It was Feb. 28, 1943, when Elizabeth Ann Harrison Garner founded a sorority for business and professional women, in Lansing, Michigan. She and her sister Violet Temple Lewis, who was the co-founder, organized 26 women to sign on the articles of incorporation, and thus a new sorority was born.
For my closing story for Black History Month 2024, let me just say, this happened 81 years ago, and on Saturday, Gammas from throughout the Eastern Region of Gamma Phi Delta Sorority, Inc., as well as Elizabeth Garner’s daughter, Beata Garner House of Sacramento, Calif., celebrated our 81st Founders Day. The celebration was a Zoom event, included the national president, Lenor R. Reese, and was ordered by the Eastern Region director, Phyllis A. Vessels. This event was hosted by the Eastern Region Historians; Lyndia Grant, chair; Rose Jackson, co-chair; and Connie Speight, committee secretary.
There were over 20 participants from throughout the Eastern region, with activities ranging from presentations to a candle lighting and poetry reading. Dr. Tonya Thames Taylor shared the life of Elizabeth Garner, and Rose Jackson played the role of Dr. Violet T. Lewis. Allow me to tell a bit of Elizabeth’s story.
Elizabeth Ann Harrison was the youngest of the six children of William David Harrison and Eva Brown Harrison. Born in October 1911 in Lima, Ohio. She attended Wilberforce University and later married James F. Garner, a pharmacy school graduate of Purdue University.
Violet T. Lewis, the founder of Lewis Business College and Elizabeth’s older sister, convinced their mother to allow her baby sister to move to Detroit to help Lewis with getting Lewis Business School up and running.
Elizabeth’s husband, James Garner, was pharmacist who went back to school at Wayne State University to become a doctor. After graduating, he received an offer from a doctor in Sacramento, California, to come and do his internship at Sacramento County Hospital (now known as University of California, Davis UCD).
Before Elizabeth left Detroit, Violet asked her if she would establish a sorority, which she agreed to do. On Feb. 28, 1943, the Phi Gamma Delta sorority was incorporated. The name was later changed to Gamma Phi Delta Sorority, Inc. — a business and professional sorority organized for women from two-year business schools or from the world of work.
Elizabeth and her husband moved to Sacramento and settled in downtown Sacramento. Shortly after arriving there, she founded a local chapter.
Elizabeth Garner applied for a teaching job in the Sacramento Unified School District but encountered extreme racism. She would later gain employment in the Del Paso Unified School District (now known as Twin Rivers School District). In 1946 they put a deposit down on a home. All was going well until the neighbors found out that they were Black and held a private meeting to block the sale.
They would purchase another home a few months later. Shortly after they moved in, Elizabeth Garner’s husband started his medical practice, but was then drafted into World War II.
After a tour in Germany and suffering an injury, he returned home to restart his practice. In 1956 the couple adopted a baby girl, naming her Beata Garner.
In 1956, Elizabeth had a difficult time securing consistent child care. She reached out to some of her friends and contacts to find out the process to create her own, private child care center, which she did successfully, called Playmate Nursery School. It began with 25 students and would grow to 40 students and included before- and after-school programs.
Elizabeth went on to become involved in the local chapter of the NAACP, the Board of Education, The Sacramento Economic Opportunity Council and several other organizations. She had to drive from place to place, to help young working parents and the local community. Because of the notoriety she had gained in her work, Elizabeth Garner was selected to serve on several task forces. One in particular was with the governor of California, Edmund Gerald “Pat” Brown. The other task force was with first lady Lady Bird Johnson. She was selected to head up one of the first Head Start programs in this country. That program was later taken over by the Women’s Civic Improvement Home at WCIC.
In July 1964, Elizabeth’s life took a very tragic turn. She was in a major automobile accident and suffered numerous injuries. She was taken to Stanford Medical Center for treatment and returned home a month later.
Never fully recovering, Elizabeth continued her fight for equal opportunity for all people. In July 1965, doctors discovered that her cancer had gotten worse. Elizabeth Ann Harrison Garner passed from cancer in July 1965. Special thanks to Elizabeth Garner’s daughter, Beata Garner House, for providing this history.
Lyndia Grant is a speaker/writer living in the D.C. area. Her radio show, “Think on These Things,” airs Fridays at 6 p.m. on 1340 AM (WYCB), a Radio One station. To reach Grant, visit her website, www.lyndiagrant.com, email lyndiagrantshowdc@gmail.com or call 240-602-6295. Follow her on Twitter @LyndiaGrant and on Facebook.