The National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa, Inc. (NSPDK) is an International African American professional sorority for women in the field of education. It was founded on May 23, 1923, in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Gladys Merritt Ross, a teacher in Jersey City, New Jersey, held an organizational meeting with other teachers on March 30, 1923 to discuss forming an educational sorority for African American women who were prohibited from joining existing organizations due to segregation. Phi Delta Kappa was officially incorporated on May 23, 1923, as a sorority for women in the field of education.
Its founders were Julia Asbury Barnes, Ella Wells Butler, Marguerite Gross, Florence Steele Hunt, Edna McConnell, Gladys Cannon Nunery, Gladys Merritt Ross, and Mildred Morris Williams. Because the founders were all minors, their parents and guardians became the sorority's trustees. Attorney J. Mercer Burrell helped the group to become incorporated.
In the 1940s, the sorority helped finance the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History and conducted subscriptions campaigns for The Negro History Bulletin. In the 1970s, the sorority formed a youth group called Xinos to support academic achievement, community service, and leadership amongst high school girls.
As of 2024, the sorority has 5,000 members. It is a member of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Phi Delta Kappa's national headquarters is at 8233 South King Drive in Chicago, Illinois.
Phi Delta Kappa's colors are scarlet and gold. Its newsletter is The Courier and its magazine is The Krinon.
As of July 2022, Phi Delta Kappa has 146 chapters. Following is a list of chapters, with active chapters indicated in bold and inactive chapters in italics.