Delilah Guild

The Glamorous Rise of Delilah Guild Thompson

Gamma Gamma Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

By 1942, Atlanta knew her name. But Chicago never forgot it.

Long before she was “Delilah G. Thompson of Pasadena,” the poised, pearls-and-podiums soror who helped launch a whole new chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha out West, she was Delilah Guild of the South Side—a society darling raised in Chicago’s elite circles and destined for something big.

In 1938, she boarded a train to Morris Brown College, armed with two things: Englewood High School polish and a suitcase packed with ambition. She didn't just arrive in Atlanta—she swept through like a northern breeze, elegant and undeniable. By sophomore year, she was the talk of campus. By junior year, she was Miss Kappa Alpha Psi, reigning over homecoming with charm that stole the press.

But it wasn’t just crowns and corsages. Delilah was already rocking ivy—Alpha Kappa Alpha ivy. Before Gamma Gamma was even on the books, Delilah was that girl: a certified Soror navigating pre-charter days with sisterhood in her stride. When the chapter finally bloomed in January 1942, she wasn’t just there. She was front row—one of six charter queens who planted AKA roots deep in Morris Brown soil.

And she didn’t stop there.

A few months later, she swapped her green and pink campus sashes for a bridal veil, marrying Navy man Stanley Chester Rich. Their union took her west to California, where palm trees replaced pecans, and Delilah helped sow sisterhood again. In Pasadena, she became a founding force in Eta Lambda Omega, linking the Far Western Region to the South Atlantic through one woman’s sorority legacy.

Throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s, she was still in the papers—still dazzling. A style show here. A program chair is there. Always dressed. Always giving. Always active.

When she passed in 2007, Delilah left behind more than voter records and city directories. She left a trail of evidence—that Black women didn’t just witness history, they built it. In classrooms and chapter meetings, in line at the registrar or at the podium of a founder’s day program, Delilah Guild Thompson made every moment sparkle.

VINE TRIVIA:

Which chapter did Delilah help launch after Gamma Gamma?
A) Mu Omega (Atlanta)
B) Psi (University of Pennsylvania)
C) Eta Lambda Omega (Pasadena)
D) Xi Omega (DC)

✿ Hint: It bloomed in California, just like her.