Delta Firsts
 

The illustrious women of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. have accomplished many personal achievements both in the past and in the present, and many of these successes have been 'firsts'. i.e. Soror Sadie T. M. Alexander was the first woman to recieve her Ph.D. in Economics. Let's recognize other sorors who have been a 'first'.

Good topic
 

My favorite. . .

Soror Marcia L. Fudge became the FIRST BLACK MAYOR, FIRST WOMAN MAYOR and FIRST BLACK WOMAN MAYOR of Warrensville Heights, Ohio in 2000. http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmili...y/luxhello.gifhttp://www.handykult.de/plaudersmili...y/luxhello.gif




**me from Warrensville** :D

Re: Good topic
 

She is my sands aunt and we had the honor of having her attend our initiation ceremony. :D

Carol Mosely-Braun has made history with a lot of first. As stated on her website, Carol Mosely-Braun was the first female senator from Illinois, first female African-American senator as well as the first African-American Democratic senator. She also aspires to be the 1st African American president.

Wouldn't that be great!? Imagine that, a member of Delta Sigma Theta, the president of the United States.

Check her out at http://www.moseley-braun.org/

*playing devil's advocate*
Carol Mosely-Braun is an honorary member. it was those "firsts" that qualified her to become one. So that to me seems a little like cheating for the purpose of this thread. ;)

14th National President Frankie Freeman was the first Black woman to serve on the United States Civil Rights Commission. She was appointed by Lyndon Johnson.

Shirley Chisholm was the first African American to make a bid for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party.

My Doctor Edith Irby Jones was the first Black Female President of the National Medical Association.

Re: Re: Good topic
 

*Time out for this brief hijack*

@ Eager2learn: I know you'll enjoy the barbeque this weekend. ;)

Alexis Herman was the first black woman to serve in the Clinton administration as the Secretary of Labor.

Alexa Canady, MD
 

...the first female African American neurosurgeon in the United States.

Also daughter of 18th National President Hortense Golden Canady.

I didn't know she was an honorary member. I did a little research today to see for myself. I was also going to mention Barbara Jordan as the first African American congresswoman in the state of Texas but I found that she's an honorary member as well. These women are still great. I admire them and they inspire me to do great things with my life.

Your point is valid but I don't think it's cheating.;)

Barbara Jordan was not an honorary member, so you can use her :)

After this I'm just going to shut up. I obviously don't know what I'm talking about. In my defense, I visited a couple of chapter websites and they listed Barbara Jordan as an honorary member.

Ladygreek, you are right once again she was a member in her undergrad at TSU.

Sorry Eager2learn, now we can get back to the subject at hand.

Girl, don't feel bad. Delta is a constant learning experience. I have been one for 6 years and I learn stuff all the time. :D

Please don't feel bad. I have been around waaayyyyy longer than you so of course my knowledge base is larger. But if it makes you feel better, when I first read your post I started doubting myself, so I looked it up to be sure. :D

LIVING IS AN EVERY DAY LEARNING EXPERIENCE!!!!

Here is some information from research that I have done!
SADIE TANNER MOSELLE ALEXANDER
First Negro woman to receive a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. First Negro woman to receive a Ph.D. in economics in America. First woman to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. First Negro woman to be admitted to the Pennsylvania bar. Also served as the 1st National President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

ELAINE JONES, ESQUIRE
First black woman to graduate from the University of Virginia School of Law. First Black Woman to serve as chair and head counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

ttt
 

Ladies of DST, I was enjoying this thread. Please keep the posts coming. :D

Soror Shirley Chisolm was the first African American woman elected to Congress.

Soror Vashti Murphy McKenzie is the first woman bishop elected within the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Soror Patricia Roberts Harris
 

She has a host of firsts: :D

She was the first national executive of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

She was a Phi Beta Kappa and became the youngest member of the board of directors of Georgetown University.

In 1964, Harris became the first black woman ambassador when President Lyndon Johnson named her ambassador to Luxembourg.

During her tenure at HUD, she created and enacted the first National Urban Policy.

She achieved many firsts, among them:
the first black female cabinet member,
first black female ambassador,
first black to serve in the United Nations,
first black female on major corporate boards,
first black female to chair a national political party committee,
first black female to participate in a presidential nomination,
first female to serve as dean of a law school,
and first black, and only woman to serve in three cabinet level positions.

A United States commemorative stamp was issued in honor as part of the Black Heritage Series.
http://www.usps.com/images/stamps/2000/harris.jpg

Kudos Soror Patricia who was born on May 31, 1924. She passed away on March 23, 1985.

Wilma Rudolph was the first American female to win three gold medals in track and field at a single Olympiad in 1960.

Before she died, she served as Track Director and Special Consultant on Minority Affairs at DePauw University.

I know there are plenty "Firsts" that have been accomplished by the ELITE WOMEN OF DST... however, these are some the ones I enjoyed learning about :D

Vivian Osborne Marsh-- Only African American person in the U.S. to ever Christen a Navy Cargo Ship

Brigadier General Hazel Johnson Brown Ph.D.--The first African American woman General in the U.S. Army

Beverly Greene-- First African American Woman to receive a degree in Architectural Science from the University of Illinois

Elaine Jones-- The first African American Woman elected to the American Bar Association Board of Governors.

More Firsts
 

1921 - The Kappa Chapter at the University of California - Berkeley was the first Greek letter organization to be established on the west coast.

1922 - Gamma Chapter made the first known donation of $100 to the United Negro College Fund.

1945 - The Sorority as a whole contributed its first donation of $1,000 to the United Negro College Fund.

1947 - On February 8th, The Gamma Iota Chapter was chartered at Hampton University, which held the distinction of being the first chapter of a national Greek letter organization ever to be established on that campus.

1950 - Delta Sigma Theta established its first foreign chapter in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

1954 - The Sorority opened its first National Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

1956 - Helen G. Edmonds was the first Black woman to nominate a candidate for the Presidency of the United States when she seconded the nomination of Dwight D. Eisenhower for a second term in the office.

1973 - The Sorority implemented The Right to Read Program, which was one of the first nationally coordinated efforts to help the functionally illiterate.

1992 - Delta held its first Delta Youth Days in the Nation’s Capital.

1993 - The Valley Forge Alumnae Chapter unveiled the "Patriots of African Descent Monument" on June 19th, which was the first time that a monument had been dedicated to African American soldiers.

1995 - To date, all of the Black women who have served as U.S. Ambassadors have been members of Delta Sigma Theta.



**Some of these were new to me and only made me PROUDER to be a Delta.** :D

A First waiting to happen!
 

CT4, the first Delta GCer to publish a book.

Re: A First waiting to happen!
 

You about to make me cry. I should actually, according to my vision, finish the book tonight after Soul Food goes off.


I will spend all day tomorrow editing and proofreading. I want to mail it off no later than next Wednesday to be copyrighted.

Re: More Firsts
 

Not to rain on the parade of amazing accomplishments by DSTs, but our Eta chapter was established there (UC-Berk) in 1894.

Re: Re: More Firsts
 

LET ME CLARIFY:


The first of BGLOs. I copied and pasted from another website.

Re: Re: Re: More Firsts
 

That's what I figured - y'all usually have your facts straight! And you sure got out there a lot quicker than we did - it took us 20 years.

Super Civil Right Sorors
 

Soror Vivian Malone Jones- the 1st African American to be graduate from the University of Alabama (she was the one that Gov Wallace attempted to bar in the famous footage)

Soror Charlene Hunter Gault- 1st African-American woman to graduate from the University of Georgia

Re: More Firsts
 

I did not know that. It's an amazing accomplishment for each of those women and it says a lot about the sorority that helped shape who they are. Congratulations.

Re: Re: More Firsts
 

...And both Black women who are/have been a Presidential candidate are Deltas. Who are they?

Re: Re: Re: More Firsts
 

Shirley Chisholm and Carol Mosely Braun.

I just watched the Congressional Black Conference Institute's Democratic Primary Debate and I have to say that Ambassador Mosely-Braun was one of the most articulate people on stage. When I first heard her addressed as "Ambassador," a bell rang in my head. Remembering what I learned about Delta and African-American female ambassadors, I said, "Hold that thought!" and ran into my room to do a Google search. Sure enough, Ms. Mosely-Braun is a sister of DSQ.

She did your organization proud tonight. I can think of many worse fates for this country than to have her taking the Oath of Office in January, 2005.

here's my contribution on dr. shirley ann jackson, the first black woman president of rensselaer polytechnic institute. soror is doin' the damn thing. info is copied and pasted directly from their website...

Dr. Jackson is the first African-American woman to receive a doctorate from M.I.T. — in any subject.

She is one of the first two African-American women to receive a doctorate in physics in the U.S.

She is the first African-American to become a Commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

She is both the first woman and the first African-American to serve as the chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and now the first African-American woman to lead a national research university.

She is also the first African-American woman elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

What a nice idea for a thread....I think I'll borrow it! :)

Oh yeah, Patricia Roberts Harris was on the Board of my alma mater....and Charlayne Hunter Gault was my commencement speaker!

1946 Jean Murrell Capers Esq
First Black woman to serve as Assistant County Prosecutor in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland, OH).

Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones is the first African-American woman elected to the United States House of Representatives from Ohio. The Congresswoman's committee assignments include being the first African American Woman to serve on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, with her subcommittees being Social Security and Select Revenue Measures.

taken from her website:
http://www.house.gov/tubbsjones/

Soror Stephanie and I attended the same church (when I lived in Cleveland, growing up as a youngster)

I Love My Sorors...we continue to educate each other in the best of ways....It is a EVERY DAY LEARNING EXPERIENCE. This IS THE best organization.

While reading Soror Dorothy I. Height's illustrious autobiography, I reveled in reading about another Delta first:


from pg. 252 of Open Wide the Freedom Gates:

"The 1948 convention was slated for St. Louis, Missouri, where I knew that no hotels would accept us because of segregation. Local Delta members had already made a commitment to a church, but learning of my resolve, they agreed to work with me. Our convention theme was "Human Rights from Charter to Practice," and that helped us to persuade Mrs. Eugene Ross McCarthy, a member of the national board of the YWCA to use her influence with city officials. As a result, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority became the first Black group to hold a convention at St. Louis's Kiel Auditorium."

Any typos are mine. :)

Per the DST in the news thread, I did a little more research on Soror Juanita Kidd Stout:

Juanita Kidd Stout, (March 7, 1919 - August 21, 1998 in Wewoka, Oklahoma, United States), was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1988-1989, and the first African-American woman elected to any judgeship in the United States and the first to serve on the Supreme Court of any state.

Ericka Dunlap was crowned the first Black Miss Florida