African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

fraternities and sororities Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America. Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradu ...

are social organizations that predominantly recruit Black college students and provide a network that includes both undergraduate and alumni members. These organizations were typically founded by Black American undergraduate students, faculty and leaders at various institutions in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

History

Prince Hall Freemasonry Prince Hall Freemasonry is a branch of North American Freemasonry for African Americans founded by Prince Hall on September 29, 1784. There are two main branches of Prince Hall Freemasonry: the independent State Prince Hall Grand Lodges, most of ...

(PHA) is the first historically

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

fraternal organization A fraternity (from Latin ''frater'': "brother"; whence, "brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity in ...

. The first Greek Letter fraternal organization was Alpha Kappa Nu at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

in 1903.

Wilberforce University Wilberforce University is a private historically black university in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans. It participates in t ...

is where

Gamma Phi Gamma Phi () was a primarily African American fraternity founded on March 1, 1905 at Wilberforce University a Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in the state of Ohio by Gus Williams, Dr. Lackley and Edw. Cl ...

was established in 1905. Sixty miles away at Columbus, Ohio in March 1905,

Pi Gamma Omicron Pi Gamma Omicron () was one of the first documented black collegiate fraternities which was founded in 1905. History The group was founded at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. The group had 12 members. The group was not known by the Ohio ...

was founded at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

(formation originally reported in the ''

Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...

'' in 1905). CC Poindexter, a graduate of Ohio State University, went on to

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, where he established the Alpha Phi Alpha Society. This society became

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

fraternity. Established on December 4, 1906, Alpha Phi Alpha is the first Black intercollegiate (having more than one college chapter) fraternity. Alpha Phi Alpha's success inspired the founding of other intercollegiate Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs). Today, these organizations (fraternities and sororities) are known collectively as the

National Pan-Hellenic Council The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) is a collaborative umbrella council composed of historically African American fraternities and sororities also referred to as Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs). The NPHC was formed as a permanent ...

(NPHC), and emphasize

public service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

and

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

. Some non-NPHC Black fraternal organizations, such as the Swing Phi Swing and

Groove Phi Groove Groove Phi Groove Social Fellowship, Inc. (GΦG) is a social fellowship. It was founded at Morgan State College (now known as Morgan State University) as an alternative to National Pan-Hellenic Council, mainstream List of African-American fratern ...

fellowships, do not solely use Greek letters in their names. The first professional Black Greek letter fraternity,

Sigma Pi Phi Sigma Pi Phi (), also known as The Boulé, founded in 1904, is the oldest fraternity for African Americans among those named with Greek letters. The fraternity does not have collegiate chapters and is designed for professionals at mid-career or o ...

, was established in Pennsylvania in 1904.

Early formation (attempted or not existing today)

Fraternities

Sororities

Non Greek Organizations

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:List of African American Greek and fraternal organizations African-American fraternities * Social fraternities and sororities