BOOK REVI
The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities. by Brother Lawrence C. Ross, Jr. (Kensington Books. ISBN 1-575666-491-7.) Reviewed by Brother Harry B. Dunbar
rother Ross has given us a significant book. It fills a substantial gap in the history of the black Greek-letter organizations in this country. The Divine Nine is a holistic look at the black fraternity and sorority movement. This reviewer knows of no other such book. Ross devotes a separate chapter to each of the following fraternities and sororities: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.; Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.; Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.; Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.; Iota PhiTheta Fraternity, Inc;Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Each chapter consists of a brief narrative of the facts and the chronology of the founding and development of the fraternity or sorority being profiled, with emphasis on the personalities involved. Each chapter includes a "...Quick Question and Answer With...," an interview in which the author poses a standard set of questions to a member of a chapter of the sorority or fraternity. The fourteen
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questions are designed to create a portrait of the chapter, its members and its history. Included are queries which elicit information about the members of that chapter, past and present, who have distinguished, or are distinguishing themselves within the organization or in life beyond it. Also included are questions about activities in which the chapter has engaged and the vision which the chapter has for itself in the 21st century. Each chapter is replete with profiles of the founders of the fraternity or sorority, of famous or distinguished brothers or sorors of that chapter or of the sorority or fraternity itself. A roster of renowned members both living and deceased, is also included. This feature is one of the significant contributions of the book. In many instances the reader learns of men and women who were and are members of The Divine Nine, which fact may not be generally known. For example, Mary McCleod Bethune was a Delta. (It would have been useful to include information about where and when she was initiated.) We learn that Soror Dionne Warwick of Zeta Phi Beta THE SPHINX6 SUMMER 2000