Bluford Library Archives: 90 Years of Sorority Life at North Carolina A&T
It was 90 years ago in January and February 1932 when Alpha Kappa Alpha and Delta Sigma Theta established the first sorority chapters on the campus of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Establishing sorority chapters at the time was no small feat. The charter students of both sorority chapters were part of the first generation of women to be enrolled at North Carolina A&T in over 25 years. They were integral in reestablishing student life and culture for women. In reviewing records from the University Archives, accounts in historically Black newspapers, and the chapter’s histories, we can learn amazing stories of the women who chartered these historic chapters and the impact that they still have today.
The Alpha Phi Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. was established at A&T on January 12, 1932. The charter members were Mernell Graves, Ruth Hull, Carrye Hill Kelley, Constance Hill Marteena, Marion Tatum, Vivian Walker, and Josephine Barrier Ware. Many milestones for women at A&T were achieved by these women as students and alumni. Carrye Hill Kelley was a writer, columnist, and professor of history and English at A&T for over 30 years. Her 1964 A&T history text “Profiles of 5 Administrators” is still highly used to this day. Josephine Barrier-Ware was one of A&T’s earliest known Miss A&Ts, holding the title from 1932-33. Constance Hill Marteena was a historian and legacy librarian for Bennett College and A&T. Marteena Hall on the A&T campus was named for her husband Dr. Jerald Marteena.
The initiations for that January day were led by Dr. Zenobia Gilpin (1898-1948) the regional director of AKA and a legendary pioneer of public health. The event was followed by an oyster supper at the home of the Alpha Phi Chapter advisor Jean Hamilton Wells.
Wells was an assistant professor of history and German at A&T at the time. She made history as the first African American female to enroll in and to graduate from the University of Pittsburgh, in 1910. Wells would later become the first African American female to earn a Ph.D from Pittsburgh in 1938.
When the Alpha Mu chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. was established at A&T on February 13, 1932, it was the second chapter in North Carolina, and the first at an undergraduate college in the state. Efforts to start a Delta chapter at A&T began in May 1931 with members of a Pyramid Club on campus. The faculty sponsors were librarian Florence Byrd, English professor Miriam Price and A&T Register Editor Nora Foster Dowdy. The charter members of the new Alpha Mu chapter were Drewella Galloway McCallum the first chapter president, with Hattie Diffay Jones as vice-president, Oveta Brown Jewell, Pearl Parker Burford, Martha White Carney, Hazel Whitlock Gray ‘1934, and Zena Bluford Miles.
Mrs. Lorraine Redmond Heathcock, eastern regional director of Delta Sigma Theta officiated the ceremonies with Miss Marion Palmer the grand treasurer. The pioneering Alpha Mu charter members also made their mark on the A&T campus and many national communities. Oveta Brown Jewell ‘1932 taught English at A&T and was assistant director of the championship debate team in the late 1930s. Hattie Diffay Jones ‘1932 is A&T’s earliest known Miss A&T (1931-32) and made national news for having the highest scholastic achievement at the college upon graduation. Pearl Parker Burford ‘1932 became a fourth-grade teacher in High Point, N.C. for over 30 years. Hazel Whitlock Gray was an educator, civic activist, and CEO of the Midway Technical Institute of Chicago.
Between 1928 and 1932, these young women were fully involved in campus life. They broke grounds for generations of future women Aggies as editors for the A&T Register, track and basketball athletes, as outstanding scholars, presidents of the campus Y.W.C.A., and as members of the Student Council (now the Student Government Association). The Deltas and the AKAs would be followed by the Zeta Alpha Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated that was charted on July 16, 1934, and the Gamma Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. in March of 1951.
Each of the “Divine Nine” chapters at North Carolina A&T has a collection box in the University Archives and Special Collections. Also housed are rare, published Greek Life histories and other publications. Several former faculty, staff and alumni like Carrie Hill Kelley also have vertical files and collection boxes. For more information about this story, or to research other topics in A&T history please visit our Digital Collections and Archives and Special Collections LibGuide. You can also contact the archives at libraryarchives@ncat.edu.
Current A&T students, faculty, and staff can search Greensboro, N.C. society articles on the AKAs and the Deltas in historically Black newspapers via the ProQuest Black Studies Center database.
