Who are we?

Business and Professional Women – Furthering the dream of Economic Independence 

Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Incorporated 

 
Early in 1929, Mrs. Lola Mercedes Parker of Chicago, Illinois, was stimulated by the need and a great vision of an organization which would offset the results caused by the Great Depression. Many black women who were working at comparatively new skills in white-collar jobs in the business field were doubly penalized by race and sex.
 
Mrs. Parker called together six friends to discuss a plan for establishing an organization that would add prestige to the field of business and to those women who had chosen business as a career. Such an organization would encourage, inspire, nurture, and give assistance to those persons engaged in business vocations.
 
The first chapter, Alpha was created and it marked the first step in the organization of a national business sorority. Since that time, other professions have been embraced. However, the major emphasis has remained in the broad field of business. There are now more than 50 chapters across the United States, including the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

History of Beta Delta Chapter

On September 23, 1972, the Beta Delta Chapter of Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Incorporated in Galena Park, Texas was chartered.


There were 11 Charter Members:

Johnnie Doss                        President

Naurita Chambers               1st Vice President

Dorothy Gilbert                     2nd Vice President

Willia Graves                         Correspondence Secretary

Dorothy Williams                  Financial Secretary

Bertha Harris                         Treasurer

Casper Adams                      Journalist

Jessie Mae Stevens             Dean of Pledges

Lillian Faye Parker                 Reporter

Myrtle Gren                            Parliamentarian

Ernestine Leonard                Member


Each member of the Beta Delta Chapter joined the National Council of Negro Women, one of our affiliate organizations.  One of Beta Delta’s first acts of community service was adopting three children at an event when they sponsored Adopt a Child with Harris County Adoption Center at Texas Southern University.


Through the years, Beta Delta has served the community by conducting career fairs, teen pregnancy awareness workshops, providing scholarships and presenting book signings for up-and-coming authors.


Beta Delta is an active chapter of Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Incorporated.  We have had several regional officers, one Regional Director and our charter member, Lillian Parker, is a past National President.

© Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc. – Beta Delta Chapter – All Rights Reserved