Charlottesville has undergone some major transformations in the past eight decades. Schools have been desegregated. Neighborhoods have changed. The population has increased, as has traffic.

Josephine Lightfoot Whitsett, 84, has seen it all. Whitsett, who lives in the same house on Page Street in which she was born, worked as an educator in the city school system for nearly four decades and remains active in the community both through her public service sorority - Delta Sigma Theta - and her church - Ebenezer Baptist on Sixth Street.“I can’t even fathom the number of lives she has touched,” said Jacqueline Estes, who attended city schools and has taught at Charlottesville High School for 29 years. “She’s made a big impact across   more »

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority celebrated the 70th anniversary of its Knoxville alumnae chapter Dec. 1 at Mount Calvary Baptist Church. The large crowd in attendance was royally treated to a dynamic speech and delicious food at the reception following the program.

The featured honoree was Beulah Warren Sinclair, who is the last surviving member who helped to organize the sorority here in 1937. She and seven other outstanding young women of the city saw the need for a local chapter and sought a charter from the national organization, which was then 24 years old. It had been established at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Jan. 13, 1913.   more »

Vineyard Court Nursing Center residents were just getting started Saturday morning as the local Delta Academy girls from Hunt Intermediate and Lee Middle schools caroled them into the noon hour.

“This is something we always try to do with the girls at different nursing homes to show them that Christmas is more than just the commercialism of buying gifts. It's a time to think of others and give of yourself - especially to those who most need it,” said group leader and local attorney Monique Montgomery.

The group of about 80 girls ages 11 to 14 is a mentoring program in the local schools sponsored by national sorority Delta Sigma Theta.

But the girls aren't the only ones who get something tangible from their holiday public service experience.

Columbus native Victor Jones stood by the wheelchair of his 73-year-old mother, Gladys, and   more »

The Elk Grove Alumnae Chapter will present the third annual Crimson & Cream Fantasy on New Year's Eve at the Holiday Inn Express, Stockton Boulevard at Highway 99, Elk Grove. The 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. event is themed "New York, New York, a Delta State of Mind." Ensembles in crimson and cream, the sorority colors, are encouraged at the black tie-optional event, which will include dancing and a champagne breakfast along with a toast to 2008.

Admission is $75 per person. Lillie Campbell and Jackie Webster are co-chairwomen. Call Campbell at   more »

Carol Dexter, who was the catalyst for the chapter's formation in Jamaica and immediate past president, learned of the sorority while attending Spelman College in Atlanta. "I was very interested in it but I did not pledge," she explained. Unlike the perception that college sororities are all about partying, Dexter was quick to highlight the difference with Delta: "It is steeped in community service. That's how it was born and how it continues to be."

A traditional African American sorority that began in 1913 in the United States, it was founded by 22 undergraduates at Howard University. These young women wanted to promote academic excellence and provide assistance to persons in need.

Dexter told Flair that on Spelman campus, the members of Delta   more »