JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – One of the oldest Black sororities in the world celebrated 111 years of existence with an event held at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated was founded on Jan. 13, 1913, but the organization is celebrating all month long.
The Jacksonville Alumnae Chapter held a Founder’s Day celebration at UNF, bringing more than 400 people together to recognize the history of the organization through music and words of wisdom.
The sorority’s 22nd president, Dr. Gwendolyn Boyd, reminded guests of the founders’ bravery of marching during the women’s suffrage movement while also telling guests there’s still more work to do when it comes to social action, especially in Florida.
“We as Deltas, now from 22 women to over 350,000 women around the world. From one chapter, to over 1,000 are running with the vision of our founders. That’s the message I want them to take,” Boyd said. “We can’t sit down, we have too much work to do, especially in the area of voter registration and voter education in our communities. Keeping our people safe. Make sure our young people get a quality education. There’s still so much work to be done, even after 111 years of action, we still have much work to do.”
During the event, Jacksonville Councilman Rahman Johnson also announced that the city will be making a $10,000 contribution to the sorority to support them in their programs and outreach.