Arizona Cleaver Stemons Explained

Arizona Cleaver Stemons
Birth Date:1898
Birth Place:Pike County, Missouri
Death Date:March 1980
Death Place: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

Arizona Leedonia Cleaver was born in Pike County, Missouri,[1] and raised in Hannibal, Missouri.[2] [3]

Career

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

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.[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.[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]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: African-American sorority celebrates legacy of founder in her hometown of Hannibal. Thompson. Alyse. August 8, 2015. Herald-Whig. en. 2020-02-07.
  2. Web site: Forging a Path for African-American Women: Arizona Leedonia Cleaver Stemons. 2016-09-26. Missouri Highway 36. en-US. 2020-02-07.
  3. Book: Parks, Gregory. Black Greek-letter Organizations in the Twenty-First Century: Our Fight Has Just Begun. 2008-06-13. University Press of Kentucky. 978-0-8131-7295-8. 109. en.
  4. News: Five Girls, 'Pearls', Founded Zeta at Howard. January 24, 1970. Baltimore Afro American. February 7, 2020. NewspaperArchive.com.
  5. Web site: Founders & First Initiates. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.. en-US. 2020-02-07.
  6. News: Founder Arizona Stemons Honored at Zeta Celebration. January 27, 1962. Baltimore Afro American. February 7, 2020. 8. NewspaperArchive.com.
  7. News: Zetas Observe Founders' Day. 1943-02-06. The Pittsburgh Courier. 2020-02-07. 10. Newspapers.com.
  8. News: Zeta Founder in Limelight. 1952-03-22. The Huntsville Mirror. 2020-02-07. 3. Newspapers.com.
  9. News: Zeta Hierarchy. 1967-01-28. The Pittsburgh Courier. 2020-02-07. 10. Newspapers.com.
  10. News: Bowman. Barbara. Crisis in a Black Sorority. 1970-08-10. The Los Angeles Times. 2020-02-07. 11. Newspapers.com.
  11. News: Sorority Sets Founders' Day Dinner Meet. 1965-01-22. Daily Press. 2020-02-07. 14. Newspapers.com.
  12. News: South Central Regional of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Success in Nashville. 1952-04-26. The Huntsville Mirror. 2020-02-07. 3. Newspapers.com.
  13. News: Parents are Held for Beating their 3-year-old Girl. 1949-05-25. The Daily News. 2020-02-07. 5. Newspapers.com.
  14. Web site: Philadelphia City Council approves street renaming in honor of Zeta Phi Beta founder, Arizona C. Stemons. 2019-03-29. The Philadelphia Sunday Sun. en-US. 2020-02-07.
  15. Web site: Register of the Papers of James Samuel Stemons. Bourque. Monique. August 1990. Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies. 2020-02-07.
  16. Web site: James Samuel Stemons Exhibit. Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Preserving American Freedom. 2020-02-07.
  17. News: Stemons (obituary listing). 1980-04-19. The Philadelphia Inquirer. 2020-02-07. 3. Newspapers.com.
  18. Web site: Willow Street Park renamed after Douglass graduate/sorority founder Stemons. Darr. Bev. April 11, 2016. Hannibal Courier-Post. en. 2020-02-07.
  19. Web site: File #: 190192. City of Philadelphia. 2020-02-07.
  20. Web site: Philadelphia City Council Approves Resolution To Name Street After Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Co-Founder. Atwell. Ashleigh. Blavity News & Politics. en. 2020-02-07.
  21. Web site: Triumphant Founder Arizona Cleaver Stemons $100,000 Centennial Scholarship. DeElena. Heather. June 6, 2019. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated. en-US. 2020-02-07.
  22. Web site: Sistes of the Dove Centennial Year Scholarships. Zeta Phi Beta Psi Mu Zeta. en. 2020-02-07.

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