After its founding in 1913, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. experienced impressive growth as members began to relocate back to their home towns or to new cities where they obtained additional education, established careers, and families. This allowed the vision and mission of the sorority to expand exponentially.
Chicago was home to Founders Osceola Macarthy Adams and Marguerite Young Alexander. In 1921, seeing the need to establish a chapter for Deltas attending Chicago area schools, Founders Adams and Alexander, along with several members who had been initiated in other chapters, formed a mixed chapter at the University of Chicago, Lambda Chapter. Founder Adams served as the chapter’s first president.
Under her leadership the membership in Lambda increased greatly, thus calling for another chapter to be formed. In 1924 Theta Sigma was established. In 1931 Lambda was designated as a collegiate chapter.
As the sorority continued to grow in the Chicago area, another chapter, Gamma Chi Sigma, was chartered in 1947. With three active chapters in the city of Chicago, members came together and formed a Joint Council that served as the coordinating body for Delta’s public service programs. The Joint Council was so successful and binding in its efforts that the two chapters, Theta Sigma and Gamma Chi Sigma, merged in 1959 establishing the Chicago Alumnae Chapter.
The Chicago Alumnae Chapter is Chicago’s premier public service organization, boasting a membership of over 500 professional women with diverse backgrounds who render public service under the Sorority’s Five-Point Programmatic Thrust – Economic Development; Educational Development; International Awareness and Involvement; Physical and Mental Health; and Political Awareness and Involvement.
Chicago Alumnae programs are housed at D’Estee, Inc., located at 4519-25 S. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Chicago. The chapter’s service area includes Chicago, Evergreen Park and Oak Lawn.