Osceola Macarthy Adams, a founding member of Delta, was one of the first Black actresses on Broadway. She was the Director of the Harlem School of the Arts and directed the theatrical debuts of Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier.
Sadie T.M. Alexander, Ph.D. was the nation’s first woman to earn a Ph.D. in economics (1921). A distinguished attorney, she was among the founders of the National Bar Association (1925) and she was appointed to President Truman’s Commission on Civil Rights (1945).
Tina Allen, sculptor and painter, sculpted a life-sized bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She is the conceptual designer of two major international projects: The International Children’s Peace Park and the Monumental Statue of Nelson Mandela. Ms. Allen has received the Essence Award, the Stellar Award, and the Thurgood Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award.
Mary McLeod Bethune founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls, which is now known as Bethune-Cookman College. In 1935, she founded the National Council of Negro Women. She served as special advisor on minority affairs for President Roosevelt. She was awarded the Spingarn Medal, the highest award of the NAACP, for her efforts in civil and human rights.
Brigadier General Hazel Johnson Brown, Ph.D. was the first African-American woman general in the United States Army.
Selma Burke, Ph.D., sculptor, won the 1943 Fine Arts Competition for the District of Columbia for a profile of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This artwork was adapted for the United States dime.
Shirley Chisolm, the first Black woman member of the United States Congress, was the first African-American and first woman to run as a major party candidate for the presidency of the United States.
Ruby Dee Davis is an extraordinary actress with performance credits on stage, in film, and on television. She has also written a collection of poetry.
Marian Wright Edelman, a graduate of Yale University Law School, established and directed the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund Office. She was the first Black woman admitted to the Mississippi bar. She is the founder of the Children’s Defense Fund.
Myrlie Evers-Williams, wife of Medgar Evers, is the Chairman Emerita of the Board for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Frankie M. Freeman, noted attorney, was the first woman appointed to the Civil Rights Commission by President Lyndon B. Johnson was served 16 years.
Clara McBride Hale founded the Hale House in 1970 in order to provide foster home care to drug addicted babies. Hale House was one of five centers formed to service these children.
Patricia Roberts Harris served as Delta’s first Executive Director. She was also the first Black woman to be appointed ambassador to a European country (Luxembourg) and to be appointed to a presidential cabinet post as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). She was later named Secretary of Health and Human Services. In January 2000, she was honored on the 23rd commemorative stamp in the United States Postal Service’s Black Heritage Series.
Shirley Jackson, Ph.D. is the 18th President of Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute. She is the first African-American woman to head a leading technological university, to earn a Ph.D. at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1973), and to become a commissioner of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Edith Irby Jones was the first Black woman admitted to a southern white university and first Black student admitted to a southern white medical school when she entered the University of Arkansas medical school in 1948. She later became president of the National Medical Association.
Elaine R. Jones is the first woman to serve as Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. She is also the first Black female graduate of the University of Virginia Law School and the first elected to the American Bar Association Board of Governors.
Barbara Jordan was the first Black to serve in the United States Congress from the South since reconstruction and the first to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. She was also the first Black female to preside over a state senate.
Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie is well known for her trailblazing accomplishments as a minister in the AME church. She recently became the first woman in the 213-year history of the church to attain the level of Episcopal office.
Carol Moseley-Braun became the first Black woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992. She served three years as prosecutor in the office of U.S. Attorney.
Mary Church Terrell was the first African-American chosen to represent the United States Congress of Women and to serve on the board of education of a major city.
Barbara Watson was the first Black woman to serve as an ambassador of the United States. Other ambassadors who are members of Delta are Ann Holloway, Bynthis Perry, and Patricia Roberts Harris.
Other notable Deltas include: Daisy Bates, Shirley Caesar, Johnetta B. Cole, Camille Cosby, Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Nikki Giovanni, Alexis Herman, Lena Horne, Judith Jamison, Nomzamo Winnie Mandela, Gloria Naylor, Reneé Pouissant, Leontyne Price, Wilma Rudolph, Betty Shabazz, Cicely Tyson, and Nancy Wilson.
