National conventions were not called in the early years, because too many other issues needed to be addressed first. Thus, Sigma Gamma Rho's membership had to be expanded it could not be restricted to teachers. Education was to be the mainstay of the sorority, but the organisation also wanted to develop broad horizons with diverse dimensions in order to reach into communities and serve all people. Soon, however, the members recognised that teaching went far beyond the walls of the classroom and that community service and interaction were needed in order to educate the whole child. Originally the new sorority was to be composed of teachers, and it was to provide support and opportunities for networking to young people, with a focus on professional development. Six other Butler students who had chosen teaching as their profession joined Soror Little in laying the foundation for a new sorority and further advancing the Black fraternal movement. Because Black students could not join the all-white Greek sororities at Butler, a tough and determined Black female, Mary Lou Allison Little, envisioned the need to pull Black women together into the bonds of sisterhood. Three other sororities of Black women, all founded at Howard University, had already been established in the early 1900s. ![]() "Greater Service, Greater Progress" was to become the slogan and call of the organisation that made November 12, 1922, a significant date in the history of the Black Greek system, for this date would mark the establishment of the first sorority of Black women on a predominantly white campus, Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. ![]() The group became an incorporated national collegiate sorority on December 30, 1929, when a charter was granted to the Alpha chapter at Butler University. ![]() These founding members are the "Seven Pearls" of Sigma Gamma Rho. was organized on Novemin Indianapolis, Indiana by Mary Lou Allison Gardner Little and six teachers: Dorothy Hanley Whiteside, Vivian White Marbury, Nannie Mae Gahn Johnson, Hattie Mae Annette Dulin Redford, Bessie Mae Downey Rhodes Martin and Cubena McClure.
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