BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : GAMMA RHO OMEGA WAS CHAPTERED IN JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA ON JUNE 1942 BY TEN COLLEGE EDUCATED YOUNG WOMEN .

BLACK           SOCIAL             HISTORY                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Gamma Rho Omega Chapter History

Gamma Rho Omega was chaptered in Jacksonville, Florida on June 23, 1942. Ten college-educated, enterprising, dedicated and civic-minded young women who had become members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. on college campuses were the charter members led by Edna Calhoun, who became the first president of the chapter. The other charter members were Daisy Brookins (Burns), Vivian Ellis (Ingram), Louise Gardner(Sheffield), Elizabeth Gordon (Jasmin), Aldonia Hill (Seabrook), Helen James (Taylor), Coatsie Jones, Lois Jones (Roberts) and Melba Brookins Sunday.

Charter Members: - Daisy Brookins*, Mildred White*, Helen Taylor, Melba Sunday, Louise Sheffield, Aldonia Seabrook*, Lois Roberts*, Edna Calhoun*, Thelma Harris*, Vivian Engram*, Elizabeth Jasmin*, Hattie McKissick, Coatsie Jones* (* Deceased)

In the absence of the Southeastern Regional Director, Maude E. Brown, Poritia Trenholm officiated at the chartering ceremony assisted by Margaret Blake (Roach), who later became South Atlantic Regional Director, 1968-1970. Other sorority members in Jacksonville who attended the history making event were Thelma Harris, Mildred Kennedy (White) and Hattie McDonald McKissick.

Sometime during the summer of 1942, Thelma Harris, Mildred White and Hattie McKissick became active members of the Chapter. In September 1942, four new sorors transferred into the chapter, they were Elizabeth Butler (Jones), Ruth Stanley (Wheaton) and Gwendolyn Schell from Beta Alpha Chapter at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College (FAMC), now Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) in Tallahassee, Florida and Thelma Lash from Alpha Xi Chapter at Livingston College is Salisbury, North Carolina. By the end of the year, the new chapter had a total of seventeen members.

Nine of the charter members were initiated into the sorority in Beta Alpha Chapter (FAMC/FAMU), and one was initiated into Zeta Chapter at Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, Ohio. They were all educators and employed by the Duval County School System at various levels.

Other members were added to the chapter roster through transfers from undergraduate chapters and by initiation of new members. In November 1943, Winona Britt transferred in from Beta Alpha Chapter, and in December 1944, Wildred Akery transferred in from Beta Alpha Chapter. Gamma Rho Omega held it first initiation in 1945, adding four new members: Ruth Broome, Gwendolyn Holland(Hunter), Thelma Hair Jones and Rebecca Martin(McKinney) increasing the chapter’s membership to twenty-six in three years.

Today Gamma Rho Omega Chapter has grown to a membership of over 210. The Chapter also sponsors three undergraduate chapters in Jacksonville: University of North Florida (Mu Theta), Edward Waters College (Nu Iota), and Jacksonville University (Omicron Delta).