Ethel Cuff Black

(1890–1977) Ethel was one of the founders of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She was elected the sorority’s first vice president and attended the Deltas’ first public event, the Woman Suffrage Parade in Washington, D.C., in March 1913. Prominent suffragist Mary Church Terrell lobbied on behalf of the Deltas to win them a place in the parade, where they were the only African American organization represented.

At Howard University, Ethel was chairwoman of the collegiate chapter of the YWCA. During college, she was also the vice-president of Alpha Kappa Alpha, but later voted to reorganize the sorority and formed Delta Sigma Theta with twenty-one other women. Due to illness she graduated Howard in 1915. Ethel was notably the first African-American teacher in Rochester, NY.