A Black Greek Connection: Lena Hillsman and Delta Sigma Theta

With the election of Kamala Harris as the next Vice President of the United States, both HBCUs (she went to Howard) and black sororities (she is an AKA) have been in the news lately. I’ve been exploring my Cooper/Cummings family’s historical relationships to HBCUs for a little while now, but we also have a historical connection to at least one black sorority: Delta Sigma Theta. In fact, one of our family members helped to found a new chapter!

Lena Mae Hillsman, shared courtesy of Delta Sigma Theta, Beta Psi Chapter

 

Lena Mae Hillsman was born about 1916 in Georgia, to Fred Hillsman and Cherrye Ann Worthen. By 1920, however, she and her mother were living in Portland, Oregon, with her maternal grandmother, Masonia (Scott) Worthen, and several of her mother’s brothers. From early on, she was involved in her community, through what seem to be her two social hubs: Mt. Olivet Baptist Church and the Williams Avenue YWCA. Over the years, she participated in the Baptist Young People’s Union, attended the Y’s Girl Reserve summer camp, took on a leadership position in Soldiers of Christ, and grew to lead summer classes for young girls at the Y and serve as the advisor to their Junior American Citizens club. She even presented a paper during the Young People’s program at the Oregon Federation of Colored Women’s annual conference one year. In the midst of all of this, she took the time to attend the University of Oregon, graduating in 1939 with a degree in Psychology. It’s clear she cared about people and wanted to understand and serve her community.

Perhaps that explains why she became involved with Delta Sigma Theta, though whether she sought them out, was directed towards them, or they took notice of her and reached out, I don't know. What I do know is that on May 24, 1941, Lena was inducted into the Alpha Omicron chapter of the sorority, in Seattle, Washington. 

 

The Northwest Enterprise, 13 June 1941, P4

Why Seattle? Well, Portland didn’t have its own chapter. In fact, there were no chapters in the state of Oregon at all. Alpha Omicron, chartered in Seattle in 1933, was, per their website, the “first Black Greek Letter Organization in the Pacific-Northwest” and seems to still have been the only game in town 8 years later.  Interested women from Portland simply joined this chapter, it seems, and then meetings were, at least occasionally, held in their own home city.

But this situation wasn’t destined to last. Per portlanddeltas.org, three of the Oregon sorors – Hattie Fannings Gaskin, Geneva Turner Jordan, and Lucille Triplett Morgan – began discussing the idea of starting a chapter closer to home sometime in the late 1930s or early 1940s. And on March 25, 1945, they made it so, chartering the Beta Psi chapter in Portland alongside 7 other women. Lena Hillsman was among them.

They took a photo to mark the occasion, dressed to impress and beaming, though one of the founding members could not be present, as she had been deployed overseas via the Red Cross (World War II was still raging). Instead, a California soror sat in for her.

Lena stands in the back row, third from the left. Seated just in front of her is Mabel Lockett Martin, who had officiated the ceremony.

Used courtesy of the Portland Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

So what did Lena do as a member of Delta Sigma Theta, Beta Psi chapter? And how involved was she in the organization overall? I’ll share what I know in my next post.

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Do we have any other Black Greeks in the Cooper Cummings family, past or present? Let me know!