One Hundred Years of Sigma Tau Delta

An Abbreviated History:

• Judson Q. Owen, English club sponsor at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, SD, nationalized the Sigma Tau Delta Professional English Fraternity on May 1, 1924.
• The Society, said Professor Owen, was designed to “promote the mastery of written expression, encourage worthwhile reading, and foster a spirit of fellowship among those specializing in the English language and literature.” Its motto corresponded symbolically to the Greek letters: Sincerity, Truth, Design.
• Of the seven original chapters, Dakota Wesleyan University (Alpha chapter) and Georgetown College (Eta Alpha chapter) are still active.
• Delegates at the first convention on April 3-4, 1925, in Des Moines, IA, at the Hotel Fort Des Moines represented thirty-one chapters; they adopted a constitution and elected national officers.
• Several eponymous scholarships and awards commemorate such inaugural leaders as Judson Q. Owen, P. C. Somerville, and Frederic Fadner.
• In 1928, the second convention took place in Kansas City, MO. By that time, seventy-one chapters had been chartered.
• A third convention, on December 28-30, 1931, was held at the University of Wisconsin in conjunction with the Modern Language Association convention. The 1931 Convention established seven regions and Regents to serve them.
• Student Representatives have been serving on the Sigma Tau Delta Board of Directors since 1931!
• With restrictions on travel due to World War II, regional conventions took the place of a national convention. The Society’s limited income could be invested in one of its largest expenses, publishing and distributing the Sigma Tau Delta Rectangle, providing an outlet for members’ writing since 1931. Owen would serve as the journal’s editor for nearly four decades.
• In a brief history of the organization published in 1968, Owen reported 142 active chapters and 39 inactive chapters; he estimated total membership at 18,000.
• Nelson James became Executive Secretary and Editor for the Rectangle in 1969 after Owen’s death. A fire in 1970 (rumor places the blame on Owen’s widow) resulted in the loss of a significant portion of the Society’s records.
• The fourth national convention wouldn’t occur until 1970, when it would reemerge at Northern Illinois University—to this day, the headquarters for the Society. This reorganizational convention included the adoption of a new constitution, a vote to apply for membership in the American Association of College Honor Societies (now the ACHS), and the election of new Board members and affiliates. Saul Bellow read from Henderson, the Rain King, establishing the tradition of prominent authors as convention speakers.
• From 1970 on, the biennial convention became the norm, with the event often held on chapters’ college campuses. The annual convention as we know it today began in Memphis in 1994.
• Between 1970 and 1998, the Rectangle was published semiannually. Only in 1998 would the journal become an annual publication. A separate publication for critical writing, the Sigma Tau Delta Review, joined the Rectangle in 2007.
• By 1983, William C. Johnson stepped into what would become a four-decades-long role as Executive Director. The 1980s saw the Society double in size, and Sigma Tau Delta reimagined itself as the international English honor society. In 1987, Isabel Sparks was the first woman elected to serve as president.
• At its 75^th anniversary, Sigma Tau Delta had more than 550 active chapters; in 2022-23, our number of active chapters reached 638, with more than 6,500 members inducted each year.
• Sigma Tau Delta, the National English Honor Society (the high school subsidiary of Sigma Tau Delta, launched in 2005), and English Language Arts Honor Society (our newly-minted middle school affiliate, launched in 2023): Together, the English Honor Societies continue to foster the vision Judson Q. Owen set forth a century ago.

Sigma Tau Delta Leadership

Judson Q. Owen Executive Secretary (1924-1969)	E. Nelson James, PhD Executive Secretary (1970-1982)
William C. Johnson, PhD Executive Secretary (1982-1988) Executive Director (1988-2022)	Matt Hilnak, JD Executive Director (2022-Present)