IRVINGTON — This year the Black sorority, Sigma Gamma Rho, will celebrate the centennial of its founding on Butler’s Irvington Campus. Seven young African-American teachers founded the sorority at Butler to aid women of color looking for a career in education.
Over 6,000 sorority international members attended events in Indianapolis for the celebration. One of the scheduled events was the unveiling of a State Historical Marker on the grounds of the Bona Thompson Memorial Center, 5350 East University Avenue in Irvington, This marker will recognize the founding of Sigma Gamma Rho on the Irvington campus.
On Tuesday, July 12, over 800 sorority members of Sigma Gamma Rho visited the marker and saw the Bona’s new exhibit on life in 1922. Visitors will also walk in the footsteps of their founders by taking a walking tour of what Butler’s Campus was like in 1922.
Marion County Historian, and Irvington Historical Society’s Executive Director, Steve Barnett has written a booklet describing life for African Americans at the time. Copies will be available in the Bona’s bookstore. Irvington Historical Society President, William Gulde has created the exhibit and Steven and Paula Schmidt curated the storyline of the tour.
Sigma Gamma Rho was first organized on November 12, 1922 by seven teachers with a vision for the future. A hundred years later, the sorority boasts over 100,000 members across the globe, with more than 500 undergraduate and alumnae chapters. Sigma Gamma Rho is the only sorority of the four historically African-American National Pan-Hellenic County sororities that was established at a predominantly white institution instead of at Howard University. The International Grand Basileus currently is Rasheeda S. Liberty, who was in attendance at the plaque ceremony.
Several notable women have been members of Sigma Gamma Rho, including Academy Award-winning actress Hattie McDaniel; singers Martha Reeves, Marilyn McCoo, and MC Lyte; the first female Prime Minister of Dominica Eugenia Charles, legislators Robin Kelly, Nina Turner, and Corrine Brown; Olympic swimmer Natalie Hinds, and author Alice Childress.
The sorority works with other organizations for the betterment of the community. They began Operation BigBookBag in 1996, providing resources to help under-served students get materials to help them succeed at school. They also focus on health care through the Women’s Wellness Initiative. The Swim 1922 program helps teach the community about water safety, and the Project Cradle Care address the issues of premature birth and teen pregnancy.
The Bona Thompson Memorial Center is the home of the Irvington Historical Society, the organization that has been preserving and displaying the history of Indianapolis’ first planned suburb since 1964. Irvington was home to Butler’s campus from 1875 until 1928 when the school moved to its present northside location. The Bona Thompson Memorial Center is the last remaining building from Butler’s Irvington campus. In 1922, the Bona Thompson Center was Butler’s library and a campus gathering spot.
The exhibit will be open through November 12, or follow the digital tour of the old Butler campus. Bona Thompson Memorial Center museum and bookstore is open Saturdays and Sundays, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. The digital tour can be accessed at https://arcg.is/0zX58W.
