7"' AI.DERMANIC WARD
City ot" Chicago R2013-_
A resolution to honor Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, the largest African-American
Greek-lettered sorority in the world.
IN THE CHICAGO CITY COUNCIL JULY 24"', 2013
Alderman Natashia L. Holmes introduced the following resolution
A RESOLUTION
To honor Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, the largest African-American Greek-lettered sorority in the world, for their contributions to the Nation and the city of
Chicago.
- WHEREAS, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated was founded on January 13, 1913
- by 22 collegiate women at Howard University who aimed to promote academic
- excellence, social activism, and public service. 4
- WHEREAS, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporatednow the single largest African-
- American organization of women in the countrycontinues to celebrate its 100-year
- anniversary throughout the remainder of 2013. 8
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- WHEREAS, since its founding, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, with over
- 250,000 members, has clearly distinguished itself as a national public service organization
- that boldly confronts the challenges of African-Americans and, hence, all Americans.
- This commitment has been demonstrated in, but is not limited to, the following
- examples:
14. (a) Beginning their political activism by participating in the historic 1913
- Women' s Suffrage March on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.G. on cz
- March 3, 1913;
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17 (b) Providing library services by creating the National Library Project implemented
- in 1945 in the rural south, where library services were not generally available for
- African-Americans at that time; and
20 (c) Collaborating with Habitat for Humanity from 1992-1994 to build twenty-two
- homes throughout the United States that were sold to families without profit and
- no-interest mortgages issued over a fixed period. 23
- WHEREAS, the Chicago Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority,
- Incorporated, with over 1000 members, continues to emblazon the trail set by the
- founders of this esteemed sorority by ensuring programs and services, under the Five-
- Point Program Thrust, are delivered to the communities it serves. This commitment has
- been demonstrated in, but is not limited to, the following examples:
29 (a) Creating the Delta Literacy Project, a program which serves over 75 adult
30 learners through cohesive and structured instruction;
31 (b) Providing annual initiatives, such as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, geared
- toward combatting domestic and sexual violence through education and provide
- resources for those affected, while noting that one in four women will experience
- domestic violence in her lifetime and one in six women have experienced an
- attempted or completed rape. 36
- BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Mayor and Members of the City Council of the City of
- Chicago, assembled this twenty-fourth day of July 2013, do hereby applaud the sorority
- for its commitment to sisterhood, scholarship, and service for 100 years.