Supporting education and innovation.
To Foster a Spirit of Sisterhood among Teachers and to Promote the Highest Ideals of the Teaching Profession.
Learn about the Sorority
The National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa, Incorporated is a professional organization of women in the field of education. The three-point program - Y.E.S., which stands for Youth, Education and Service, is the foundation of the organization. As a national educators’ sorority we have accepted the challenge and responsibility of molding and shaping the lives of youth in various communities throughout the world. We have dedicated our professional services to carrying the torch of enlightenment everywhere.
As a professional organization of well-trained and effective educators in all components of the learning spectrum, the National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa, Inc. is dedicated to training youth and adults to develop and enhance those skills, abilities, attitudes and ethics that will prepare them to function successfully in a democratic society. Education is the vehicle by which they can pursue their dreams, discover new vistas, seek self-actualization and achieve extraordinary accomplishments.
Our History
The National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa, Inc. (NSPDK) is a nonprofit, educational sorority founded by eight educators desiring to establish a sisterhood among teachers and promote the highest ideals of the teaching profession. NSPDK was the idea of Gladys Merritt Ross, who, on Good Friday, March 30, 1923, convened a group of young teachers from Jersey City Normal School in Jersey City, New Jersey to discuss the idea of forming a sorority.
Our Founders
Eight members of those present concurred, and Newark attorney, J. Mercer Burrell, incorporated the new organization on May 23, 1923 - which is now recognized as the official Founders Day. Because the original members were all minors, their parents or guardians, Dr. G.E. Cannon, Mr. J.L. Merritt, Mrs. Lottie Cooper and Mrs. Estelle Morris became trustees.
The eight founders are Gladys Merritt Ross (Mother Founder), Julia Asbury Barnes, Ella Wells Butler, Marguerite Gross, Florence Steele Hunt, Edna McConnell, Gladys Cannon Nunery and Mildred Morris Williams.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Nelson Mandela.