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	* [https://palni.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/SigmaGammaRho/id/527/rec/1 A 1972 photograph of five of the Sigma Gamma Rho founders], including Little, from Butler University Digital Collections		* [https://palni.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/SigmaGammaRho/id/527/rec/1 A 1972 photograph of five of the Sigma Gamma Rho founders], including Little, from Butler University Digital Collections
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{{Short description|American educator and sorority co-founder}}{{Infobox person
| name = Mary Lou Allison Gardner Little
| image = MaryLouAllisonGardnerLittle1915.png
| alt = A young Black woman, hair parted center and dressed to nape, wearing a sailor-style collar
| caption = Mary Lou Allison, from the 1915 yearbook of Shortridge High School
| birth_date = November 2, 1896
| birth_place = Kentucky
| death_date = March 8, 1992
| death_place = Los Angeles, California
| occupation = Educator
| known_for = Primary founder of [[Sigma Gamma Rho]]<br/>Biennial Mary Lou Allison Loving Cup
}}

'''Mary Lou Allison Gardner Little''', previously '''Mary Lou Allison Little''', previously '''Mary Lou Allison''',<ref>''[https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/indiana/indianapolis/indianapolis-recorder/1931/11-21/page-6/ Sorority Holds Its Initiation]'', [[Indianapolis Recorder]], 21 Nov 1931</ref> (November 2, 1896 – March 8, 1992) was an American educator and the primary founder of the [[Sigma Gamma Rho|Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority]], as well as its first national president from 1925 to 1926.<ref name=":2" /> She taught in the [[Los Angeles Unified School District]] for 35 years through her retirement in 1967.<ref name=":1" />

Originally founded as a professional organization raising standards among teachers,<ref name=":2" /> the [[List of African-American fraternities|historically African American sorority]] broadened its focus and had 70,000 members in 400 chapters across the United States and the Caribbean by the time of her death.<ref name=":1" /> At each international biennial international meeting, Sigma Gamma Rho awards the Mary Lou Allison Loving Cup to its most outstanding chapter.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Mary Lou Allison |url=https://press.palni.org/omeka-s/s/sigmagammarhosorority/item/152 |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=The Centennial Anniversary of Sigma Gamma Rho: A Historical Look at the Sorority and Butler University}}</ref>

== Biography ==
Allison was born November 2, 1896 in [[Kentucky]], and moved with her parents to [[Indianapolis|Indianapolis, Indiana]].<ref name=":0">Parks, Gregory S. (2008). ''Black Greek-letter Organizations in the Twenty-First Century: Our Fight Has Just Begun''. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813172958. p. 127.</ref> After both their parents were killed in late 1899 or 1900, she was separated from her brother and raised by a family friend, Katie Johnson, in Indianapolis.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">Ross, L. C. (2019). ''The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities''. United States: Kensington Books. {{ISBN|9781575664910}}. p. 308.</ref> During high school, she had a scholarship to the [[Herron School of Art and Design|John Herron Art Institute]],<ref name=":3" /> and graduated from [[Shortridge High School]] in Indianapolis in 1915.<ref>Shortridge High School, ''[https://www.digitalindy.org/digital/collection/shs/id/2344 Annual]'' (1915 yearbook): 91. via Digital Indy.</ref>

In 1918, Allison earned her teaching certificate in 1918 from Indianapolis Normal School.<ref>{{Citation |last=McClure |first=Stephanie M. |title=. College Student Satisfaction and Greek Organization Membership |date=2011-02-18 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.14325/mississippi/9781604739213.003.0015 |work=Black Greek-Letter Organizations 2.0 |pages=294–306 |access-date=2023-04-18 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi|doi=10.14325/mississippi/9781604739213.003.0015 |isbn=9781604739213 }}</ref> She taught in Indianapolis from 1918 to 1925.<ref name=":3" />

In 1919, Allison began attending [[Butler University]] as a part-time student.<ref name=":2" /> In 1922, she gathered a group of her friends at her home to discuss forming a sorority that would raise the standard for teachers, by encouraging them to go beyond their normal school training and pursue undergraduate degrees.<ref name=":3" />

On November 12, 1922, Allison and six of her best friends created Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority,<ref>Hughey, M. W., Parks, G. S. (n.d.). A Pledge with Purpose: Black Sororities and Fraternities and the Fight for Equality. United Kingdom: NYU Press.</ref> an organization for African American educated women to come together and form a sisterhood. The other founders were Vivian White Marbury,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vivian Irene White Marbury |url=https://www.womensactivism.nyc/stories/7731 |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=Women's Activism NYC}}</ref> Hattie Mae Dulin Redford, Dorothy Hanley Whiteside, Nannie Mae Ghan Johnson, Bessie Rhodes Martin and Cubena McClure.<ref>''[https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/indiana/indianapolis/indianapolis-recorder/1957/11-09/page-8/ Sigma Women Stress Rededication In Observance of Founders' Week]'', [[Indianapolis Recorder]], 9 Nov 1957, </ref>

Soon after founding the organization, Allison realized she wanted to appeal to more women worldwide. She became the organization's first national president (Grand Basileus) from 1925 until 1926, wrote its pledge, and helped evolve into a national community service sorority. In 1929, the sorority became incorporated into the national collegiate sorority, establishing the Alpha Chapter on Butler campus.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=Becoming a College Sorority |url=https://press.palni.org/omeka-s/s/SigmaGammaRhoSorority/page/BecomingACollegeSorority |access-date=2023-04-19 |website=The Centennial Anniversary of Sigma Gamma Rho: A Historical Look at the Sorority and Butler University |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":2" />

In 1928, she moved to [[Los Angeles]], California with her first husband Wilford Gardner,<ref name=":0" /> where she enrolled at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> After becoming a widow, she married Roy Little in 1949. They later divorced.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=1992-03-12 |title=Mary Little; Sorority Founder |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-12-mn-5084-story.html |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Little taught in the Los Angeles school system for 35 years and retired in 1967.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=April 19, 2023 |title=Mary Lou Allison Gardner Little |url=https://digital.palni.edu/digital/collection/SigmaGammaRho/id/188/ |access-date=2023-04-19 |website=Butler University Digital Collections}}</ref>

Little died in March of 1992, aged 95, at her home in Los Angeles.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==

* [https://palni.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/SigmaGammaRho/id/527/rec/1 A 1972 photograph of five of the Sigma Gamma Rho founders], including Little, from Butler University Digital Collections
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{{Portal bar|Biography|Education|Indiana|Kentucky|Los Angeles}}
[[Category:Women founders]]
[[Category:Educators from Indiana]]
[[Category:1896 births]]
[[Category:1992 deaths]]
[[Category:Educators from California]]
[[Category:Butler University alumni]]
[[Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni]]
[[Category:Educators from Kentucky]]
[[Category:African-American schoolteachers]]
[[Category:19th-century African-American women]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American women]]

Mary Lou Allison Gardner Little - Revision history

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