About

HISTORY OF

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity was founded January 9, 1914 at Howard University in Washington, D.C., by three young African-American male students. The Founders, Honorable A. Langston Taylor, Honorable Leonard F. Morse, and Honorable Charles I. Brown, wanted to organize a Greek letter fraternity that would truly exemplify the ideals of brotherhood, scholarship, and service.

The Founders deeply wished to create an organization that viewed itself as “a part of” the general community rather than “apart from” the general community. They believed that each potential member should be judged by his own merits rather than his family background or affluence and without regard to race, nationality, skin tone, or texture of hair. The Founders desired for their fraternity to exist as part of an even greater brotherhood which would be devoted to the “inclusive we” rather than the “exclusive we”.

From its inception, the Founders also conceived Phi Beta Sigma as a mechanism to deliver services to the general community. Rather than gaining skills to be utilized exclusively for themselves and their immediate families, they held a deep conviction that they should return their newly acquired skills to the communities from which they had come. This deep conviction was mirrored in the Fraternity’s motto, “Culture For Service and Service For Humanity”.

Today, Phi Beta Sigma has blossomed into an international organization of leaders. No longer a single entity, members of the Fraternity have been instrumental in the establishment of the Phi Beta Sigma National Foundation, the Phi Beta Sigma Federal Credit Union and The Sigma Beta Club Foundation. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, founded in 1920 with the assistance of Phi Beta Sigma, is the sister organization of the Fraternity.

MISSION Statement

The brothers of Phi Beta Sigma are the Fraternity’s most valuable resource and strength. They are the primary means by which the Phi Beta Sigma objectives will be achieved. In order to accomplish the Fraternity’s objectives, it is essential that systems are instituted that effectively embody “Culture For Service and Service For Humanity” and promote brotherhood, scholarship and service.

To optimize Phi Beta Sigma’s effectiveness, the Fraternity will:

Strengthen and serve proactively the brotherhood, as a supportive resource that positively impacts the Fraternity’s growth and financial solvency.
Reaffirm and maintain a strong commitment to brotherhood, scholarship and service.
Ensure that the Fraternity programs are focused and committed to serving humanity.
Create an environment that respects the dignity and worth of each brother.
Exhibit integrity and ethical behavior in conducting the Fraternity’s business. serving as a model for all Greek-letter organizations.
Maintain and improve the Fraternity’s technological literacy, in order to better service its members and the community at large.
Foster and nurture our constitutional bond with
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.
Encourage a closer and mutually beneficial working relationship with fellow Greek-letter organizations, other community service organizations, businesses and government.
Select leaders who are committed and have demonstrated their ability to lead.

The Founders

A. LANGSTON TAYLOR
January 29, 1890 -
August 8, 1953

A. Langston Taylor, the founder of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He graduated from the Howe Institute in 1909 which is now Lemoyne-Owen College in Memphis. He received his college and professional training at Howard and Frelinghuysen University in Washington, D.C.

LEONARD F. MORSE
January 12, 1891 –
May 22, 1961

The Reverend Leonard F. Morse was the son of a distinguished New England family, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Morse of Boston, Massachusetts. Trained in the elementary and secondary schools of New Bedford, Massachusetts, he became the valedictorian of his integrated high school and entered Howard University. In 1915, he graduated from Howard University and was the first person to graduate in 3 years with two degrees, an AB and a B.Ed. degree.

CHARLES I. BROWN
August 27, 1885 -
December 21, 1981

Founder Brown is believed to have been born in Topeka, Kansas in 1890. Census records show that his father was the Reverend John M. Brown and that his mother was Maggie M. Brown. However, records at Howard University from 1910 have Founder Brown living at 1813 Titan Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

ZETA PHI BETA

HISTORY OF ZETA Phi Beta Sigma Sorority

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. was founded January 16, 1920, at Howard University, Washington, D.C.

Five women chartered Zeta Phi Beta Sorority to:

encourage the highest standards of scholarship through scientific, literary, cultural and educational programs;
promote service projects on college campuses and in the community;
foster sisterhood; and
exemplify the ideal of Finer Womanhood.

Zeta Phi Beta fosters the ideals of service, charity, scholarship, civic and cultural endeavors, sisterhood, and Finer Womanhood. These ideals are reflected in the sorority’s national programs for which its members and auxiliary groups provide countless hours of voluntary service to staff community outreach programs, fund scholarship, support organized charities and promote legislation for social and civic change.

The Honorable Pearls Founders

1. Arizona Cleaver Stemons
2. Myrtle Tyler Faithful
3. Viola Tyler Goings
4. Pearl Anna Neal
5. Fannie Pettie Watts

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. is the first to be constitutionally bound to a fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.