan of action for the 1920s and beyond but also more importantly they wanted to establish a high standard of academic excellence for our sorority hi my name is terry burns zeta phi beta sorority incorporated the founders were instrumental and a host of firsts zeta phi beta sorority incorporated was the first
Organization underneath the national panhellenic council to have its own first headquarters in the state or excuse me in washington d.c zeta phi beta sorority incorporated was also the first sorority to charter a chapter in africa zeta phi beta sorority incorporated is also the first to have uh auxiliary groups and finally zeta
Five beta sorority incorporated is the one and only sorority to be constitutionally bound to a fraternity which is phi beta sigma fraternity incorporated as far as the mission for zeta phi beta sorority incorporated i think our z-hope program embodies that mission z-hope stands for zetas helping others excel through that programmatic thrust we
Empower individuals in our community from all walks of life that program actually provides services as far as meeting the basic needs for individuals in the community it also allows us to get engaged with the communities whether we participate in council meetings or getting the vote out
So as far as z-hope is concerned we really look at the mind body and spirit of those that we empower in our community as far as the principles of zeta phi beta sorority incorporated our principles are service scholarship sisterhood and final womanhood and speaking on our principles service
Zeta phi beta sorority incorporated is a community conscience action oriented sorority with this we have many partnerships to include the u.s fish and wildlife service the american association of retired persons the march of dimes which we’ve been a with them since 1998 we’ve actually raised over 4.4 million
Dollars the american cancer society the saint jude’s children research and women’s veteran rocks as far as national programs are concerned we have adopted school which allows members of zeta phi beta sorority incorporated to identify the low-performing schools and provide some sort of assistance in a number of ways to enhance
Educational experience as well as increase test scores eldercare june 15th of every year kicks off our campaign to distribute information in our communities on identifying signs of elder abuse where victims can go for assistance storks nest is a 46 year old partnership between zeta phi beta sorority incorporated
And the march of dimes storks nest is a community based prenatal health promotion program for low-income pregnant women in which gamma zeta established a closet here in the 1950s we also have zeta prematurity awareness and the international women of color this program benefits to include support
For those with aids and those caring for aids victims as far as scholarship is concerned the mission of zeta phi beta sorority national education foundation is to support higher education and achievement through scholarships and conduct community education programs here this particular organization provides scholarships to graduate graduate undergraduate and postgraduates
With our centennial being celebrated in the year of 2020 we actually started giving five for five consecutive years a hundred thousand dollar scholarship to recipients the first recipient was kailyn withers in 2020 as we talk about sisterhood as our founders envisioned back in 1920 they wanted to ensure that they had a
Sorority that was unified we continue that legacy today the other principle of zeta phi beta sorority incorporated is final womanhood we celebrate our final womanhood week the end of february and the entire month of march during that time we embrace those persons in our community who have made a difference and an impact
In our sorority and we do this globally we also as zetas we recommit ourselves to our why why we became a member of zeta phi beta sorority we also look at how we can embody ourselves and look at how we um just reinvigorate ourselves and and and continue to thrive upon the
Legacy that our founders laid before us at this time we will look at a few of the or talk about a few of the prominent members of zeta phi beta sorority incorporated i first want to begin by talking about our 23rd international president cheryl p underwood who is currently a
Um co-host of the talk the next prominent member i would like to spotlight is maggie walker maggie walker in the 1920s she established the first bank and that bank was called saint luke penny savings bank she was the first woman of any color to establish a bank
In the united states of america as well as another prominent member of zeta phi beta sorority incorporated is violet anderson she was an attorney who was the first woman to speak before the u.s supreme court in 1926. other prominent members of zeta phi beta sorority incorporated include ophelia settle egypt she helped
Expose the infamous tutee study of syphilis black sharecroppers and also played a leading role in charles johnson’s shadow of the plantation a study of the sharecropper egypt was an author of a collection of interviews with a hundred former slaves which conducted during the travels in tennessee in kentucky
And that collection is called the unwritten history of slavery which was published in 1968. alice doug carey was appointed the second principal of morris brown which is a flagship among the georgia african methodist episcopal churches she was the first librarian of the auburn carnegie library in atlanta this was actually the first and
Only library that was accessible to african americans during the segregation period she established the second chapter of zeta phi beta sorority incorporated at morris brown college and she also established the first free kindergartens for african american children to include augusta atlanta in here charleston south carolina on behalf of zeta phi beta sorority
Incorporated gamma zeta chapter we thank the town pleasant for allowing us to share our rich history and many accomplishments of 101 years of being finer thank you greetings my name is walter strather i’m the associate pastor of hibernate methodist church and a proud member of phi beta sigma
Fraternity and i’m joined by my brother uh demand damon drayton and we’re going to talk a little bit about our fraternity phi beta sigma fraternity was founded at howard university in washington dc on january 9th 1914 by three young african american male students our founders honorable a langston taylor
Honorable f morris and honorable charles i brown wanted to start an organization a greek letter fraternity that would truly exemplify the ideals of brotherhood scholarship and service founder taylor chose business as his life’s calling and from 1917 into 1926 he owned a real estate and insurance business he was secretary treasurer of the
Potomac investment company director of the federal life insurance company and president of taylor tobacco company founder taylor coyne our fraternity’s motto which is culture for service and service for humanity he began serving humanity by founding phi beta sigma to which he gave 12 consecutive years of service as a national
Officer serving as national president national treasurer national secretary and field secretary he also served as president of the distinguished service chapter founder taylor was described as a distinguished poised and a truly hard worker the members of the alpha sigma chapter of our fraternity called founder taylor proff short for professor
Because he was always carrying a book reading a file or or or those books in addition to holding national offices in phi beta sigma he cert he served in various capacities in the washington washington art society the derby club the bannocker research society the mu so lit club and the
Tennessee state club founder taylor was a tireless worker who strove to ensure that phi beta sigma would make a significant impact in the world and well beyond his years of service he served as the history on the history committee providing numerous notations minutes and oral history to be passed on to future members
Founder taylor retired from federal service as an employee of the smithsonian institute founder morris earned his bachelor’s degree bachelor’s of divinity degree from payne school of divinity at wilbur force university a master’s degree from northwestern university and the degrees of doctor of metaphysics and the doctor of psychology from the college of metaphysic
Metaphysics in indianapolis indiana indiana indiana he received the doctor of divinity honorary from allen university in columbia south carolina and the lld at edward ward edward waters college jacksonville florida founder morris was an outstanding educator minister and a prophetic voice of his time founder morris served at several
Academic and religious institutes he was the dean of theology and president of edward waters college and a mason founder morris founded and chartered numerous sigma chapters particularly in the state of florida mor founder morris was also a student of the greek language and is responsible for the
For naming of fraternity in addition he wrote sigma’s first constitution and was the first president of the alpha chapter in the 1950s 1915 howard university yearbook entitled the mirror founder morris had listed by his name the following doctor of social service ymca 1930 1913 to 1914 organizer and president of
Phi beta sigma 1914 through 1915 and president of the young men’s progressive club 1914 through 1915 in a tutor of languages in history father morris was married and had five children two of which are brothers in this fraternity and in 1915 howard university yearbook founder morris left of left us with these words
Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep he was very cordial and very popular with the student body and howard university administration founder founder brown is credited with choosing the nine charter members of phi beta sigma fraternity in addition he founded the delta chapter delta chapter at kansas state university in
Manhattan kansas on august april the 9th 1915 and was a teacher at the kansas industrial school for negroes in topeka kansas in the 1914 howard university yearbook under the personals and applied quotations section founder brown left us with this no legacy is so rich as honesty founder brown graduated from
Howard university on june 3rd 1914 and the last correspondence that the fraternity received from him was a letter to founder taylor in 1924 in which founder brown indicated that he was teaching in kansas census records in oral interviews show that founder brown lived in topeka kansas in the topeka kansas area until 1931
Some believe that he was a casualty of of the first world war war others thought that he moved overseas in the spring of 1949 founder leonard f morris wrote we live in daily hope that we shall one day learn the fate of our beloved brother and founder the founders of our fraternity
Deeply wish to create an organization that viewed itself as a part of the general community rather than being set apart from the general community they believe that each potential member should be judged by his own merits rather than by his family background or affluence without regard to race nationality skin tone
Or texture of his hair they desire for their fraternity to exist as part of our ever greater brotherhood which would be devoted to the inclusive we rather than the exclusive we from its inception the founders also conceived phi beta sigma as a mechanism to deliver services to the general community
Rather than gaining skills to be utilized excuse exclusively for themselves and their immediate families they held a deep conviction that they should return their newly acquired skills to the communities from which they had come this deep conviction was mirrored in the fraternity’s motto cultural for service and service for humanity
Today phi beta sigma has blossomed into an international organization of leaders no longer a single entity members of the fraternity have been instrumental in the establishment of the phi beta sigma national foundation the phi beta sigma federal credit union and the sigma beta club foundation zeta phi beta sorority founded in 1920
With the assistance of phi beta sigma is the sister organization of the fraternity and we proudly say we are the only constitutional constitutionally bound brother and sisterhood this time brother drayton will name some members notable members of five minutes sigma notable members of the phi beta sigma past and present include
Local to the charleston area reverend dr kyle middleton charleston county council member bishop samuel greene bishop in the african american episcopal denomination sports brother emmitt smith of the dallas cowboys nfl hall of fame jerry rice super bowl champion nfl hall of fame brother lou brock two-time world series champion mlb hall of fame
Richard sherman super bowl champion brother al joyner track and field gold medalist brother johnny gray track and field gold medalist in the entertainment realm we have brother ben vereen brother blair underwood brother al roker brother j anthony brown brother harry belafonte brother william bootsy collins in the
Politics and civil rights room we have the reverend brother al sharpton brother a philip randolph brother james weldon johnson brother huey p newton brother hosea williams brother elijah cummings and the late great brother john lewis thank you hello my name is hezekiah greich myoda phi theta fraternity incorporated
I’d like to thank the town of mount pleasant and the historical commission for celebrating us during the excuse that’s okay see i had it too i’m doing good all right start over are we going we’re going hello my name is hezekiah grice from ioda phi theta fraternity incorporated
We’d like to thank mount pleasant and national historical committee for celebrating black fraternities and sororities during the hit during the month of black history we’d like to take a moment to discuss iota phi theta fraternity and their history in the town of mount pleasant in the
State of south carolina and also in our nation iota firefighter fraternity was established september 19th in 1963 in baltimore maryland at morgan college now morgan state university our fraternity was established three weeks after the i have a dream speech by martin luther king 50 miles away in washington d.c it was
Established during the turbulent years of 1963 that also seen the murder of medgar evers it also seemed bull connors and his rhetoric as he discouraged america to separate even more during those times we decided we need to unite more and we figured the best way to do that
Would be to stand on the shoulders of those who came before us so we can see further and bail and blaze better trails i’m a proud member of alpha chi alpha omega graduate chapter in columbia south carolina through this chapter we have several initiatives our biggest one being saint jude
Where every year we walk we walk or run in the saint jude marathon and we donate money and raise money for children in need our fraternity also has initiatives such as i am a king where we peacefully protest and stand up against opposition that will separate americans and separate blacks
We take time to donate clothing during the wintertime we take time to make meals during the summer time our fraternity takes time to give back to the community on the pillars of education brotherhood and leadership amongst other things we continue to make strides in improving our country and improving
Improving us as people we’d like to take a moment to just reflect on where we’ve been in the past south carolina did not have a strong presence for iot phi theta fraternity that all changed when we came to clemson university south carolina state university of south carolina claflin university and also francis marion
We continue to make strides in the community in the cities of charleston goose creek mount pleasant orangeburg and columbia some of the things we do with our national youth foundation is we teach we mentor young men on how to become older men and better men and give back society
We do this through classes hands-on examples and spending time with them we also take time to go into local community hospitals and read we take time to give back and donate our time as we help prepare students as they grow uh we also go into schools and we prepare
Students as they go towards future grades as they graduate sixth grade seventh grade and eighth grade and prepare for high school we have a small foundation up in florence that donates a scholarship to graduating to graduate high school seniors as to prepare for college the one thing about iota phi theta is
That we are known for the struggle our motto is building a tradition not resting upon one so as we go through the struggle of daily lives we continue we continue to always give back we continue to recognize that struggle from that struggle beauty can arise from that struggle success will rise
If you are interested in learning more about our organization please go online at www.iotifythedata.org once again my name is hezekiah grice from alpha chi omega thank you greetings i am nikita paige dawson the president of the charleston alumni chapter of delta sigma theta sorority incorporated delta sigma theta sorority incorporated
Is a private not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to provide assistance and support through established programs in local communities throughout the world the organization is a sisterhood a predominantly black college educated women since its founding more than 350 000 women have joined the organization the sorority has over 1 collegiate and alumni chapters
Located in the united states the arabian gulf bahamas bermuda canada germany jamaica japan the republic of korea and the virgin islands delta sigma theta sorority was founded on january 13 1913 by 22 phenomenal collegiate women on the campus of howard university these students wanted to use their collective strength
To promote academic excellence and to provide assistance to those in need in march of 1913 the founders of delta sigma theta sorority incorporated performed their first public act they participated in the women’s suffrage march in washington dc since its inception the organization and members have been dedicated to the constructive development of its
Members and to public service with a primary focus on the black community the major programs of the sorority are based upon the organization’s five-point programmatic thrust economic development education development international awareness and involvement physical and mental health and political awareness and involvement since its founding in 1913 delta sigma theta sorority incorporated
Has clearly distinguished itself as a public service organization that boldly confronts the challenges of african americans and hence all americans over the years a wide range of programs addressing education health international development and strengthening of the african family have evolved there are many notable women who have molded our legacy
To make delta sigma theta a powerful force we are more than just a sorority sadie t m alexander phd our first national president was the nation’s first woman to earn a phd in economics brigadier general hazel johnson-brown ph.d was the first african-american woman general in the united states army
Alexis kennedy at the age of 26 became the first black woman neurosurgeon in the united states shirley chisholm the first black woman member of the u.s congress the first african-american and first woman to run as a major party candidate for the presidency of the united states frankie m freeman
Noted attorney and our 14th national president was the first woman appointed to the civil rights commission by president lyndon b johnson and served 16 years dorothy i height phd our 10th national president was appointed by president carter to the presidential commission on national agenda for the 80s
She served as the president as the national president of the council of negro women for more than 40 years barbara jordan was the first african-american to serve in the u.s congress from the south since reconstruction she was also the first black to preside over a state senate and the first african-american to
Deliver the keynote address at the democratic national convention marcia fudge 21st national president and congressman woman carol mosley bronze the first african-american female elected to the united states the first african-american u.s senator from the democratic party and the first woman to defeat incumbent u.s senator in an election throughout our local
State region country and the world we have many more extraordinary women committed to the betterment of our communities in delta sigma theta sorority incorporated there is joy in our sisterhood there is power in our voices and there’s definitely service in our hearts we are just we are more than just a sorority
We are a movement we are a movement we are a movement that is dedicated to educating empowering and inspiring our charleston community the charleston alumni chapter of delta sigma theta sorority incorporated was charted as the beta alpha sigma chapter on november 15th 1940 by 10 charter members and four special initiates
Who knew that delta’s presence was needed in the charleston community the charleston alumni chapter currently has a membership of over 200 members who are dedicated to the mission of delta sigma theta sorority incorporated to provide assistance and support in our local communities and internationally through established programs based on our organization’s five-point
Programmatic trust the charleston alumni chapter initiatives and activities includes the following youth mentoring programs voter education and registration drives sponsoring political forums providing scholarships for graduating high school seniors collecting food and supplies for families partnering with habitat for humanity sponsoring financial literacy workshops school supply distributions provide funds to support water supplies in
Africa and haiti and also coordinating dell today at city hall just to name a few the members of charleston alumni chapter has continually followed in the footsteps of our founders and charter members we have remained in the forefront of action as a voice for those in need through our continued commitment
To service this year marks 80 years of service to the charleston community we are the charleston alumni chapter of delta sigma theta sorority and corporate incorporated we are united and sisterhood and engaged in service thank you good afternoon everyone to the listening audience uh first of all we’d like to thank the town
Of mount pleasant for giving uh omega’s high five fraternity an opportunity to present ourselves uh locally to this community um i am israel m broderick i was initiated fraternity on saturday march 23rd by way of epsilon epsilon chapter housed on the campus of benedict college in columbia south carolina uh we have with
Us today uh epsilon new news uh well i’ll start with the district rep we have the district rep of the 42nd district rep of the state of south carolina north carolina our leader who’s at the helm of these two states are brother kurt walker thank you brother dr for being here
Then we have the bacillus from the local chapter of epsilon nunu in mount pleasant south carolina uh brother anthony freeman we’re here uh during black history month and black history month obviously is an annual celebration and recognition of black achievement and contribution to this country uh actually one of our members uh historian
Carter g woodson uh was the spearhead of uh black history month it was called negro history week founded in 1926 and it uh ballooned into this great uh recognition of black history month the whole month when brother carter g woodson found it was only the second week
In february and so we’re here today to talk about omega uh historically and notably omega is the first fraternity to be founded on an african-american college or university in hvcu that being howard university uh this this dream this idea of omega was that of three friends uh three undergraduate students oscar frank
And edgar uh and i don’t call their name first names out of disrespect because they are and will always remain to be illustrious founders i said that because back in 1911 on the campus of howard they were just after themselves their friends the falcon staff oscar
Edgar and frank and what amazes me is that these three young men being freshly out of their parents tutelage and instruction had the mindset uh the foresight the and the insight established fraternity we it is said that uh they were on campus and they looked across the core drangle where
Students hung out and they said uh this is great but this is not what we want there was a fraternity that predated us but they decided they wanted something different they wanted man of same scholastic achievement of sterling character and who have had a friendly disposition and um it wasn’t without some resistance
So they decided to establish a fraternity and what made it unique is oscar uh the young student i was the lab assistants of uh dr just who’s the son of charleston he was born at 28 inspection street and his mother formed the town of maryville um
Professor just as a son of this area and we’re happy to know that he’s one of our founders and he solicited and petitioned the help of uh professor just and it started there and according to our history says on a friday evening november 17 1911 they went into the office of
Dr just in the science building now called third kill hold named after the eighth president of howard uh who’s a white gentleman he was world repeat represent and we recognize it now and today as turkey hull and this hey dr just we want to start a fraternity because other
Fraternity we just don’t want it and he says we shall do it and so on that night they formed a model called friendship is essential to the soul and i am confident to say that the founders chose this model because they were three friends on the campus of howard
In so much that they were known as the three musketeers they had an endearing relationship and so i appreciate that they were friends and gave us that great model they created the shield they chose the colors of raw purple and old gold and they brought us our wonderful four cardinal principles manhood
Scholarship perseverance and uplift and uh the fraternity has defined those but in in a very short summation i said they thought about manhood representing responsibility because any man has to be responsible and manhood is not necessarily decided by age but decided by action and any man will seek
Scholarship to further his life so he can make better manhood scholarship perseverance and and seeking scholarship you may hit bumps because you’re trying to get a job you’re trying to get educated and they said in the midst of doing all of this you have to persevere no matter what obstacle what challenge
What you have to negotiate you have to persevere and he said when you’ve persevered to get where you go the the founder says don’t forget where you came from reach back and uplift somebody you know in your community and omega said we don’t want man of mediocrity
We want man of exception and excellence everyone can’t be an omega man but everyone can be a man we’re a special breed and i’m happy to say and uh we were not met without resistance uh when the founders set out to uh establish this fraternity uh the campus was not
They were not fond of it and they resisted but the brothers the young brothers decided to put up some placards and got in trouble and were even threatened to be suspended or expelled but dr just intervened he lea he aids for us and on december friday december 15th
We became official on the campus of howard then in uh wednesday october 28 in 1914 we were officially incorporated under the laws of washington dc i want to say uh in this fraternity when we are initiated we all become brothers but brothers to me is always a sign of
Consanguinity it’s it’s about blood when you define brother we could be brothers in a brotherhood but brotherhood says blood relationship but i believe in this fraternity as we grow and we move i believe we should always strive to go beyond being brothers but being friends because brothers being brothers is
Mostly inheritance we all get the same thing when we enter the ranks of omega but we need to evolve to where the founders were three friends that in 1911 on a friday evening 109 years ago they could birth a fraternity as to what stood the test of time and has
Become a powerful good in society and has changed the life of many brothers and many people and i get i i’m i’m compelled to say that i want to be friends because friendship is based on a choice and all the men had chose omega for our own reasons
And this brotherhood is set to do many great things and i hope it’s another 109 years so i pay homage to the four men who decided to found this fraternity so i wouldn’t even have to begin to consider anything else so we thank you for that opportunity um
I uh am blessed to be a part of this group i am blessed to be a part of this chapter here mount pleasant our feet are on the ground and we’re running um i didn’t want to say to um if i didn’t dr marion e uh david
Is our grand bosses he runs the chapter from the top down um i don’t have much more to say but uh thank you for the opportunity and this chance to express ourselves and give you a little bit about our history of the mega sci-fi fraternity incorporated god bless you
Hello my name is anthony freeman i was initiated into this great fraternity on november 18th 1982 at the university of south carolina state we i have the chapter there it’s uh called zi and uh just wanted to uh take this opportunity to let you know that we actually formed the chapter here in
Mount pleasant it was uh chartered on july 17 uh 2020. it was at the 82nd conclave we were the only fraternity or a chapter that was established during this particular pandemic time was i guess an idea that we’ve had for many years to try to bring a chapter over here in mount pleasant
And we’re finally able to say that we’re successful in doing that we’ve been uh pretty active in the community at so far we’ve uh been involved with the voters registration we did a blood drive and we’re going to be doing a screening of a african-american movie here on saturday
At the four mile community park so uh we’re pretty excited about having the opportunity to service the mount pleasant community um our watch word is service uh that’s the main feature of our fraternity uh and the fraternity here is epsilon new new we were able to get it established as i
Said on uh in july 2020 so uh just wanted to say we’re really happy to be here and uh look forward to working with the town of mount pleasant and all of the communities within it and uh pass on pass you on to uh our district representative uh brother kurt walker
Okay good morning everyone on behalf of the brothers of the mighty sixth district on behalf of our grand basilisks dr david e marion and of course our immediate past grant bossless who hails from the city of raleigh north carolina dr tony knox i bring you greetings on from all of our brothers
From our various chapters undergraduate and graduate chapters from north and south carolina i want to definitely take a moment and con congratulate the brothers of the epsilon new new chapter who was recently chartered this summer this past summer during the pandemic season and this chapter will be very relevant
In terms of the growth of the low country prior to forming the epsilon new newton chapter mu alpha was the only chapter for omega sci fi as far as graduate chapter here in the low country you when you pause to think about that out of the five cities in south carolina
Being the five largest cities the mu alpha was responsible for the city of charleston mount pleasant and north charleston three of the largest five cities were here in the low country so the natural growth in the last you know recent years it led to a clear understanding that it was time
For growth in the omega sci-fi fraternity in the low country and the brothers stepped up in a dramatic way in terms of being in a pandemic season and we were able to get that charter ratified at our 82nd grand conclave we hope to do some more growing in the
Months and years to come matter of fact we now have a charter in the city of greece greenville north carolina and that’s the iota new new chapter so that’s similar to the name here in mount pleasant and we have some very you know great projects coming up in the near season number one
Being in the city of charleston of course the brothers of mount pleasant will be highly engaged with this project but we are honoring one of our founding fathers dr ernest e just in a park in the city of charleston and that’s going to be probably tentatively the summer
Or fall of 2022 maybe even early of spring 2022 that’s our desire and we will have a statue honoring our founder dr ernesty just at that time so again i just want to thank the citizens of the city of mount pleasant and we look forward to a growth of our fraternity
Here in mount pleasant we have a historic community i’m learning more and more of it about from the brothers uh the nine mile the ten mile communities the uh snowden’s and so we hope our chapter flourishes here in the community and we and with your support we will be doing
Great things i thank you very much for your time this morning thank you on closing we wanted to highlight some of the prominent brothers the who’s who of a mega man who’ve influenced society i’ll give you a brief list um there’s brother benjamin e mays and locally in the state of south
Carolina’s uh brother james clyburn we know him very well there’s uh michael jordan uh benjamin hooks vernon jordan shaquille o’neal and the list is exhaustive but we have our hands and tentacles throughout the world through our communities and we take a privilege because the greatest gift to society
Is always service to mankind thank you again
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