National History

 

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated was founded on the belief that sorority elitism and socializing should not overshadow the real mission of progressive organizations which is to address societal mores, ills, prejudices, poverty, and health concerns of the day.

Founded January 16, 1920, Zeta began as an idea conceived by five coeds at Howard University in Washington D.C.: Arizona Cleaver Stemons, Pearl Anna Neal, Myrtle Tyler Faithful, Viola Tyler Goings, and Fannie Pettie Watts.
These five women, also known as our Five Pearls, dared to depart from the traditional coalitions for Black women and sought to establish a new organization predicated on the precepts of Scholarship, Service, Sisterhood, and Finer Womanhood.
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated has been innovative since its inception. It was the first National Pan-Hellenic Council organization to centralize its operations in a national headquarters, the first to charter a chapter in Africa, the first to form auxiliary groups, and the first to be constitutionally bound to a fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated.

 

National Website: www.zphib1920.org