Auburn Avenue Research Library Digital Exhibits

Items

• Elliot Travis's Twins, Laura & Louise at Delta Pro [Delta Sigma Theta Sorority], West Virginia State College
  Outdoor photograph of twins Laura and Louise Travis, students at West Virginia State College, standing side by side during Delta Pro activities in 1936. The young women are dressed in long coats over light-colored dresses and each holds a small bouquet of flowers, indicating their participation as new probationary members (“Delta Pro”) of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. The sisters pose together on the campus lawn with college buildings and hills visible in the distance. Their matching posture and similar attire highlight both their twin relationship and the sense of unity associated with sorority initiation traditions. The photograph reflects moments of friendship, sisterhood, and collegiate life among African American women during the 1930s.
• Deltas on Pro [Delta Sigma Theta Sorority] (Louise Maxwell and group), West Virginia State College
  Outdoor photograph of four young African American women standing on the campus of West Virginia State College in 1936. The women are newly initiated members on probation (“Pro”) in the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, including Louise Maxwell and three fellow sorority sisters. Each woman holds a bouquet of flowers and wears a light-colored dress with a dark jacket, standing side-by-side on the lawn with campus buildings visible in the background. The image documents an early stage of sorority membership, when new initiates participated in ceremonies and campus traditions marking their entry into the sisterhood. Their coordinated attire, flowers, and formal posture suggest a celebratory moment tied to initiation activities and the welcoming of new members into the organization’s collegiate community.
• Miss West Virginia & Court
  Outdoor portrait of three young African American women seated together on a stone bench in front of a brick school building in 1936. The women are identified as members of the Miss West Virginia court: Eddie Mae Stubbs (left), Dot Bradshaw (center, Miss West Virginia), and Violet Burks (right). They sit close together, smiling toward the camera, dressed in fashionable mid-1930s dresses with softly waved hairstyles typical of the period. The photograph captures a moment of camaraderie and pride among the young women during a community pageant event. Informal yet composed, the image reflects the social networks and celebratory traditions that brought young Black women together through school, community events, and local recognition.
• Margaret Bowen with other Alpha Kappa Alpha Members, University of Cincinnati, 1922
  Group portrait of African American women affiliated with the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. at the University of Cincinnati in 1922. The photograph includes Margaret Bowen (front row, left) seated among fellow members of the Omicron Chapter. The women are arranged in a studio setting, seated and standing around a small table, dressed in fashionable early-1920s attire including tailored dresses, necklaces, and carefully styled hair. The portrait reflects the importance of Black sororities as spaces of sisterhood, scholarship, and leadership for African American women in higher education during the early twentieth century. Through organizations like Alpha Kappa Alpha, college-educated Black women built networks of mutual support while advancing academic achievement, civic engagement, and community uplift.
• 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.
• Alpha-Bettes Fashion Show Flyer
  Hand-tinted flyer advertising a fashion show hosted by the Alpha Bettes and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity to support the “Bonny’s Styles and Fashions” scholarship fund at Clark College, Atlanta, Georgia, 1960.