Preserving Our History

As an organization that has already celebrated its centennial anniversary, Alpha Sigma Alpha has a rich history. AΣA celebrates and commemorates that history at its National Archives, located at Alpha Sigma Alpha National Headquarters. The documents, images and sorority artifacts housed in the National Archives provide an invaluable legacy of our strong, vibrant sisterhood and are vital to the continued promotion of that legacy through such publications as the Phoenix of Alpha Sigma Alpha and the Sorority’s history books and supplements.

Our location, staff and contents

The Alpha Sigma Alpha National Archives is supervised by the staff at Alpha Sigma Alpha National Headquarters. The archives provide secure storage for and access to more than 2,000 items that commemorate both the achievements and activities of the Sorority and its members. The archives seeks to preserve these materials and thus the memories that they represent.

Donations

The Alpha Sigma Alpha National Archives gratefully accepts donations from individual members, collegiate chapters and alumnae chapters that illustrate the purpose, activities and policies of the Sorority. Because the physical space dedicated for the Alpha Sigma Alpha National Archives is limited, however, it cannot house all Sorority memorabilia and members’ personal mementos. The archives is able to accept for preservation only those items deemed to have historical significance to the Sorority. It is, therefore, essential, that all items donated include documentation that includes the items’ description, place and date of origin, and the names of any members’ featured in images.


Items of Historical Significance: Definition

The Alpha Sigma Alpha National Archives collects, maintains, and preserves a wide variety of items determined to have historical significance for the Sorority. The phrase “items of historical significance” refers to those items related to the following: the national leadership of the Sorority, including the Founders; the governing members of the Sorority, including the national presidents; national convention; national bylaws and constitutions; and other persons, policies, and records as deemed appropriate by the staff at Alpha Sigma Alpha National Headquarters.


List of Items No Longer Accepted

Listed below are some of the items no longer accepted by the Alpha Sigma Alpha National Archives:

  • Pledge/New Member Manuals published after 1970
  • Issues of the Phoenix magazine published after 1940
  • Articles of clothing
  • Photographs lacking member identification
  • Bank Statements/records of member payments (please shred all financial records)
  • Meeting minutes of collegiate and alumnae chapters

 

Please contact Alpha Sigma Alpha Headquarters for help in determining whether your items fall within our collecting scope as defined by this document. If your items are not appropriate for the national repository, we may be able to suggest another location (a collegiate chapter, for example) for which they may have more value and may more appropriately be housed.