1Designating May 13, 2013, as "Zeta Phi Beta Day" in Pennsylvania
2to formally honor Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated for
3its long and illustrious history.

4WHEREAS, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority was founded January 16, 1920,
5on the simple belief that sorority elitism and socializing
6should not overshadow the real mission for progressive
7organizations which is to address the societal mores, ills,
8prejudices, poverty and health concerns of the day; and

9WHEREAS, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority began as an idea conceived by
10five coeds, Arizona Cleaver, Myrtle Tyler, Viola Tyler, Fannie
11Pettie and Pearl Neal, at Howard University in Washington, DC;
12and

13WHEREAS, These five women, also known as the Five Pearls,
14dared to depart from the traditional coalitions for African-
15American women and sought to establish a new organization
16predicated on the precepts of scholarship, service, sisterly
17love and finer womanhood; and

1WHEREAS, It was the ideal of the founders that the sorority
2would reach college women in all parts of the country who were
3sorority-minded and desired to follow the founding principles of
4the organization; and

5WHEREAS, The sorority was the first Greek-letter organization
6to establish a charter in Africa, to form adult and youth
7auxiliary groups, to centralize its operations in a national
8headquarters and to be constitutionally bound to a fraternity,
9Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated; and

10WHEREAS, From the sorority's inception, the members of the
11sorority and Phi Beta Sigma have successfully collaborated on a
12variety of community service projects, shared national,
13regional, state and local activities, and developed and enjoyed
14the bonds afforded to sisterhood and brotherhood with a shared
15purpose; and

16WHEREAS, The sorority's national and local programs include
17endowment of its National Education Foundation, community
18outreach services and support of multiple affiliate
19organizations; and

20WHEREAS, From the beginning, the sorority's members saw the
21necessity of ensuring the permanence of the organization and, as
22such, sorority members Myrtle Tyler, Gladys Warrington, Joanna
23Houston, Josephine Johnson and O. Goldia Smith first
24incorporated the sorority on March 30, 1923, in Washington, DC;
25and

26WHEREAS, The sorority's first two chapters after Howard
27University were established at historically black universities,
28Morris Brown College and Morgan State College, which were
29followed by a San Antonio-based citywide chapter; and

30WHEREAS, In 1923, Theta Chapter was established at Wiley

1College, making it the first chapter of any black sorority to
2organize a collegiate chapter in Texas; and

3WHEREAS, Even after chartering chapters in more integrated
4cities, the sorority continued to make a concerted effort to
5develop chapters at the nation's historically black colleges and
6universities and in other areas of the South; and

7WHEREAS, In 1937, National President Violette Anderson asked
8the Lambda Zeta Chapter to host the upcoming national convention
9in Houston, Texas, despite the fact that no other black Greek-
10letter organization had ever held a national convention south of
11the Mason-Dixon line; and

12WHEREAS, The success of the convention was especially
13commendable as the convention was held in the African-American
14business sector of downtown Houston with meals provided by the
15YWCA cafeteria because there were no restaurants available to
16African Americans in downtown Houston; and

17WHEREAS, Many African students attended American universities
18in the 1930s and 1940s and several of these students became
19members of the sorority, including Dr. Rachel Townsend, who
20returned to Liberia to find other Zetas who had attended Howard
21University and were interested in forming a chapter; and

22WHEREAS, An application was submitted and the charter was
23granted in December 1948 for the establishment of a Zeta
24graduate chapter in Monrovia, Liberia, Africa; and

25WHEREAS, There are eight intercontinental regions, more than
26800 chapters and locations in the United States of America,
27Africa, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean; and

28WHEREAS, More than 125,000 college-educated, dynamic,
29community service-driven, diverse and professional women receive
30the benefits of support, encouragement and friendship that last

1a lifetime through Zeta Phi Beta membership; therefore be it

2RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate May 13,
32013, as "Zeta Phi Beta Day" in Pennsylvania to formally honor
4Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated for its long and
5illustrious history.