Founded  on January 16, 1920, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated began as an idea conceived by five coeds at Howard University in Washington D.C.: Arizona Cleaver, Pearl Neal, Myrtle Tyler, Viola Tyler and Fannie Pettie. These  five women, known as our Five Pearls, sought to establish a new organization predicated on the precepts of Scholarship, Service, Sisterhood and Finer Womanhood.

Since its inception, the Sorority has chronicled a number of firsts. Zeta Phi Beta was the first  Greek-letter organization to charter a chapter in Africa (1948); to form  auxiliary groups; to centralize its operations in a national  headquarters; and to be constitutionally bound to a fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated. 

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated has a rich heritage and tradition. Zeta members  have provided the world examples of our dedication to our service  endeavors, of our commitment to scholarship and of our active practice  and cultivation of sisterly love, all while illustrating the epitome of Finer Womanhood.