FACTS & HISTORY

The History of Zeta Tau Alpha...

Virginia, 1899- After a meeting period of over a year, nine women at the Virginia State Female Normal School are forming a fraternity of sisters. Several social forces acted upon their gathering and their formation of a Greek letter organization. These groups of women, once at school and among many other students, gather together because they have similar beliefs and backgrounds. Each young woman travels away from home for the first time and longs for the close companionship of special friends. They tend to be a lively bunch of inquisitive and fun, yet earnest students. Most are 15 to 16 years old. Yet this group shows a great deal of foresight. The nine women know the "something special they share will be lost if some means of continuing their group is not found. The group forms a Greek letter organization to perpetuate the friendships they find so important. The nine friends and Founders of Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity are Maud Jones (Horner), Alice Bland Coleman, Ethel Coleman (Van Name), Ruby Leigh (Orgain), Frances Yancey Smith, Della Lewis (Hundley), Helen M. Crafford, Alice Grey Welsh, and Mary Jones (Batte). (The names in parenthesis indicate later appellations after marriage.) They organized the Fraternity on October 15, 1898 at the Virginia State Female Normal School (which later becomes Longwood College in Farmville, Virginia). What began as a small group of friends desiring to add more permanence to their friendship in some deep and significant way surely will prosper and grow. Possible someday thousands of women of all ages will share a common bond created by these nine innovative students.

The nine Founders and first three pledges pose for their first official photograph, the Mystifying Picture in 1899. Originally believed to be a photograph of some long forgotten ritual of the Fraternity, it is later discovered that this picture was instead intended to “Mystify the Normal” through its publication in The Normal Light (the school annual), and did not represent any ritual. Rather, it was created completely in good humor. The explanation of the famous “Mystifying Picture” as given by Odelle Warren Bonham, the first pledge:

Alice Coleman, whose brown eyes and irresistible manner are so often mentioned, was the Flirt. She is holding a handkerchief between her hands in an old time flirting signal. Della Lewis, the Judge, gazes at her in stern rebuke, while Maud Jones, the Angel, is lovingly pointing to higher aims. Fannie Smith, the Preacher, holds the Bible in her hand. Never would she have done it lightly, for even in those days she lived the life that could only come from an intimate acquaintance with the Book. Helen Crafford, the Teacher, was setting a “copy” on the slate. Ethel Coleman and Ruby Leigh were Lawyers. Alice Welsh, the Poet, was holding a quill pen and madly writing verse. Cammie Jones, the Light, held a burning candle. Grace Elcan was our Child of Nature; her hair was hanging and she was covered with wild flowers. Grace was one of the most perfectly natural people I ever knew – sweet to the core. I (Odelle Warren Bonham) was Grandma. I wore a black silk dress with a soft old lace shawl and brooch. My hair was parted in the middle and drawn down over my ears in a day when girls showed their ears. Ellen (Armstrong) was at my knee, wearing a high-waisted dress and playing with a toy monkey. She was the baby.

ZTA, a Fraternity...

Zeta Tau Alpha is known as a fraternity, not as a sorority. A "fraternity is an organization whose members have banded together for reasons of common interest and mutual benefit. There is usually some element of secrecy in its design. The terms "sorority" and "fraternity" are often used interchangeably, frequently due to necessity. Some women's organizations prefer "sorority," while others designate the use of "fraternity." It was the intent of the Founders and confirmed by action at two early conventions that Zeta Tau Alpha be designated as a "fraternity." This was done to distinguish our organization from the sisterhoods organized in connection with men's fraternities, called "sororities." Zeta Tau Alpha has no "brother" fraternity.