Gamma Phi Beta is an international sorority founded on November 11, 1874 at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. Four women, Helen M. Dodge, Frances E. Haven, E. Adeline Curtis and Mary A. Bingham all worked to promote and establish what is now one of the largest and most well-respected sororities in the world.

In a society where women were discouraged from entering college due to their "insufficient brainpower" and "delicate health," four women from Syracuse University came together to form a society they named Gamma Phi Beta. Now, over 130 years later, we celebrate the vision and dedication of those women and all that have come since then.

Colleges and universities admitted few women students in the 1870s. In fact, administrators and faculty members gave women a rather reluctant welcome. They argued women had inferior minds and could not master mathematics or the classics. In this controversy, Dr. E. O. Haven, Syracuse University chancellor maintained that women should receive the advantages of higher education. He enrolled his daughter, Frances, at Syracuse.

Frances asked three friends to assist her in organizing a society. They sought the advice and help of Dr. Haven, their brothers, the faculty and members of two existing fraternities. The minutes of their first meeting on November 11, 1874 states: "Miss Dodge was appointed to draft a Constitution." Frances Haven and Helen Dodge agreed to ask Dr. Haven for a suitable name and motto. The Founders met again on November 16 for further decisions as recorded in the minutes: "The merits of the six mottos suggested by Chancellor Haven were discussed, and the motto of Gamma Phi Beta was unanimously accepted." They agreed on a badge design for which they had sought the help of Charles M. Cobb and Charles M. Moss, Frances' future husband. It was then in 1882, that Dr. Frank Smalley, a professor at Syracuse University coined the term "sorority," meaning sisterhood, specifically for Gamma Phi Beta, and it has thus been used ever since.

Gamma Phi Beta continues to grow and prosper. Gamma Phi Beta currently has over 160,000 initiated members, 120 active collegiate chapters and 171 alumnae groups across the United States as well as Canada and continues to grow.