The Stark County Alumnae Chapter was formed in response to a call for action by local sorors who resided in or around Canton, Ohio and affiliated with the Akron Canton Alumnae Chapter of the sorority. Although there was a good relationship among the sorors, there was growing apprehension on the part of the Stark County resident sorors that much of the focus of the sorority activities were on Akron
and Summit County issues. This was true primarily due to the fact that the great majority of sorors in the chapter had no connection to the Stark County Community nor the issues facing it. There was a consensus among the Stark County sorors that we needed a local chapter to be established to provide an opportunity for the sorors who resided in Stark County, which included Alliance, Canton and Massillon, to have a greater impact on social issues in those communities. They also wanted to have a means for African American women in the Stark County community who were interested in and eligible for membership in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, to have a local chapter with which to affiliate. Being visionaries, sorors chose to focus on a County Wide effort as opposed to a City-Wide Chapter so that concentrated efforts would be made to address the entire county as opposed to a specific City. Although National requirements require a certain amount of geographical distance between alumnae chapters, we did not want to be faced with a further separation down the line and therefore, determined that the entire county should be addressed in our application for a charter. A written request was mailed to all Deltas who were able to be located and were known to be originally from or currently residing in the Stark County area to join in the quest to have a new Midwest Regional Chapter established. Seventeen sorors, later known as the Charter Members of the Stark County Alumnae then set to work to determine the requirements needed to establish a new chapter. This research and work resulted in the receipt of a Charter from the Grand Chapter on Sunday, June 25, 1988. The receiving of the Charter was celebrated during a special ceremony held at St. Church in Canton, Ohio.
