Sigma Gamma Rho

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. (ΣΓΡ) is a historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on November 12, 1922. The organization was formed as a sorority in 1922, by seven African American women in Indianapolis, Indiana. At its inception, the sorority was created to support Black women pursuing degrees in education. It was incorporated within Indiana in November 1922 as a sorority for school teachers and held their first national conference in 1925. The sorority became a national collegiate sorority on December 30, 1929, when a charter was granted to the Alpha chapter then established at Butler University that year. The sorority was incorporated as a national collegiate sorority in 1930. Sigma Gamma Rho is the only sorority of the four historically African American National Pan-Hellenic Council sororities founded at a predominantly White institution instead of at Howard University. The sorority's slogan is "Greater Service, Greater Progress".

Sigma Gamma Rho has over 100,000 members with more than 500 undergraduate and alumnae chapters in the United States, Bermuda, The Bahamas, Canada, Germany, South Korea, U.S. Virgin Islands, Tokyo and the United Arab Emirates.

Sigma Gamma Rho has affiliate groups for women at different stages in life: Rhosebuds (elementary-age girls), the Rhoer Club Affiliates (teenage girls), and the Philos Affiliates (friends of the sorority). It has launched programs such as Sigma Teen Towns in the 1940s and formed partnerships with the March of Dimes, USA Swimming and others.

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

The sorority was originally created as a professional organization for schoolteachers. With the legal guidance of Indianapolis attorney Robert Lee Brokenburr, the founders worked toward formalizing the organization. On December 30, 1929, Sigma Gamma Rho became an incorporated national collegiate sorority under Indiana law. A charter was granted to the Alpha Chapter at Butler University, and in 1930, the organization filed new articles of incorporation that opened membership to women of all professions who had completed or were pursuing a college education.

In 1937, Sigma Gamma Rho became a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), the collaborative body of historically Black Greek-letter organizations. This affiliation helped expand the sorority’s presence nationally through partnerships in civic engagement, education, and social action.

In 1927, the sorority launched its official publication, The AURORA, founded by Blanche Stewart, with Gertrude Murchison serving as its first editor-in-chief. In 1970, a special supplement titled Behind These Doors: A Legacy was published to commemorate 40 years of the magazine and 48 years of the organization’s history.

In 2004, the National Headquarters of Sigma Gamma Rho moved from Chicago, Illinois, to its current location in Cary, North Carolina. The organization is divided into five geographic regions: Central, Northeastern, Southeastern, Southwestern, and Western.