The Five Pearls
There were five women who believed in the need for a new and different type of Greek-lettered organization and acted upon that need. To these women, Arizona C. Stemons, Pearl A. Neal, Myrtle T. Faithful, Viola T. Goings, and Fannie P. Watts, Zeta was more than an organization – it was a movement. This belief system reflected, at its core, the desire to provide true Service, embrace Scholarship, set a standard for Sisterly Love, and define the noble concept of Finer Womanhood.
The founding principles have sustained and encouraged Zetas worldwide to hold fast to the ideals initiated and developed by its earliest members. The Founders of Zeta were strong, principled coeds who possessed a great deal of modesty, strength of character, and pride in academic achievement. They are a worthy foundation upon which to base our illustrious Sorority.
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated - zphib1920.org
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated is an international women’s organization that has established itself as the foremost network of socially and politically conscious activists working to empower disenfranchised communities. Shortly after World War One, during a time when women were still fighting for the right to vote, during the worst and longest economic recession to ever hit the United States, and on the very day the Volstead Act became effective, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated was birthed.
On January 16, 1920, five trailblazers at Howard University in Washington D.C.: Arizona Cleaver Stemons, Pearl Anna Neal, Myrtle Tyler Faithful, Viola Tyler Goings and Fannie Pettie Watts, sought to depart from established organizations and founded a new sisterhood predicated on the precepts of Scholarship, Service, Sisterhood
and Finer Womanhood.
Only Zeta has been and continues to be the “Sorority of Firsts” creating best-in-class educational programming models like Stork’s Nest and Z-HOPE and a family of youth and adult auxiliary groups to advance our local communities. With more than 120,000 members initiated, Zeta has become one of the world’s foremost movements for social justice and civic change. Members of Zeta are called to a higher purpose of Finer Womanhood. Zeta women are achievers and leaders in every field in more than 800 communities across the United States, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Europe.