History

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. was founded on the principles of scholarship, service, sisterly love, and finer womanhood. Five women dared to be different and founded an organization that was unlike any sorority created before it.
Arizona Cleaver Stemons, Myrtle Tyler Faithful , Viola Tyler Goings, Fannie Pettie Watts, and Pearl Anna Neal founded Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. at Howard University on January 16, 1920.
These dynamic women created an organization that did not follow the beaten path, but they followed a road less traveled. Since its inception, Zeta Phi Beta has set a number of precedents. Zeta was the first sorority to organize in Africa (1948), form youth and auxiliary groups—Archonettes and Amicae, and be constitutionally bound to a brother fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Zeta Phi Beta has also established chapters in the Bahamas, Germany, and the Caribbean Islands. Zeta has more than 800 chapters throughout the world.

• Founder Arizona Cleaver Stemons was the first president of the Alpha chapter at Howard University. She also served as the first national president to the sorority. She completed her undergraduate degree and post-graduate studies in social work.
• Founder Myrtle Tyler Faithful was the second national president. She taught high school mathematics and English. She also chartered many chapters of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority.
• Founder Viola Tyler Goings earned degrees in teaching and mathematics from Howard University. She went on to teach in Ohio and be a very active member in her community.
• Founder Fannie Pettie Watts taught junior and senior high schools in Savannah, Georgia and organized additional Zeta chapters.
• Founder Pearl Anna Neal continued her studies at Howard University ‘s Conservatory of Music. She was the first black woman in New York to earn a master’s degree in music from Columbia University.