I would like to make a Proposal to create Stickers for Black Fraternities and Sororities

Question

I haven't seen any stickers for Black Fraternities and Sororities. I would like other Wikitree members to help support creating sticker for the following Fraternities and Sororities.

Under the search for creating a sticker I found this: 

If you would like a new Sticker, whether or not you are a Leader, propose it in G2G using the Stickers tag. Include your thoughts on what it would say and give examples of profiles you manage that you would place it on. If three or more other active members say that they would also use it on profiles they manage, and there aren't strong objections from the community, it can be created.

I've also just learned about Lula Vashti (Turley) Murphy Turley-1478. She was the president of the Women's Auxiliary of the church and was a founder of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and I feel she should have a sticker on her page for an organization she helped create . That should be reason enough. This is just one of thousands of our ancestors that has set a legacy for us to follow, and is still being practiced today.

Please reply with I support this proposal at some point in you answer.

Sororities

1908 - Alpha Kappa Alpha

1913 - Delta Sigma Theta

1920 - Zeta Phi Beta

1922 - Sigma Gamma Rho

1929 - Iota Phi Lambda

1942 - Eta Phi Beta

1942 - Tau Gamma Delta

1943 - Gamma Phi Delta

1962 - Zeta Delta Phi

2009 - Kappa Theta Epsilon

Fraternities

1775 - Prince Hall Freemasonry

1897 - Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World

1904 - Sigma Pi Phi

1906 - Alpha Phi Alpha

1911 - Kappa Alpha Psi

1911 - Omega Psi Phi

1914 - Phi Beta Sigma

1959 - Wine Psi Phi

1962 - Nu Gamma Alpha

1963 - Iota Phi Theta

1965 - Phi Eta Psi

1977 - MALIK Fraternity

1977 - Phi Delta Psi

1979 - Sigma Phi Rho

1985 - Delta Psi Chi

1986 - Beta Phi Pi 

1989 - Megisté Areté (Christian)

1994 - Phi Rho Eta

And any other Black Fraternities and Sororities in the future.

David Anthony Taylor

Comments

Possibly because no one asked for them until now.

I known there are categories for Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, and Zeta Phi Beta, but no stickers. Having created Category:Delta Sigma Theta Sorority back in 2020, I can testify that there has not been a groundswell of interest in the sororities within WikiTree, although I know they are very important in the Black community, and I expect interest to grow.

There is a procedure for requesting a new sticker, by proposing it here in G2G. I believe that it requires at least three members indicating that they would like to use the sticker. There might be a notion of using Template:Society Member as the base for a sorority sticker, but I'm not convinced that's an ideal fit.

You might want to revise your question to make it read like a proposal for a sticker. Include some ideas about what the text should say, what the image(s) should be, and whether it should add the profile to a category.

---

I looked at the Society Member template and didn't see how it would fit for Sororities.

Some while ago I created an image for Alpha Kappa Alpha that might fit a sticker template for that Sorority, if it is decided to have such.

Right now it is simply an image in a biography.

---

Thanks  Ellen Smith for your great feedback.

David Anthony Taylor

---

 Melanie Paul I love your image for Alpha Kappa Alpha. I hope this can be used as a sticker.

David Anthony Taylor

---

When requesting new stickers, members are asked to give examples of profiles they would use them on: see https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Stickers#Creation_and_Editing. This should be done for each sticker you would like created.

---

Lucy Diggs Slowe cofounded, and served as first president of, Alpha Kappa Alpha.  (It is her profile where the image I created is used.)

---

Michael Cayley is Lula Vashti (Turley) Murphy Turley-1478 not a valid profile for a sticker?

My cousin Noliwe Hill has listed the following:

Kelly-21228
Callis-226
Boudreaux-327
Bultman-263
Caperton-213
French-12667
Jones-115197
Mossell-2
Murphy-23267

---

In a follow up for Ellen, I agree that the Society Member sticker may be a complicated for this usage. Perhaps a new, and simple, "Social Organization" sticker could be created that will fit all fraternities and sororities?

Something like:
{{Social Organization
|organization=Alpha Kappa Alpha
|image=ADWP-959.png
}}

---

Sounds good to me.  What we'd then need is free-to-use public domain images for each Sorority and Fraternity.

---

 I like This.

---

Steve, a social organization sticker would be amazing! We would use it frequently for the US Black Heritage Project.

---

Note that Freemasonry, explicitly including Prince Hall Freeasonry (a group on David's list), is one of the organizations currently configured in the Society Member template. I think I recall that that template was initially set up for lineage societies, but instructions were given indicating that a number of other organizations that would be considered "social organizations" should use the same template, rather than creating new stickers.

---

Did we get a decision on whether we can use the Society Member sticker for fraternities and sororities or whether we needed a new template? We have descendants begging for these stickers for USBH. Thanks!

---

I have images for many of them (not all, because rabbits) on my space page. 
IF the template (new or amended) is approved, and an image is required that I have not yet created, please let me know and I'll get back to working on them.

---

Thanks, Melanie!

Answer 1

Great idea!  My daughter in law is related to Turley-1478.  She was a co-founder of Delta Sigma Theta.

Personally, I would have never suggested this.  It's hard enough just researching for our personal tree and then creating/updating information onto Wikitree and Find A Grave!

I definitely support this idea.

Comments

Thank you so much  Anita Alexander for your support. Im sure your Daughter-in-law family would be very proud to place that sticker on her profile. I'm thinking of of the hard work and obstacles she had to endure to accomplish that. This historical story and events need to be told and honored,  these stickers may seem to be small to some but a major victory to others.

David Anthony Taylor

---

 Anita Alexander I hope you don't mind me use Lula Vashti (Turley) Murphy Turley-1478 as an example of why this topic is so important. I can remove her profile information from my proposal request if you like. I just think she's a perfect person to Profile in this case.

David Anthony Taylor

---

Absolutely, no problem!

Answer 2

Thank you David for your great proposal. As you mentioned, many Notables in the USBH we're officers, members, and founding members of fraternities and sororities. I support this proposal! Here are Bio's that would benefit:

Kelly-21228

Callis-226

Boudreaux-327

Bultman-263

Caperton-213

French-12667

Jones-115197

Mossell-2

Murphy-23267

Answer 3

Wow, wonderful proposal, I support this. Thank you David Anthony Taylor.

Comments

 Shelley Murphy and Noliwe Hill thanks for the support, this is one of those thing that it will take a village to accomplish, and you both are in my village.

Thanks

David Anthony Taylor

Answer 4

At first glance, I wasn't sure if I supported this proposal or not. There are also categories but not stickers for Greek Fraternities and Sororities.

Categories are great, but stickers give that little bit of extra to a profile by adding an image.

The more I think about the proposal, the more I support the idea presented here for stickers for the Black Fraternities and Sororities. Question is would you use one generic image or would you want to try to have different images for the different organizations?

Comments

Emily, if it were a template similar to the migrating/non-migrating ancestor, occupation, and religion templates, then the images would be user supplied.

Answer 5

Great idea!  I don't want to get "off topic" but why not create categories to go along with the stickers?  In fact, in some cases, adding a sticker automatically creates a category!

Image a WikiTreer who is a Delta Sigma Theta member being able to hit the "My Connections" button on top of the screen and seeing all the connections pop up!

Comments

I think, due to the number of possibilities, the category should be separate from the sticker/template.

---

We do have categories already under African-American History Organizations and we will be happy to add any we've missed.

You can see the cats we already have here:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:African-American_Organizations

---

Yes, thank you!  That’s what I’m talking about!  

Apologies for the detour:  We now return you to our regularly scheduled topic of discussion…

Answer 6

Hi David, We have talked for some time in USBH about creating stickers for the Black fraternities and sororities, but what has held us back is the images. We have to be very careful about using images that are copyright free.

Comments

I'll work on that and have an answer for you tomorrow for sure. And by the way Emma do you sleep? LOL

David Anthony Taylor

---

Emma, I am happy to attempt to do images similar to the one I did for Alpha Kappa Alpha, because I could not use their actual image.  (I used their colours, the basic shape of the shield, and the motto.)

---

Melanie, as always you are a godsend. I should have contacted you about this already! As you know, images are always what stops me from moving forward.

David, I sleep sometimes :-)

---

I'll see what I can do, then.  Some of their shields and crests are rather "involved", so it'd be my best representation to where it's obvious what is meant, without it being a direct copy.  Especially given our sticker images are mostly at 50 pixels by 50 pixels (although images can go a wee bit higher) - and too much detail means the image is a blob.  
It may be that some of them will be a basic shield with - maybe - the Greek letters, in as close to their colours as I can.
The crests that actually have things such as helmets and suchlike above and below the shield - those would most likely render down as a blob.  Similarly with any that use a wreath to surround.  (Although I haven't done too badly with some country/state/county shields.)
I shall go ponder, as a respite from trying to read badly written census records!

---

In anticipation, I have created a space page specifically for these images, so future WikiTreers can find them easily, instead of having to hunt them down.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:SororityAndFraternityImages

I've also finished another image .. for Eta Phi Beta.  (Please remember, these are not meant to be duplicates of the originals, but are meant as an homage to the organisations, and the members thereof, in such a way the Sorority, or Fraternity, would be recognised by the image.  (Well, that's my hope, anyway.))

 Sticker size 

There are elements of the original missing from my image (specifically the ribbon beneath the shield, and the band between the shield and the crown), because it would have just been a blob if I'd tried to retain them.

---

Could we not contact those organizations…maybe through some WikiTree-er who is a member…, explain what we want to use if for and ask their permission? I would think they might be very happy to have attention brought to their members, past and present, and their organization.

---

I have had ZERO responses from those I contacted.

Answer 7

This should be standardized, and rather than have an artificial emulation of the organization's intended arms, we could use the Greek letter abbreviation followed by the official organization name or vice-versa as the standard, with the Greek letters in bold.

Adding colors or shields runs the risk of users thinking that the affiliation is either fake or else thinking it must be about something else.

Other than that, I support this proposal, and think all collegiate and other service or honor societies or pledge societies (e.g., Psi Chi) would want representation by stickers and categories.