• Philanthropy

• Symbols

        Many things now taken for granted were unheard of for the women of the 1890's. Higher Education for women was still a debatable topic, but the need for qualified teachers was high. In Virginia, the State Female Normal School at Farmville was the state's first institution to open its doors for teacher education. Now known as Longwood College, this is where brave, 15 to 17-year-old women came to prepare for the teaching profession rather than accept the social custom of being sheltered and tutored in their homes. These trend setting women at Farmville made their school the birthplace of four national sororities. Among them was Sigma Sigma Sigma.

      Eight young women in particular, who epitomized the spirit of the New Women, formed the S.S.S. Club with the desire "to be linked in closer bonds of sisterhood.” These women – Margaret Batten, Louise Davis, Martha Featherston, Isabella Merrick, Sallie Michie, Lelia Scott, Elizabeth Watkins, and Lucy Wright – formed a special friendship at the Normal School. Lucy Wright and Leila Scott led the first meetings of the S.S.S. Club in 1897. They announced the founding of Sigma Sigma Sigma on April 20, 1898.
The early Sigmas saw the need for both legal recognition as a social body and a written record of organization. Thus, the early Alphas filed documents with the Commonwealth of Virginia and Sigma Sigma Sigma received its Charter of Incorporation on February 12, 1903. Tri-Sigma's first constitution was adopted by the Alpha Chapter in April, 1903.

      One man who figures prominently in Tri-Sigma's early history was J. Miller Leake, the only man given the privilege of wearing the indented triangle badge. A member of Kappa Sigma at Randolph-Macon Men's College, he wrote the Sigma's initiation ritual, helped revise the Constitution, and assisted in writing the lyrics to Stately and Royal.

      Giant steps were taken in Sigma's first decade with the establishment of additional collegiate chapters and meetings of the entire membership at Conventions. The national nature of Tri-Sigma was established with the publication of The Triangle, the standardization of a ceremony for new members, and the creation of a program to celebrate Founders' Day. The circle of friendship that began in the 1890's, with eight women sharing common experiences, now encompasses more than 80,000 women representing the diversity found on the college campuses of today. The growth and change that occurred in the many decades to follow always stayed true to the ideals of friendship espoused by the Founders.

      Each initiated member receives the latest edition of Tri-Sigma's story, Sigma Sigma Sigma, A Century of Sisterhood, which chronicles the beginning of each collegiate chapter as well as the evolution of our National Organization. Members also receive a lifetime subscription to our national magazine, The Triangle of Sigma Sigma Sigma, which charts Sigma's progress three times a year.