Beta Mu Omega, the dream of thirteen graduate members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. residing in Fort Worth, Texas was chartered on May 2, 1936 at the home of Ethel Brackeen Long.  M. Butler Taylor, the 2nd South Central Regional Director, presided and was assisted by Soror Bedford of Houston, Texas.

The charter members were: Adlee Benton Trezevant, Mary F. Blanche, Ethel Brackeen Long, Ethelyn Burnett, Lois Carr Wooten, Hazel Harvey Peace, Alvin Logan, Margaret Mayfield Rivers, Rose Meggs Harris, Lady George Munchus Forde, Marguerite Pennybacker Anderson, Edna Sneed Busby and Helen Wallis Hannah. 

Beta Mu Omega has hosted three Regional Conferences (1944, 1963, and 1986).  The conference theme for 1944 was “Three Fronts – One Cause” and was presided over by Connie Yerwood Conner, 4th South Central Regional Director.  The 1963 conference was a joint effort with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Beta Tau Lambda chapter.  The conference theme was “Changing with the Changing Times: Moving Forward with our Youth” and was presided over by Odalie S. McDonald, 10th South Central Regional Director.  Mamie L. McKnight, 16th South Central Regional Director, presided over the 1986 conference. The 1986 Regional Conference was headquartered at the Worthington Hotel. 

A South Central Regional Director comes from among us, namely Deralyn Riles Davis, who ably served the South Central Region from 1974-1978.  Thirteen chapters were chartered during her administration.  During her tenure as the 14th Regional Director, she initiated programs that removed perceived barriers to participation. 

We have also had another first; Bertha DeGraffenreid Scott served as the first South Central Representative to the Educational Advancement Foundation.  She also served as the Regional Representative to the Constitution Committee, as the third Northeast Cluster Coordinator, and as a part of the South Central Regional Heritage Committee.

The first four Life Members of Beta Mu Omega were Sorors Adlee Benton Trezevant, Rose Meggs Harris, Rosa Lee Prince Denson and Hazel Harvey Peace.  These avant garde women obtained their Life Memberships in 1966 for $100.

The Beta Mu Omega chapter song was written in 1938, lyrics by Soror Eva Doris Moore and music composed by Soror Adlee Benton Trezevant. 

Beta Mu Omega our hearts, our hearts are twining

About the things for which you stand so true

You give a light that’s brightly shining

Shining bright for A-K-A

It’s you we love and we’ll be true to you.

Since its inception, Beta Mu Omega has provided numerous humanitarian services, volunteer hours and financial contributions for the betterment of the Fort Worth community and the lives of its citizens.  Seeing the great need for our children to know and enjoy the legitimate stage, Beta Mu Omega instituted an annual Children’s Theater Series in 1938, primarily for underprivileged children.  The Child Welfare Project began in October 1948.  The chapter sponsored one girl in college and recruited girls in high school.  The girls were provided with clothing, bus tickets and school lunches. 

Beginning in the 1950’s, Beta Mu Omega implemented an annual Fashionetta, a national project copyrighted by Alpha Kappa Alpha.  Miss Black Teenage World followed as the scholarship effort.  It soon made way for the project still going strong, High School Seniors’ Recognition, which has raised over $320,000.00 in scholarship and programming funds since 1976. 

In the 1960’s, Beta Mu Omega sponsored the AKA Saturday School in an effort to assist the underachieving school aged child in the raising of test scores as well as provide a nursery for culturally deprived preschoolers.  The children were exposed to fine arts through field trips and received free health care and shots needed for admission into the public schools when they became of age. 

Since the 1970’s Beta Mu Omega has offered a Summer Reading Project.  Pairing with Fort Worth ISD in 1983, the chapter implemented Reading is Fundamental and continues to purchase books for the children of Fort Worth. 

In conjunction with Sims pharmacy, prescriptions were bought for needy students whose parents were not able to purchase their medication.  This program was administered through the public school nurses in selected elementary schools from 1986-1990.  For almost twenty years, Beta Mu Omega provided Easter baskets for the children at the Polytechnic High School Day Care Center.  For over ten years, the chapter has brought cleaning supplies and toiletries to the residents of the Como Community of Hope.

For nearly 80 years, the chapter has responded to the needs of the Fort Worth community and implemented the programs of the national body.  Its membership is made of women who have shaped the history of Fort Worth and served as leaders within the national organization.