PDF Summary:In Search of Sisterhood, by Paula Giddings

Black women have historically faced limited opportunities for leadership development and community building in American society. In In Search of Sisterhood, Paula Giddings examines how Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. has addressed these challenges since its founding in 1913. She explores the sorority as a social movement organization that has adapted to changing racial and political landscapes while maintaining its mission of individual transformation and social change.

Giddings traces Delta Sigma Theta's evolution from a college group focused on sisterhood to a national organization that has advocated for civil rights, provided educational opportunities, and supported Black women in the arts. The book details the sorority's internal governance structures, its programmatic initiatives like the Jobs Analysis Project and National Library Project, and its strategic advocacy efforts alongside major civil rights milestones. This summary offers insight into how exclusive membership organizations can serve as vehicles for social change and leadership development.

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Moreover, the group's guiding documents were amended to broaden its mission. The original constitution stated that the sorority's purpose was solely cultural, moral, and educational. The new constitution added public service as a mission.

(Shortform note: This is important because once public service is written into the constitution, it becomes a formal obligation. This means that funders and partners can use the constitution to determine whether the sorority is a suitable vehicle for channeling resources into community work.)

Now we will explore Delta Sigma Theta’s internal governance structures and their effect on its initiatives and advocacy.

Internal Governance Structures

Giddings details how Delta Sigma Theta Sorority restructured its internal governance to improve efficiency and address growth challenges. In the year 1929, the sorority created a Constitution Committee to clarify and interpret bylaws and regulations. This committee also maintained records of membership, elections, and the founding of new chapters. Moreover, the sorority established a Judiciary Board to mediate conflicts involving national officers and chapters.

The sorority streamlined its governance in 1950 by eliminating the Constitution Board and absorbing the Judiciary and Standards boards into the Executive Board. They also merged the Public Affairs and Public Relations committees to form a Public Relations Board. The Executive Board membership decreased from thirty to eighteen people. The restructuring plan was approved in 1952.

How to Streamline Your Governance

If you’re a leader in a membership organization, you can use Delta Sigma Theta’s example to improve your own governance. Consider commissioning a “governance audit” of your Constitution Committee, Judiciary Board, and public-facing committees. Give the audit a short time frame (such as 90 days) and a clear mandate: to map every recurring decision these bodies make and recommend which decisions should be retained, delegated, or eliminated. In Boards That Make a Difference, John Carver argues that the governing board’s central task is to design its own governance system in policy form. He explains that every committee and process should exist only if it adds value to that governance work.

Impact of Governance on Programs & Advocacy

Giddings explains how governance reforms helped Delta Sigma Theta expand their goals and influence. The sorority became a national organization in 1930, giving it the legal power to operate across the U.S. and beyond. The new charter broadened the sorority's purpose to include promoting educational achievement by granting scholarships and other assistance to deserving members and individuals.

(Shortform note: Since Giddings wrote In Search of Sisterhood, Delta Sigma Theta and other Black sororities have shifted their national governance focus to risk management and legal accountability. In African American Fraternities and Sororities, Tamara L. Brown, Gregory S. Parks, and Clarenda M. Phillips explain that highly publicized hazing incidents and lawsuits have pushed sororities to centralize authority, standardize procedures, and involve legal counsel in policy making.)

The sorority also established the Vigilance Committee, which advocated for civil rights as well as matters related to education and employment. The committee supported federal legislation to stop lynching, opposed a sorority member's removal from the advisory board for the National Recovery Act, and fought to amend the Harrison-Fletcher Bill to guarantee that Black Americans received equitable educational funding. The committee also backed bills that would outlaw segregation in facilities used for interstate travel and guarantee that the top civil service exam scorer received the position. The committee worked through both the central headquarters and regional branches, with many of them able to influence local areas.

The National Recovery Act Advisory Board

The “advisory board for the National Recovery Act” likely refers to a federal advisory board that counseled officials on industrial and labor policy. In Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1932–1940, William E. Leuchtenburg explains that the National Recovery Administration, which was created under the National Industrial Recovery Act, was accompanied by a complex structure of advisory bodies in Washington, including a Labor Advisory Board and a Consumers’ Advisory Board, made up of representatives of organized labor, consumer groups, and other interests, whose function was to counsel the NRA administrator and his staff on questions of industrial policy, wages, hours, and fair‑practice codes, even though real power over policy remained in the hands of the NRA leadership and the code authorities dominated by business.

Giddings highlights the key role of the Vigilance Committee in the sorority's advocacy efforts. Established in 1930 to expand the organization's influence and impact, the committee sent out a questionnaire to members to gather their opinions on issues like anti-lynching laws, court reform, education funding, military spending, and programs for social welfare. The responses influenced the sorority’s policies.

The committee also wrote to government officials to protest injustices and urge action on issues like lynching, discrimination, and civil rights. It supported federal bills against lynching, protested the firing of a member from Delta Sigma Theta from a government advisory panel, and fought against cuts to women’s educational programs. The committee also collaborated with other civil rights groups such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Negro Congress, and the Urban League.

The Historical Roots of the Vigilance Committee

The Vigilance Committee’s approach to advocacy—gathering opinions, writing to officials, and collaborating with other groups—echoes the work of earlier Black activists. In the 1830s and 1840s, Black abolitionists in Northern cities formed “vigilance committees” to protect fugitives from slavery. These committees, like the one in New York City led by David Ruggles, provided legal aid, raised funds, and organized rescues for those at risk of being returned to slavery. They also worked with sympathetic white allies and used the press to raise awareness. This committee-based approach to racial justice advocacy laid the groundwork for later organizations like Delta Sigma Theta’s Vigilance Committee.

Activism, Programs, and Advocating for Civil Rights

Programmatic Initiatives

Giddings describes how Delta Sigma Theta launched initiatives to enhance career prospects and the work environment for Black female workers. In 1941, the sorority launched a Jobs Analysis and Opportunities Project to make sure that Black women had equal access to job opportunities and to improve their working conditions. The project involved gathering information, educating workers about the problems they faced, providing guidance and encouragement, and raising public awareness about the necessity of advancing Black working women's status. Local chapters executed the project, as they were well-placed to comprehend the unique needs of their individual communities. Supported by Epsilon Sigma Chapter, the Baltimore center hosted a May 1941 conference on women in industrial jobs.

(Shortform note: In Household Workers Unite, Premilla Nadasen explores the history of African American women in waged work, focusing on their efforts to improve working conditions and gain recognition as skilled workers. Nadasen highlights how, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Black women increasingly organized through independent worker-led associations rather than collegiate sororities. These organizations, such as citywide and national domestic worker unions, combined grassroots leadership development, collective bargaining, legal advocacy, and alliances with feminist and civil rights movements. By forming their own autonomous organizations, Black women were able to define themselves publicly as workers, demand recognition under labor law, and assert that care and household labor are skilled forms of employment deserving of dignity and respect.)

The Baltimore model included examining emerging opportunities for Black women, particularly in the defense factories that had recently been established, along with the conditions and roles in their current cleaning, laundry, metal, and clothing jobs. A comprehensive survey was administered to workers, inquiring about pay, benefits, chances for promotion, training accessibility, and whether the female employees were unionized. Numerous interviews were conducted as well.

(Shortform note: The Baltimore model’s comprehensive survey and interviews were crucial in transforming Black women workers’ experiences into concrete change. As Bitter Fruit explains, systematic research that compiled Black women’s workplace testimony and employment statistics provided “counter-evidence” to official claims that Black women were being treated fairly. This documented record gave federal fair-employment agencies and labor allies the leverage they needed to press for changes in hiring and workplace policy.)

The replies indicated that just a single facility had union representation. Black women were paid lower salaries than White women for doing equivalent work. The apparel industry employed one Black woman for every five female workers. Food packing companies employed about 100 Black women, while the metal companies hired them exclusively. The workers noted there was minimal opportunity for promotion or salary increases, lacked paid sick leave or vacation, and experienced segregation in break areas and bathrooms. Over 100 of the interviewed women had a dozen to fifteen years of job experience, but their employers didn’t provide training programs.

(Shortform note: The conditions described in the survey reflect the legacy of New Deal labor policies and Jim Crow labor markets. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935, which established the right to unionize, excluded domestic and agricultural workers—sectors where Black women were overrepresented. Even in unionized industries, Black women often faced exclusion from unions or were relegated to segregated locals with less bargaining power. The lack of paid leave and training opportunities reflects how Black women were concentrated in the lowest rungs of the labor market, with little access to the seniority systems and skill development programs that benefited many white industrial workers.)

The workers didn't know about government classes that could equip them for jobs in defense and improve their employment prospects. The final stages of the jobs project featured a panel discussion and offered recommendations. The call was made for women of African descent to enroll in defense courses and pursue the shift from untrained to trained roles. Unionization issues required focus, and domestic and service workers needed assistance to obtain increased pay and improved working conditions. There were also attempts to partner with organizations like the YWCA, the Urban League, the Council of Negro Organizations, and other groups focused on employment matters. The sorority contacted employers to make them aware of the challenges faced by Black women workers and asked for their support.

The Risks of Unionization

While unionization can be a powerful tool for workers to improve their conditions, it can also backfire if not handled carefully. Employers may retaliate against workers who attempt to unionize, leading to job loss and increased economic insecurity. This risk is particularly acute for Black women workers, who may face additional discrimination and barriers to reemployment. Before confronting employers or attempting to unionize, workers should assess their legal protections and the likelihood of employer retaliation. In some cases, it may be more effective to build alliances with community organizations and advocacy groups to apply pressure on employers from multiple angles.

Giddings also details how Delta Sigma Theta established a National Library Project to bring libraries to rural areas in the South. Although authorized in 1937, the project wasn't put into action until 1945 because planning was complicated, World War II created national demands, and there were internal issues. The project continued due to the significant demand for libraries in the southern United States. In the 1930s, a fresh emphasis on education broadly—and on education for African Americans in particular—made clear the necessity for libraries, especially for Black communities in rural areas.

(Shortform note: Delta’s National Library Project was part of a larger movement in the first half of the 20th century to bring libraries to rural areas. In Not Free, Not for All, Cheryl Knott explains that the library-extension movement, which began in the 1910s, was a response to the fact that most rural Americans had no access to libraries. The movement was part of a larger push for adult education and was supported by organizations like the American Library Association, the Carnegie Corporation, and the Julius Rosenwald Fund. The movement’s leaders saw libraries as more than just places to store books—they believed libraries were essential for creating good citizens and maintaining social order.)

In 1930, out of a Black population close to nine million across thirteen southern states, over six million had no access to public libraries. By 1939, 774 libraries were located across the South, with 99 of them serving Black people. Public institutions were accessible to one-fifth of all Black people in the South, but just 5% of rural Black people could use them. The first mobile library was established in North Carolina's Franklin County, the state's most impoverished county.

(Shortform note: These statistics are important because they provide a baseline for historians to track the progress of Black people’s access to public libraries. The first mobile library in Franklin County is also significant because it was a model for other mobile libraries that would be established in the future. The fact that it was established in the poorest county in North Carolina also highlights the challenges that Black people faced in accessing public libraries.)

Four years after the project began, Franklin County residents from Louisburg showed interest in funding the construction of a new library center equipped with modern amenities through the fundraising efforts of the Louisburg teachers. The building was dedicated in 1949 and given the sorority's name. The sorority contributed $500 for the library to use exclusively on books. Additional locations were selected in the Georgia counties of Harolson, Heard, and Carroll. These regions were the most bereft in a state with just ninety-three libraries in total, and only four available to serve Black people. Approximately 48 percent of White people, versus less than 16 percent of Black people, could access these services.

(Shortform note: In Not Free, Not For All, Cheryl Knott notes that decades before Delta Sigma Theta’s library projects, the Julius Rosenwald Fund had already experimented with providing library access to Black communities in the rural South. The Rosenwald schools, built between 1917 and 1932, often included classroom libraries and reading rooms. These schools were funded through a matching-grant system that required Black communities to contribute cash, labor, and materials alongside outside philanthropy. While not full-fledged public libraries, these school-based collections represented the first quasi-public library spaces many Black Southerners could access. The Rosenwald model demonstrated that Black communities valued and would support library services, laying groundwork for later efforts like Delta Sigma Theta’s county library projects.)

In 1954, the sorority received the American Library Association's American Library Letter Award for their exceptional support of libraries in western Georgia. Delta's final demonstration project mirrored the North Carolina book-basket operation and took place at St. Helena Island in South Carolina. In 1956, nine "library outposts" were set up to offer services to that island community. That same year, the Grand Chapter decided to conclude the nationwide model programs. The library initiative would be implemented only by chapters.

Freedom Libraries

In the 1960s, civil-rights workers in the American South created “freedom libraries” as acts of protest. These libraries were often small, improvised spaces that served as bases for voter registration drives, literacy and citizenship education, political discussion, and direct challenges to segregated public library systems. In Freedom Libraries, Mike Selby explains that these libraries reveal how access to books and information was a frontline arena of the Black freedom struggle, rather than a neutral or purely charitable service. This context gives new significance to the 1950s chapter-run library projects in the South.

Advocacy & Strategic Action

Giddings highlights the important role of the Delta Sigma Theta organization in civil rights advocacy and strategic action. In 1956, Delta Sigma Theta organized a nationwide conference in Detroit centered on "International Implications of American Race Relations." The event featured Martin Luther King, Jr., fresh off the triumph of the boycott of Montgomery buses. The sorority also participated in the American Council on Human Rights (ACHR), a coalition of African American Greek-letter organizations that lobbied for civil rights legislation. The ACHR’s agenda included desegregation of the armed forces, public transportation, and public accommodations in Washington, D.C., as well as anti-poll tax and anti-lynching bills, federal aid to education, and the abolition of racial discrimination in immigration and naturalization.

(Shortform note: The Delta Sigma Theta conference in Detroit in 1956 was part of a broader movement to internationalize the struggle for civil rights in the United States. In the mid-1940s, the NAACP and the Civil Rights Congress petitioned the United Nations to recognize racial discrimination in the US as a human rights violation. This strategy aimed to leverage international pressure to force the US government to address civil rights issues. Historian Carol Anderson’s book Eyes Off the Prize explores this international dimension of the civil rights movement, highlighting how activists sought to frame racial discrimination as a violation of human rights rather than merely a domestic issue.)

Elmer Henderson, the ACHR's inaugural director, had previously led the Committee on Fair Employment Practices. Patricia Harris, a Delta member, led ACHR's initiatives for social action. Some Delta members had significant roles as council officers. The ACHR was crucial in stopping modifications to the Selective Service legislation that would have hindered advancement toward fully integrating the armed forces. It also helped defeat an amendment that would have backed federal government segregation policies in Washington, D.C. In 1963, Delta formed a committee on social action to guide and inform members about contemporary civil rights topics.

(Shortform note: In Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940–1965, historian Morris J. MacGregor Jr. argues that the integration of the armed forces was primarily driven by presidential politics and military necessity, rather than the efforts of any particular organization. He contends that President Truman's decision to issue Executive Order 9981 in 1948, which mandated the desegregation of the military, was a pivotal moment in the process. MacGregor also highlights the role of military leaders who recognized that segregation was inefficient and detrimental to the nation's international image during the Cold War.)

Delta joined the masses at the landmark March on Washington in August 1963, aiming to push for civil rights legislation. Delta members lobbied for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned gender discrimination and laid the legal groundwork for the women’s movement. They also advocated for the 1965 Voting Rights legislation. Delta members visited key lawmakers in Congress and lobbied individual representatives. They also used the media to build public support for their positions. At regional conferences, the sorority would have speakers like Daisy Bates, Clarence Mitchell, or Wiley Branton, followed by distributing stationery and stamps.

(Shortform note: The Civil Rights Act of 1964’s ban on gender discrimination laid the legal groundwork for the women’s movement because it allowed women’s rights advocates to file complaints and lawsuits that established key legal precedents against sex bias. For example, the National Organization for Women (NOW) used Title VII to challenge sex-segregated job ads, unequal pay, and discriminatory hiring practices. These legal victories not only improved conditions for women in the workplace but also demonstrated the power of collective action and legal advocacy, inspiring further activism and organizing within the women’s movement.)

Members would write letters to their representatives and then walk to send them by mail. The sorority gained respect for rapidly galvanizing support and having their voices heard during a period when the government was especially receptive to lobbying efforts. In 1964, with the Civil Rights Bill awaiting approval, Delta members reserved a room in the Capitol and summoned their senators and representatives to speak with them. The legislators were scared, and additional people began arriving independently to speak with them. Delta members were also involved in Mississippi's Freedom Summer, when Northern students of both races arrived to assist with voter registration and the "freedom schools," where civil rights activists taught local residents political consciousness and traditional academic subjects. Freedom Summer was also designed to concentrate national awareness on the activism in one of the country's most unyielding states.

Freedom Summer and National Awareness

Historians of Freedom Summer agree that the campaign was intentionally designed to concentrate national awareness on activism in Mississippi. They point out that the campaign was organized by Black activists who had been working in Mississippi for years, but the campaign was designed to recruit white college students from the North. The organizers believed that the presence of white students would draw national media attention to the ongoing struggle for civil rights in Mississippi. They also believed that the presence of white students would make it more difficult for local authorities to use violence against the activists. The organizers were correct in their assessment. The murder of three civil rights workers, two of whom were white, drew national attention to the campaign and helped to galvanize support for the civil rights movement.