From Shorefront Legacy Center
January 2025
“Deltas Discuss Opportunities.” That was a headline in the May 21, 1948 issue of the Evanston Newsette. The article reported that Gamma Omicron, a new chapter of the national sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, had held its first pledge ceremony at the home of Gloria Jackson at 1738 Brown Ave in Evanston.
The chapter’s charter was issued on January 20, 1948, just a few months earlier. Gamma Omicron was composed of undergraduates and alumnae members of the historically Black sorority Delta Sigma Theta, which was founded at Howard University in 1913.
For years before Gamma Omicron’s formal chartering, the Evanston Newsette reported on Evanston residents who were members of the sorority in chapters on college campuses across the country.
The chapter’s first president was Edythe Collins Greene (1922-1916) attended Evanston Township High School and later graduated from the Chicago Teacher’s College where she received a BA in education.
Greene and other chapter members had strong times throughout the Evanston community, and hosted a variety of events at local sites, including the Emerson YMCA, Foster School, and Ebenezer Church. Much of their programming centered on supporting youth and education, such as “Institute Day,” a series of workshops focused on the theme of “Youth and Creative Citizenship” which the chapter hosted in 1952 at the Emerson YMCA. From rummage sales to benefit film screenings (such as a 1956 screening of Cry the Beloved Country at the Valencia Theater 1560 Sherman Ave), the chapter worked tirelessly for the community and to raise money for scholarship funds.
In 1953, the chapter held its first “Jabberwock” benefit, held at the Foster School auditorium, as a part of the sorority’s national scholarship fundraising project.
The chapter also hosted cotillions for members. Delores Holmes (1937-2024), former head of Family Focus and longtime Evanston city council member representing the 5th Ward, was among those who attended.
In the late 1960s, chapter members also became active in supporting Evanston’s school desegregation plans. Members joined other local organizations, including the Evanston branch of the NAACP, the Foster PTA, and the Snell Post V.F.W., to distribute leaflets urging support for school integration.
In 1971, students at Northwestern University chartered the Theta Alpha chapter, the first Delta Sigma Theta chapter on the campus. In a CCC Newsette essay, Carol Sistrunk, a Northwestern student and chapter member explained the function of historically Black Greek letter organizations and how their members “display race pride by participating in various Black community projects.” Sistrunk listed various ways the Evanston members contributed to the community from tutoring students to putting on Christmas programs at Evanston Community Hospital.
In 1973 the chapter celebrated its 25th year with a Public Service Recognition Program that “honored 26 Evanstonians for their community service contribution.” Recipients included Homer Fleetwood, Dr. Elizabeth Hill, Edwin B. Jourdain, William Logan, Bessie Rhodes, Melvin Smith, and many other notable members of Evanston’s Black community. The program made history itself, and, as the CCC Newsette reported, the Deltas “earn the credit of being the first to honor Mr. Jourdain for his tremendous exploits in the early 30s when most Blacks were serving Evanston and the North Shore in the capacity of domestics and were begging for the leadership he so ably provided.”
As the 1970s unfolded, Gamma Omicron members also sought to honor Black women in Evanston for their community service. In 1975, the chapter honored Emma B. Perry, librarian of the West Branch Library in Evanston’s 5th Ward, as its “Woman of the Year.” The next year, the chapter selected Ruby Murray, a longtime District 65 educator and founder the International Black Art Gallery, as “Woman of the Year.”
On February 9, 1975, Gamma Omicron Chapter was rechartered as the Evanston-North Shore Alumnae Chapter.
Over the next decades, the chapter continued its efforts to educate, inspire, and support the community. It awarded thousands of dollars in college scholarships to students in Evanston and on the North Shore. The chapter also continued its community-minded programs including mental health seminars and financial workshops.
By 1993, the chapter’s annual fashion show and dinner dance to raise scholarship funds was held in the evening for the first time after years of hosting the event as a tea on Saturday afternoon. “I remember when it was a small affair in a church basement,” said Chapter President, Valerie Summers. The event raised $20,000 in scholarship funds.
“We are a public service organization,” said Summers, “and our most powerful public service is scholarship awards.”