The History of Zeta Tau Alpha
The Founders of Zeta Tau Alpha as depicted in the Mystifying Picture
Zeta Tau Alpha was founded on October 15, 1898 in Farmville, Virginia at the State Female School. Today, the State Female Normal School is known as Longwood College. Zeta Tau Alpha (ZTA) was founded by nine young women sharing common ideals. The founders of Zeta Tau Alpha are as follows: Maud Jones Horner, Della Lewis Hundley, Alice Bland Coleman, Mary Jones Batte, Alice Grey Welsh, Ethel Coleman Van Name, Helen M. Crafford, Frances Yancey Smith, and Ruby Leigh Orgain.
The Gamma Omega Chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha, the 97th link in the Chain of Chapters, was founded at the University of Houston on February 11, 1956.
The Gamma Omega Chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha, the 97th link in the Chain of Chapters, was founded at the University of Houston on February 11, 1956.
Verna Patton is a Zeta Tau Alpha Alumna from the Gamma Omega chapter at the University of Houston. Mrs. Patton was the first President of Gamma Omega. She later went on to serve as National Ritual Chairman and now has a National Award named after her. She is pictured here at 2009 Texas Zeta Days with Gamma Omega Member, Jennifer Serrano.
Purpose:
The purpose of Zeta Tau Alpha is the intensifying of friendship, the fostering of a spirit of love, the creating of such sentiments, the performing of such deeds, and the moulding of such opinions as will be conducive to the building up of a purer and nobler womanhood in the world.
The Creed of Zeta Tau Alpha:
To realize that within our grasp, in Zeta Tau Alpha, lies the opportunity to learn those things which will ever enrich and ennoble our lives; to be true to ourselves, to those within and without our circle; to think in terms of all mankind and our service in the world; to be steadfast, strong, and clean of heart and mind, remembering that since the thought is father to the deed, only that which we would have manifested in our experience should be entertained in thought; to find satisfaction in being, rather than seeming, thus strengthening in us the higher qualities of the spirit; to prepare for service and learn the nobility of serving, thereby earning the right to be served; to seek understanding that we might gain true wisdom; to look for the good in everyone; to see beauty, with its enriching influence; to be humble in success, and without bitterness in defeat; to have the welfare and harmony of the Fraternity at heart, striving ever to make our lives a symphony of high ideals, devotion to the Right, the Good, and the True, without a discordant note; remembering always that the foundation precept of Zeta Tau Alpha was Love, “the greatest of all things.” -- Written by Shirley Kreasan Strout, adopted by the 1928 ZTA Convention
The purpose of Zeta Tau Alpha is the intensifying of friendship, the fostering of a spirit of love, the creating of such sentiments, the performing of such deeds, and the moulding of such opinions as will be conducive to the building up of a purer and nobler womanhood in the world.
The Creed of Zeta Tau Alpha:
To realize that within our grasp, in Zeta Tau Alpha, lies the opportunity to learn those things which will ever enrich and ennoble our lives; to be true to ourselves, to those within and without our circle; to think in terms of all mankind and our service in the world; to be steadfast, strong, and clean of heart and mind, remembering that since the thought is father to the deed, only that which we would have manifested in our experience should be entertained in thought; to find satisfaction in being, rather than seeming, thus strengthening in us the higher qualities of the spirit; to prepare for service and learn the nobility of serving, thereby earning the right to be served; to seek understanding that we might gain true wisdom; to look for the good in everyone; to see beauty, with its enriching influence; to be humble in success, and without bitterness in defeat; to have the welfare and harmony of the Fraternity at heart, striving ever to make our lives a symphony of high ideals, devotion to the Right, the Good, and the True, without a discordant note; remembering always that the foundation precept of Zeta Tau Alpha was Love, “the greatest of all things.” -- Written by Shirley Kreasan Strout, adopted by the 1928 ZTA Convention