Items

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority - Beta, Gamma and Delta Chapters, The Aurora, 1928
Pages from the 1928 issue of The Aurora, the official magazine of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., featuring photographs and reports from several collegiate chapters. The pages highlight members of the Beta, Gamma, and Delta chapters, including group portraits of sorors posed together and accompanied by captions identifying individual members and officers. The articles describe chapter activities, leadership roles, scholarship initiatives, and social events organized by members. These images and texts document the early growth of the sorority and the important role African American women played in higher education, professional development, and community leadership during the 1920s. The photographs capture the pride, camaraderie, and intellectual engagement of young Black women building networks of sisterhood and service in the early twentieth century.
Unidentified Woman in Shawl, 1926
Sepia studio portrait of an African American woman standing in a doorway wearing a shawl and a fringed dress, photographed in Atlanta in 1926. The inscription on the photograph reads, “To our son from your devoted mother, November 1, 1926.” The woman may be Selena Sloan Butler, though this identification is not confirmed. The portrait reflects the dignity, style, and familial devotion expressed through formal portrait photography in early twentieth-century African American communities.