Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Celebrates 100 Years of Public Service New Orleans Alumnae Chapter will host the Centennial Torch Tour

• By Teniesha Biagas+
• December 31, 2012
• 0

NEW ORLEANS – On January 13, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. will celebrate 100 years of sisterhood and public service. To kickoff this historic occasion, the Delta Centennial Torch Tour will stop in New Orleans Friday, Jan. 4 through Sunday, Jan 6.

An actual touch is being carried from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. with many stops in between underscoring the role that Delta Sigma Theta has played from the Women’s Suffrage to the Civil Rights Movements to advances in education and technology. New Orleans is the second stop on the Tour, which will end in Washington, D.C. during the Sorority’s 51stNational Convention July 11 – 17, 2013. Several events are planned that illustrate how New Orleans Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta and the City of New Orleans have partnered to build a stronger community. All events are open to the public.

On Friday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., an exhibit and reception will be held at the First National Bank of Commerce building, 210 Baronne St., to honor the 22 Delta Founders, the National President of Delta Sigma Theta, and feature members over the decades, chapter leadership and Charter members of each Louisiana chapter. A candlelight processional from the Hyatt Regency to the reception site will begin at 6 p.m.

On Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Delta Centennial Torch Tour will move through the City of New Orleans “Illuminating Our Community,” stopping at three of the city’s Historical Black Colleges and Universities: Xavier University of Louisiana (9:50 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.), Southern University at New Orleans (12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.), and Dillard University (2 p.m. to 3 p.m.). These sites were selected because they are significant to African Americans, members of Delta Sigma Theta, and to many across the nation.

Each of the stops will include a brief program and feature Delta Sigma Theta’s 24th National President and New Orleanian Cynthia Butler McIntyre along with music and other national, regional and local luminaries.

In addition, the motorcade will pass by Flint-Goodridge Senior Citizens Facility, the site of the first African American nursing degree program in Louisiana and the only hospital that African American physicians could practice, and New Zion Baptist Church, the birthplace of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as well as Martin Luther King Jr. Monument, Gilbert Academy and other historical sites.

Finally, on Sunday at 11 a.m., the weekend will culminate with the Sorority’s Founders Day ecumenical service and luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 601 Loyola Ave.

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. is a private, non-profit organization whose purpose is to provide assistance and support through established programs in local communities throughout the world. A sisterhood of more than 200,000 predominately Black college educated women, the Sorority currently has over 900 chapters located in the United States, England, Japan (Tokyo and Okinawa), Germany, the Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Republic of Korea. The major programs of the sorority are based upon the organization's Five Point Programmatic Thrust:Economic Development, Educational Development, International Awareness and Involvement,Physical and Mental Health, and Political Awareness and Involvement. For more information, please visit www.dstnoa.org.