Zeta Phi Beta, Sorority, Incorporated was founded on January 16, 1920, on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. by Five Extraordinary Women known as the Five Pearls. The Five Pearls of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated are:
Arizona Cleaver Stemons
Viola Tyler Goings
Myrtle Tyler Faithful
Fannie Pettie Watts
Pearl Anna Neal
Our Five Pearls departed from the traditional roles for Black Women and sought to establish a new organization predicated on the precepts of Scholarship, Service, Sisterly Love and Finer Womanhood. It was the ideal of the Founders that the Sorority would reach college women in all parts of the country who were sorority minded and desired to follow the founding principles of the organization.
Founder Viola Tyler was often quoted to say "[In the ideal collegiate situation] there is a Zeta in a girl regardless of race, creed, or color, who has high standards and principles, a good scholarly average and an active interest in all things that she undertakes to accomplish."
Our Colors: Royal Blue and Pure White
Our Symbol: White Dove
Our Motto: A Community-Conscious, Action-Oriented Organization