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Did You Know These Black Women Were In Zeta Phi Beta Sorority?

In honor of their Founders Day, we acknowledge some of the notable women of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. who have positively impacted Black history and culture.
Did You Know These Black Women Were In Zeta Phi Beta Sorority?
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 18: Vivica A. Fox onstage during The Zeta Phi Beta Centennial Founders’ Gala at Washington Hilton on January 18, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Brian Stukes/Getty Images)
By Essence ·

On Jan. 16, 1920, a group of women now known as the Five Pearls– Arizona Cleaver, Myrtle Tyler, Viola Tyler, Fannie Pettie, and Pearl Neal– conceived of a new organization at Howard University. The group they formed, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc, would be based on ideals of “scholarship, service, sisterly love, and finer womanhood.”

The founding members also believed that “sorority elitism and socializing overshadowed the real mission of progressive organizations and failed to address fully the societal mores, ills, prejudices, and poverty affecting humanity in general and the black community in particular.”

Zeta Phi Beta would go on to be the first Greek-letter organization to charter a chapter in Africa (1948).

In the past 104 years of service, the group has grown to over 100,000 members with hundreds of chapters chartered worldwide.

Meet some of the notable ZPHIB sorority members who have positively contributed to Black history and culture as they celebrate their Founders Day!

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