Rooted in the nineteenth century, the “Black sorority idea” saw a revival when women created Alpha Kappa Alpha (1908), Delta Sigma Theta (1913), and Zeta Phi Beta (1920) at Howard University. Not long after, Sigma Gamma Rho (1922) formed at Butler University. Those forerunners evolved into transnational bodies. By 1985 the Zetas had more than 500 chapters in the United States, Africa, and the Bahamas, as opposed to Sigma Gamma Rho's 350 chapters in the United States, Bermuda, and the Bahamas. In 1988 the Deltas included more than 125,000 members in 730 US, African, and Caribbean chapters.

Sororities helped advance African American women and communities. They supported women's education, community service, and leadership. Patricia R. Harris became Delta's first executive director in 1953. She also was the first woman dean at Howard Law School, ambassador to Luxembourg, and Secretary of Housing & Urban Development. Accepting her ambassadorship, she said that “while there are many things in my life which have prepared me for what I am about to do, it is largely the experience in Delta Sigma Theta which gives me most security.” Even as they competed, sororities shared ideals of sisterhood in the struggle for racial equality.