Notable Deltas

Question 1

Osceola Macarthy Adams

Answer 1

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.

Question 2

Sadie T. M. Alexander, Ph.D

Answer 2

1st National President (1919-1923), 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).

Question 3

Tina Allen

Answer 3

sculptor and painter, sculpted a life-sized bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She was the conceptual designer of two major international projects: The International Children’s Peace Park and the Monumental Statue of Nelson Mandela. Allen received the Essence Award, the Stellar Award and the Thurgood Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award.

Question 4

Brigadier General Hazel Johnson Brown, Ph.D.

Answer 4

Brigadier General Hazel Johnson Brown, Ph.D., was the first African-American woman general in the United States Army.

Question 5

Selma Burke, Ph.D.

Answer 5

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.

Question 6

Alexa Canady, M.D.,

Answer 6

at age 26 became the first Black woman neurosurgeon in the United States. She specializes in pediatric neurosurgery.

Question 7

Elizabeth Catlett

Answer 7

was an internationally acclaimed sculptor and lithographer. She was best known for her vast range of artwork, including prints and life-sized sculptures.

Question 8

Shirley Chisholm,

Answer 8

the first Black woman member of the U.S. Congress, was the first African-American and first woman to run as a major party candidate for the presidency of the United States.

Question 9

Ruby Dee Davis .

Answer 9

is an extraordinary actress with performance credits on stage, in film and on television. She has also written a collection of poetry.

Question 10

Myrlie Evers-Williams

Answer 10

is the Chairman Emerita of the Board for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Question 11

Frankie M. Freeman,

Answer 11

noted attorney and 14th National President (1967-1971), was the first woman appointed to the Civil Rights Commission by President Lyndon B. Johnson and served 16 years.

Question 12

Patricia Roberts Harris

Answer 12

served as Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.’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 appointed as 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. Other Deltas that have been ambassadors are Ann Holloway and Bynthis Perry.

Question 13

Dorothy I. Height, Ph.D.,

Answer 13

10th National President (1947-1956), was appointed by President Carter to the Presidential Commission on a National Agenda for the 1980s. She served as president of the National Council of Negro Women for more than 40 years.

Question 14

Alexis Herman

Answer 14

was the Secretary of Labor and a Cabinet Member in the administration of President William Clinton.

Question 15

Darlene Clark Hine, Ph.D.,

Answer 15

noted author, built her career on researching, publishing and raising the bar of how the experience of African-American women should be recorded. She was the first African-American to become the John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of History at Michigan State University.

Question 16

Shirley Jackson, Ph.D.,

Answer 16

is the 18th President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is the first African-American woman to head a leading technological university, the first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1973), and the first African-American woman to become a commissioner of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Question 17

Elaine R. Jones .

Answer 17

is the first woman to serve as Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. She is also the first African-American woman graduate of the University of Virginia Law School and the first African-American woman elected to the American Bar Association Board of Governors.

Question 18

Barbara Jordan

Answer 18

was the first African-American to serve in the U.S. Congress from the South since Reconstruction. She was the first Black woman to preside over a state senate and the first African-American to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.

Question 19

Jewel S. Lafontant

Answer 19

was the first American woman to be admitted into the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. She was also the first female Deputy Solicitor General of the U.S. during the Nixon Administration.

Question 20

Carrie P. Meek

Answer 20

served as Congresswoman for the 17th District of Florida for ten years. She was the first African-American elected to represent Florida in the United States House of Representatives since Reconstruction.

Question 21

Jane E. Smith, Ph.D.

Answer 21

served as the President and CEO of the National Council of Negro Women.

Question 22

Mary Church Terrell

Answer 22

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.

Question 23

Stephanie Tubbs-Jones

Answer 23

was a Congresswoman in the United States House of Representatives for the 11th District of Ohio.

Question 24

Barbara Watson

Answer 24

was the first African-American woman to serve as chief of a State Department bureau. She became Administrator of the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs in 1968, served through 1974, and was re-appointed in 1977. Later that year, she became Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs.