The State Female Normal School, now Longwood University, in Farmville, Va., was the first institution of higher learning in Virginia to admit women for collegiate study. Naturally, it attracted superior students, many of them daughters of college professors already familiar with the fraternity idea.

Among the students in the fall term of 1901 were five women who had become very good friends. Attractive, vivacious, and intelligent, they had been rushed and bid by the existing sororities. However, if they accepted these bids, it would mean that the five would not be sorority sisters.

On November 15, 1901, a new sorority was organized and named Alpha Sigma Alpha. As stated in the charter, "The purpose of the association shall be to cultivate friendship among its members, and in every way to create pure and elevating sentiments, to perform such deeds and to mould such opinions as will tend to elevate and ennoble womanhood in the world." Signatures to this document include those of Alpha Sigma Alpha's five Founders: Virginia Lee Boyd (Noell), Juliette Jefferson Hundley (Gilliam), Calva Hamlet Watson (Wooton), Louise Burks Cox (Carper), and Mary Williamson Hundley.

A Turning Point
Although Alpha Sigma Alpha installed 13 chapters in those early years, by 1913 Alpha Chapter was the only active chapter of Alpha Sigma Alpha. The chapter turned to Ida Shaw Martin, founder and past national president for Delta Delta Delta, for assistance. Mrs. Martin suggested that Alpha Sigma Alpha get in touch with Pi Alpha Tau from Miami University in Ohio, and as a result, Pi Alpha Tau was installed as a chapter of Alpha Sigma Alpha in May 1913. The two chapters recognized the insight that Mrs. Martin could provide and immediately elected her to membership.

At this point, Alpha Sigma Alpha decided to limit its chapters to teachers' colleges and colleges of education within universities. By October 1914 two other local groups were sufficiently interested in Alpha Sigma Alpha to arrange for a convention.

The Miami convention was held over Thanksgiving weekend 1914, with delegates from the four chapters present. In two days they adopted a constitution, formulated more elaborate ritual, made some changes in symbols and customs and arranged for a weekly publication, The Phoenix.

In the next years, The Phoenix was the central medium linking the chapters. It was edited by Mrs. Martin, who had been elected national president, and read like a family letter sent periodically to far-away children by a strong-minded mother whose experience and age gave her authority of opinion and action. The years 1914 to 1930 were formative ones for Alpha Sigma Alpha. Under the guidance of Mrs. Martin and the dedication of Alpha Sigma Alphas serving as national officers, the sorority began to flourish.

A Vision for the Future
By 1930 Alpha Sigma Alpha was firmly re-established and ready for new leadership. At the 1930 national convention in Boston, Mass., the convention body elected Wilma Wilson Sharp, Zeta Zeta Chapter, as national president. After 16 years of guidance by Mrs. Martin, Alpha Sigma Alpha was now under the leadership of one of her very own initiates. Mrs. Sharp served for 17 years as national president and served a total of 35 years as a national officer, granting her the honored title of president emerita.

Through Mrs. Sharp's vision and dedication, our ritual was bound into a book form, the Creed of Alpha Sigma Alpha was composed, a memorial to the founders at Longwood College was established, a new constitution was designed, the first published history of the sorority was released, and November 15 was declared Founders' Day.

Joining NPC
Prior to 1947, Alpha Sigma Alpha and other members of the Association of Educational Sororities (AES) limited their expansion to teachers' colleges. When the teachers' colleges began granting liberal arts degrees instead of granting teaching certificates, National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) sororities were free to expand on those campuses while AES groups could not expand on any other type of campus.

Considering that the activities and purposes of the "social" and "educational" sorority were identical, Alpha Sigma Alpha and Sigma Sigma Sigma initiated the vote to dissolve AES and join NPC. In September 1947 Alpha Sigma Alpha petitioned the National Panhellenic Conference for membership and was accepted on November 12, 1947.

In the years since 1947 many exciting milestones have been reached by Alpha Sigma Alpha. The 1950s brought about the celebration of the sorority's fiftieth anniversary and the Golden Anniversary Convention held in 1952 at the Hotel Roanoke in Roanoke, VA. In 1957 the memorial garden was dedicated at Longwood College in recognition of the sorority's founding.

At the 1958 convention aid to the mentally retarded was selected as the national service focus. In 1976 the Special Olympics was named as the national philanthropic project. Today Alpha Sigma Alphas around the country volunteer as judges, timers and huggers for Special Olympics events. In 1990 an additional philanthropic project was selected, the S. June Smith Center. The center is located in Lancaster county Pennsylvania and is named after Alpha Sigma Alpha member Dr. S. June Smith, Kappa Kappa Chapter.

The Philanthropic Fund, originally established in 1926 and used to issue loans, was changed to a fund that provided scholarships in 1967. The fund grew and scholarships were added. In the mid-1990s the Philanthropic Fund was transferred to the Alpha Sigma Alpha Foundation. The Foundation now awards all Alpha Sigma Alpha scholarships.

Leadership development and training was enhanced beginning in the 1960's with the development of the traveling secretary program, today the leadership consultant program. Recent graduates were recruited to spend a year traveling from chapter to chapter to provide training and assistance in all areas of chapter operations and membership development. The first Emma Coleman Frost Leadership Development Institute was also hosted at Penn State in 1989. Today there are four institutes held regionally in years when a national convention is not held. January 1999 brought about the introduction of the newest leadership training opportunity, the Officer Academy. Each January a designated officer from each chapter will be invited to a workshop in Indianapolis for extensive training. The first academy was for the vice president of programming and ritual. The 2000 Officer Academy will be for the vice president of public relations and recruitment.

Finally during this period the first Central Office was established in Buffalo, New York. Prior to this time the records of the sorority had been housed with individual officers. In 1962 the Central Office was relocated to Springfield, Missouri and in 1966 the sorority purchased its first building to house the sorority office. The property at 1201 East Walnut Street was dedicated as the first National Headquarters in 1969. After more than 30 years in Springfield, Missouri, the needs of the sorority outgrew the lovely old home. The decision was made to move the national headquarters to Indianapolis, Indiana in 1998 where a concentration of Greek organizations have located their headquarters. Plans are to locate a permanent facility in the future.