List of African-American fraternities

Prince Hall Freemasonry (PHA) is the first historically Black fraternal organization. It is worth mentioning that, Prince Hall Freemasonry does have an appendant order called CHI Rho Fraternity Inc., which is also known as the original Black Skulls and Cross Bones Fraternity. This ancient Masonic Greek lettered fraternity's roots can be traced as far back as 1792 in the United States. However, CHI Rho Fraternity Inc. (PHA) is an exclusive, by invitation-only appendant body of Freemasonry and not an independent fraternal organization. PHA is a special type of fraternal organization, separate and distinct from Greek fraternal organizations. The first of these was Alpha Kappa Nu at Indiana University in 1903. Wilberforce University is where Gamma Phi was established in 1905. Sixty miles away at Columbus, Ohio in March 1905, Pi Gamma Omicron was founded at Ohio State University (formation originally reported in the Chicago Defender in 1905). These organizations folded quickly without successfully establishing more than one college chapter each. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, established at Cornell University in December 1906, is the first Black intercollegiate fraternity (the first to have more than one college chapter). It still exists today.

Alpha Phi Alpha's success inspired the founding of other Black Greek intercollegiate organizations. Today, these organizations (fraternities and sororities) are known collectively as the National Panhellenic Council (NPHC), and emphasize public service and civil rights. Some non-NPHC Black fraternal organizations, such as the Swing Phi Swing and Groove Phi Groove, do not solely use Greek letters in their names.

The first Black professional Greek fraternity, Sigma Pi Phi, was established in Pennsylvania in 1904.

Early formation (attempted or not existing today)

Name	Year formation attempted	Incorporated	Collegiate	Greek lettered
Alpha Kappa Nu	1903	No	Yes	Yes
Pi Gamma Omicron	1905	No	Yes	Yes
Gamma Phi	1905	No	Yes	Yes
Gamma Tau	1934	No	Yes	Yes

Fraternities

Name	Founded	Incorporated	Collegiate	Greek lettered	NPHC
Prince Hall Freemasonry	1775	Yes	No	No	No
Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World	1897	Yes	No	No	No
Sigma Pi Phi	1904	Yes	No	Yes	No
Alpha Phi Alpha	1906	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kappa Alpha Psi	1911	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Omega Psi Phi	1911	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Phi Beta Sigma	1914	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sigma Rhomeo	1936	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Wine Psi Phi	1959	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Nu Gamma Alpha	1962	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Iota Phi Theta	1963	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Malik Sigma Psi (also known as MALIK Fraternity)	1977	Yes	Yes	No	No
Phi Delta Psi	1977	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Sigma Phi Rho	1979	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Delta Psi Chi Swordsmen	1985	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Megisté Areté (Christian)	1989	Yes	Yes	No	No
Phi Rho Eta	1994	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

Sororities

Name	Founded	Incorporated	Collegiate	Greek lettered	NPHC
Alpha Kappa Alpha	1908	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Delta Sigma Theta	1913	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Zeta Phi Beta	1920	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sigma Gamma Rho	1922	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Iota Phi Lambda	1929	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Lambda Kappa Mu	1937	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Eta Phi Beta	1942	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Tau Gamma Delta	1942	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Gamma Phi Delta Sorority	1943	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Zeta Delta Phi	1962	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Omega Epsilon Rho Service Sorority	2009	Yes	Yes	Yes	No Other Name Founded Incorporated Collegiate Greek lettered NPHC Groove Phi Groove - males 1962 Yes Yes No No Swing Phi Swing - females 1969 Yes Yes No No Malika Kambe Umfazi - females 1995 Yes Yes No No See also National Pan-Hellenic Council Greek letter society effect on youth identity Notes