Arizona Cleaver Stemons
Arizona Cleaver Stemons | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1898 Pike County, Missouri |
| Died | March 1980 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality | American |
Arizona Cleaver Stemons (1898 – March 1980), born Arizona Leedonia Cleaver, was an American social worker. While she was a student at Howard University in 1920, she was one of the five founding members of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, and its first president.
Early life
[edit]Arizona Leedonia Cleaver was born in Pike County, Missouri,[1] and raised in Hannibal, Missouri.[2][3]
Career
[edit]Arizona Cleaver was one of the "Five Pearls", the founding members of Zeta Phi Beta, when it began at Howard University in 1920.[4] She was the sorority's first chapter president, and its first Grand Basileus (national president).[5][6] She organized the Philadelphia graduate chapter of Zeta, and remained active nationally as the sorority's first president emerita for several decades,[7][8][9] and was a popular speaker at Zeta events into her seventies.[10][11] "This country of ours," she said in a speech in 1952, "must oppose movements that divide the races and seek an economy that will feed, clothe, and house the nation, without regard to race, creed, or national origin."[12] After 1933 she worked as a social worker in Philadelphia, working with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children[13] and for the city's Department of Public Welfare.[14]
Personal life and legacy
[edit]In 1928, Arizona Cleaver became the third wife of James Samuel Stemons, a writer and union organizer.[15] James Stemons died in 1959.[16] Arizona Cleaver Stemons died in March 1980, aged 81 years, in Philadelphia.[3][17]
The Philadelphia graduate chapter of Zeta took ownership of her home after her death, and continues to maintain the property. In 2015, a new monument was placed at her gravesite in Eden Cemetery near Philadelphia, by the sorority, and a historical marker about Stemons was placed near the site of her high school in Hannibal. In 2016, a park in Hannibal was renamed the Douglass School/Arizona Cleaver Stemons Park.[18] In 2019, to mark the centennial of Zeta Phi Beta, a street in Philadelphia was renamed Arizona C. Stemons Way.[14][19][20] Also in 2019, the Zeta Phi Beta sorority announced a $100,000 scholarship named the Triumphant Founder Arizona C. Stemons Centennial Scholarship.[21] There are several other scholarships named for Stemons.[22]
References
[edit]- ^ Thompson, Alyse (August 8, 2015). "African-American sorority celebrates legacy of founder in her hometown of Hannibal". Herald-Whig. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- ^ "Forging a Path for African-American Women: Arizona Leedonia Cleaver Stemons". Missouri Highway 36. 2016-09-26. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- ^ a b Parks, Gregory (2008-06-13). Black Greek-letter Organizations in the Twenty-First Century: Our Fight Has Just Begun. University Press of Kentucky. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-8131-7295-8.
- ^ "Five Girls, 'Pearls', Founded Zeta at Howard". Baltimore Afro American. January 24, 1970. Retrieved February 7, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
- ^ "Founders & First Initiates". Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- ^ "Founder Arizona Stemons Honored at Zeta Celebration". Baltimore Afro American. January 27, 1962. p. 8. Retrieved February 7, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
- ^ "Zetas Observe Founders' Day". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1943-02-06. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-02-07 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Zeta Founder in Limelight". The Huntsville Mirror. 1952-03-22. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-02-07 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Zeta Hierarchy". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1967-01-28. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-02-07 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Bowman, Barbara (1970-08-10). "Crisis in a Black Sorority". The Los Angeles Times. p. 11. Retrieved 2020-02-07 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Sorority Sets Founders' Day Dinner Meet". Daily Press. 1965-01-22. p. 14. Retrieved 2020-02-07 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "South Central Regional of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Success in Nashville". The Huntsville Mirror. 1952-04-26. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-02-07 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Parents are Held for Beating their 3-year-old Girl". The Daily News. 1949-05-25. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-02-07 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Philadelphia City Council approves street renaming in honor of Zeta Phi Beta founder, Arizona C. Stemons". The Philadelphia Sunday Sun. 2019-03-29. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- ^ Bourque, Monique (August 1990). "Register of the Papers of James Samuel Stemons". Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- ^ "James Samuel Stemons Exhibit". Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Preserving American Freedom. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- ^ "Stemons (obituary listing)". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1980-04-19. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-02-07 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Darr, Bev (April 11, 2016). "Willow Street Park renamed after Douglass graduate/sorority founder Stemons". Hannibal Courier-Post. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- ^ "File #: 190192". City of Philadelphia. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- ^ Atwell, Ashleigh. "Philadelphia City Council Approves Resolution To Name Street After Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Co-Founder". Blavity News & Politics. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- ^ DeElena, Heather (June 6, 2019). "Triumphant Founder Arizona Cleaver Stemons $100,000 Centennial Scholarship". Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- ^ "Sistes of the Dove Centennial Year Scholarships". Zeta Phi Beta Psi Mu Zeta. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
