Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated was founded January 16, 1920 at Howard University in Washington D.C. by 5 illustrious women who recognized the need for a new and different type of Greek-lettered Organization. These women believed that sorority elitism and socializing overshadowed the real mission for progressive organizations and failed to address fully the societal mores, ills, prejudices, and poverty affecting humanity in general and the black community in particular. To these women, Zeta was more than just an organization-it was a movement, a belief system that at its core would directly affect positive change, chart a course of action for the 1920s and beyond, raise consciousness of their people, provide true Service, embrace Scholarship, set a standard for Sisterly Love, define the noble concept of Finer Womanhood, and foster a greater sense of unity among its members. This belief has sustained and encouraged Zetas around the world to hold fast to the ideals initiated and developed by its earliest members. The 5 Founders are lovingly known as Arizona Cleaver Stemons, Pearl Anna Neal, Myrtle Tyler Faithful, Viola Tyler Goings, and Fannie Pettie Watts.

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The organization has been innovative in that it has pioneered a number of firsts:

• Zeta was the first to establish a undergraduate chapter south of the Mason-Dixon line in 1923

• Zeta was the first to form national auxiliary groups in 1947 (the Amicae, Archonettes, Amicettes, and Pearlettes).

• Zeta was the first to charter a chapter on the continent of Africa (Monrovia, Liberia) in 1948

• Zeta was the first National Pan-Hellenic Council organization to centralize its operations in a national headquarters in 1949.

• Zeta was the first and ONLY sorority to be constitutionally bound to a fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

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Zeta Phi Beta has chartered 850+ chapters worldwide and has a membership of 100,000+. Zeta chapters and auxiliary groups have given uncountable hours of voluntary service to educate the public, assist youth, provide scholarships, support organized charities and promote legislation for social and civic change. 

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As the sorority moves toward its centennial, it retains its original zest for excellence. It espouses the highest academic ideals and that has resulted in its members serving in groundbreaking roles in all fields of endeavor. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. is poised for perpetual service to mankind into her second century and beyond and is committed to “building on the principles of Zeta while blazing new paths!”