Tri Sigma was nationally founded on April 20, 1898 at Longwood College (now University) in Farmville, Virginia. The eight founding sisters are Margaret Batten, Louise Davis, Martha Featherston, Isabella Merrick, Sallie Michie, Lelia Scott, Elizabeth Watkins, and Lucy Wright. The early Sigmas saw the need for legal recognition as a social body and a written record of organization. The eight women filed documents with the Commonwealth of Virginia, and Sigma Sigma Sigma received its Charter of Incorporation on February 12, 1903. 

The circle of friendship that began in the 1890s, with eight women sharing common experiences, now encompasses more than 100,000 women representing the diversity found on the college campuses today. The Zeta Delta Chapter has been on the SUNY Oneonta campus for over ten years!