Sigma Sigma Sigma, also known as Tri Sigma, is a national American women’s sorority and is a member of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC). Founded on April 20, 1898 by Margaret Batten, Louise Davis, Martha Trent Featherston, Isabella Merrick, Sallie Michie, Lelia Scott, Elizabeth Watkins, and Lucy Wright at State Female Normal School in Farmville (now Longwood University). The organization established a charter of incorporation in 1903 and adopted a constitution in the same year. As the organization began to grow and add chapters, Sigma Sigma Sigma along with Alpha Sigma Alpha founded the Association of Education Sororities (AES) in 1915, to serve as a national organization for sororities at teacher training institutions. After the dissolution of the AES, and Longwood’s change in status from a teacher’s college to a liberal arts college in 1949, Tri Sigma joined NPC in 1951. In 1954, Tri Sigma established the Robbie Page Memorial as its official philanthropy, the organization now supports play therapy for hospitalized children, libraries, and programs for children undergoing long-term hospitalization. Sigma Sigma Sigma’s Alpha chapter was the second sorority to be founded at Longwood and is the only one to be continuously active on campus since its founding.

Provenance

The materials in this collection were donated by the Alpha Chapter of Sigma Sigma Sigma to Greenwood Library in November 2022.

Scope and Content

The collection includes scrapbooks, composites, photographs, records, and plaques related to Longwood University’s Alpha Chapter of Sigma Sigma Sigma. Items in the collection commemorate chapter events, governance, social life and general activity of the Alpha Chapter of Sigma Sigma Sigma.

View the full finding aid here: Sigma Sigma Sigma Collection, LU-075