Sigma Sigma Sigma - History

History

In the 1890s, the State Female Normal School in Farmville, Virginia (now known as Longwood University) was the state’s first institution to open its doors to teacher education, at a time when higher education for women was a highly debated topic. Eight students (Margaret Batten, Louise Davis, Martha Trent Featherston, Isabella Merrick, Sallie Michie, Lelia Scott, Elizabeth Watkins, and Lucy Wright) formed a special bond while studying for their future teaching careers. Lelia Scott and Lucy Wright led the first meetings of their secret society, the S.S.S. Club, in 1897. On April 20, 1898, these women officially announced the founding of the Greek letter society known as Sigma Sigma Sigma. Sigma was founded as the sister organization of Kappa Sigma.

At the same time, Lucy Wright’s roommate, Julia Tyler, worked to form Kappa Delta sorority. In the fall of 1898, Zeta Tau Alpha was founded, followed by the founding of Alpha Sigma Alpha in 1901. These four sororities were all founded at the State Female Normal School and were henceforth referred to as the Farmville Four.

In its first decade, Tri Sigma recognized the need for both legal recognition as a social body and a written record of organization. Therefore, they filed documents with the Commonwealth of Virginia and received their Charter of Incorporation on February 12, 1903. Tri Sigma's first constitution was adopted by its first chapter, the Alpha Chapter, in April 1903.

In the first decade since its inception, giant steps were taken in laying the groundwork of the sorority’s foundation. In 1915, Tri Sigma absorbed the two remaining chapters of Sigma Delta Chi sorority. Additional collegiate chapters were established and all members met at a convention. As the sorority grew, the national nature of Tri Sigma solidified with the standardization of a ceremony for new members and the creation of a program to celebrate the day that Sigma Sigma Sigma was founded, Founders Day.

Each initiated member receives the latest edition of Tri Sigma's story, The Years Remembered of Sigma Sigma Sigma, and The Path from Farmville, which chronicles the beginnings of each collegiate chapter as well as the evolution of the national organization. Members also receive a lifetime subscription to the national magazine of Sigma Sigma Sigma, The Triangle of Sigma Sigma Sigma, which is published three times a year.

The circle of friendship that began in the 1890s, with eight women sharing common experiences, now encompasses more than 100,000 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.