The Historical Legacy of the Divine Nine (2024)

Black Greek-letter organizations (BGLOs) emerged during a period that is characterized as a low point in American race relations. These associations were established on the principles of personal excellence, racial uplift, community service, civic action and kinship. Their emergence coincided with significant national developments, including the rise of Jim Crow laws, the popularity of scientific racism, and widespread racial violence and prejudice.

Black students, whether studying at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) or predominantly white institutions, came together to create these organizations, forging familial ties to one another and outreach within the larger Black community. Those kinships and ties endure to this day. BGLOs formed at a time when Greek life at predominantly white institutions excluded Black students.

Today, the nine BGLOs that comprise the National Pan-Hellenic Council, known as the Divine Nine, have an impact on community service and civic engagement, through outreach programs that include literacy, professional development and voter registration.

Alpha Phi Alpha stands as the sole Black Greek-letter organization founded at an Ivy League institution—Cornell University. Amidst a campus marked by segregation and social isolation for Black students, a troublingly low retention rate prompted the remaining individuals to form a support and study group.

On December 4, 1906, seven young Black men, aspiring to foster a brotherhood, laid the foundation for the fraternity. Their founding principles encompassed personal excellence, kinship, racial uplift via community service, civic engagement and philanthropy. Operating without precedent for Black students on campus, they forged an organization using secret societies as a support framework.

Referred to as the "Seven Jewels of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity,” this group of founders included the influential intellectual and activist W.E.B. Du Bois. The fraternity expanded, establishing a second chapter at Howard University. Its official journal, The Sphinx, served as a means to connect chapters, share information on business and social activities, and publish essays on contemporary issues. The fraternity also organized annual conventions to bridge communication gaps.

During an era when most Black teenagers did not graduate high school or pursue college education, Alpha Phi Alpha intervened. It devised programs offering tutoring, financial aid, and heightened educational opportunities for Black youth. Notably, it initiated a national community service agenda, featuring initiatives such as the Go-To-High School, Go-To-College program and the Voting Rights Program, which engaged in voter registration drives.

Established on January 15, 1908, at Howard University, Alpha Kappa Alpha emerged as the first Greek-letter organization founded by Black college women. Ethel Hedgeman Lyle, a Howard student, aspired to create a supportive network for women sharing similar goals—to uplift one another and leverage their talents for the greater good. Collaborating with several other women, Lyle initiated the drafting of a constitution and finalized the official name, motto and colors. Unlike prior challenges with campus administrators, the group’s acceptance as a recognized campus organization encountered no delays, leading to the group's official formation in 1908.

Most Black Greek-letter fraternities trace their origins to Howard University. However, Kappa Alpha Psi is one of a few BGLOs that emerged among Black students at predominantly white universities. Elder Watson Diggs and Byron Kenneth Armstrong, who had forged a friendship at Howard, found themselves at Indiana University, where they confronted the stark realities of Black life. Discrimination, inadequate social services and meager representation left Black students socially isolated within a campus environment. They were denied access to recreational and entertainment facilities.

Diggs rallied nine fellow Black men and established Alpha Omega as an interim fraternity, a precursor to a permanent organization. On January 5, 1911, this group birthed a new fraternity on campus, called Kappa Alpha Nu, which attained national recognition on May 15, 1911.

Initially, Howard University administrators opposed the formation of this group, reflecting the attitudes of many colleges nationwide, which were concerned that secret societies could erode trust among students and lead to immoral behavior. Initially denied recognition by the university, Omega Psi Phi members initiated a public relations campaign by placing index cards around the campus on trees, fences, bulletin boards and other visible locations.

President Wilbur P. Thirkield publicly denied the existence of Omega Psi Phi on campus, prompting members to personally lobby the faculty. After negotiations with the faculty, Omega Psi Phi transitioned from a local fraternity to a nationally recognized organization and was officially incorporated in 1924. Its chapters expanded across the country after World War I. In 1918, there were three chapters, and by 1923, there were 47 active chapters.

In 1926, Omega Psi Phi became a life member of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, a group founded by member Carter G. Woodson, a historian and founder of Negro history week which later became Black History Month.

During the Great Depression, the fraternity supported lawyer and civil rights activist John P. Davis, chairman of the Joint Committee on National Recovery, a coalition of 20 civil rights groups, in his efforts to secure fair employment for Black people. The fraternity also contributed to organizations such as the Southern Negro Congress, the National Urban League, the International Brotherhood of Red Caps and held a life membership with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

In 1912, at Howard University, these members voted to transition from AKA to Delta Sigma Theta. The move sparked discord between graduate members, who favored maintaining the status quo, and new Alpha chapter members advocating for change. When a deadline imposed by a graduate member to cease reorganization efforts was ignored, 22 women parted ways from AKA and established Delta Sigma Theta on January 13, 1913.

The turning point arrived in January 1930 when the organization’s Grand Chapter attained national incorporation. This action marked the Deltas as the first sorority predominantly composed of undergraduates to petition any university trustee to become an incorporated entity.

The organization became active politically. In 1913, Delta members marched side by side with white women in the 1913 Women’s Suffragette March, which featured 10,000 participants. It lobbied the federal government on various matters, including standing against injustice, particularly in the Scottsboro Boys case, anti-lynching laws and U.S. involvement in in Haiti.

It also sponsored various social programs for Black people. It created the National Library Project in 1937, which sought to bring literacy to a population with limited resources. Furthermore, it created one of the nation’s first bookmobiles, where it filled busses with books and traveled to various areas in the American South. It served Black people in some of the most isolated parts of the country.

Presently, the group boasts a membership exceeding 300,000 initiates and boasts over 1,000 chartered chapters worldwide. Its sisterhood predominantly comprises of Black college-educated women. Some of its notable members include former congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and civil rights activist Dorothy Height.

While Phi Beta Sigma originated at Howard University, its conception sprouted in Memphis, Tennessee. In the summer of 1910, A. Langston Taylor, a high school student, encountered a Howard alum who not only regaled him with tales of campus life, but also shared insights about Greek fraternities. This encounter seeded the idea of forming a new organization. Taylor, along with his former college roommate Leonard Morse and fellow Howard student Charles I. Brown, convened to establish the official organization in a Washington, D.C. YMCA, with Taylor assuming the inaugural role of national president. It took university deans three months to grant recognition to this nascent fraternity, which was founded on January 9, 1914.

During the 1920s, Phi Beta Sigma actively engaged in advocacy efforts, notably supporting anti-lynching legislation. Moreover, it launched the Bigger and Better Business national program, aiming to address the imperative for Black economic empowerment. On the global stage, the fraternity opposed U.S. military intervention in Haiti, marking its involvement in international affairs. During this period, Sigma grew to have 45 chapters in 25 different cities.

Notable Sigma brothers went on to make a significant impact in the Harlem Renaissance. Rhodes scholar and writer Alain Locke produced "The New Negro" in 1925, an anthology that featured fiction, poetry, and essays on Black art and literature. Another notable Sigma member during this period, musician James Weldon Johnson, authored "Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing," also known as “The Negro National Anthem.”

The Great Depression represented a nadir in recruitment. Some members had to leave schools and some chapters became inactive. The Sigma treasury became low on funds. Yet, the economic downturn allowed the organization to assist other chapters. It provided scholarships for financially struggling members and chapters, even though it rarely was enough at times.

Today, Phi Beta Sigma is an international organization, with nearly 600 chapters and 225,000 members since its founding in 1914.

Zeta Phi Beta

Charles Taylor, a member of Phi Beta Sigma, approached Howard student Arizona Cleaver about her interest in forming a sister organization. Despite the presence of two sororities on Howard's campus, Cleaver believed there was room for another one. Following discussions, a meeting convened with 14 individuals, resulting in five members venturing to establish a new organization. Zeta Phi Beta swiftly obtained approval for Howard, marking the campus’ third Black sorority on January 16, 1920.

The founders promptly crafted a constitution mirroring Phi Beta Sigma’s structure, marking the birth of the first brother-sister organization. This constitution emphasized advancing education among college women, fostering uplifting projects, embodying the spirit of sisterly love, and promoting the ideals of finer womanhood.

Sigma Gamma Rho

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., was founded on November 12, 1922, at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, by seven educators: Mary Lou Allison Gardner Little, Dorothy Hanley Whiteside, Vivian White Marbury, Nannie Mae Gahn Johnson, Hattie Mae Annette Dulin Redford, Bessie Mae Downey Rhoades Martin and Cubena McClure.

In the 1920s, Indiana was a hostile climate for Black people, with the reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan fueled by the 1915 film "The Birth of a Nation." Indiana was a hub of Klan activity, with over 250,000 Klansmen in the state, including individuals in powerful political positions. In fact, the Grand Dragon of the Klan lived half a block away from the Butler University campus.

The university originally accepted Black students in its inaugural year of 1855, but in 1927, it established a quota system by admitting only 10 Black students annually. Sigma Gamma Rho still managed to thrive in this environment. The organization held its first national convention in 1925 and was nationally incorporated in 1929. It actively supported civil rights and worked to empower families in areas such as education and health.

Iota Phi Theta

Iota Phi Theta was established on September 19, 1963, at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, marking the final addition to the National Pan-Hellenic Council. Founded amidst the civil rights movement by twelve men, most of whom were non-traditional students, the group dedicated itself to social service. These founding members had long friendships and associations, However, due to their advanced ages, recruiting undergraduates as members posed a challenge.

Aligned with the civil rights ethos, its members actively supported the boycott of a segregated shopping mall in Baltimore and collaborated on community service projects with organizations such as the NAACP, United Negro College Funds and the Southern Christian Leadership Council.

In 1967, the group expanded its outreach through the Pied Pipers. Over time, membership surged, and by the early 1980s, it extended its presence to the West Coast, inaugurating a chapter at San Francisco State University in 1983. In 1993, it established the National Iota Foundation, which granted scholarships, funding and spearheaded the annual Iota Black College Tour.

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