Dorothy Hollingsworth: A True Delta Woman

If your dreams don’t include others, they’re not big enough.

Those are words Soror Dorothy Hollingsworth not only lived by, but she also shared them with anyone in her sphere of influence.

Soror Hollingsworth’s career was filled with many firsts and accomplishments. She was a social worker and politician with a passion for nurturing and educating children and supporting their families. Soror Hollingsworth was the:

- 1st Black woman in Washington state to serve on a school board: Seattle Schools - 1st Director of Seattle School’s Head Start Programs

- 1st highest paid city employee as Associate Director of Project Planning overseeing 46 separate projects in education, arts and culture, economic development, job training, health, welfare, and legal services

- Deputy Director of Seattle City’s Human Resources,

- Director of Planning for Model Cities (which was recognized by federal government as an exemplary program)

- Elected member of Washington State’s Board of Education - Director of Family, Women and Children’s Services for the city and

- One of the committee advisors for Sesame Street, the children’s program on public television.

In August 2021, the Board of Directors for the Evergreen School District in Vancouver unanimously approved renaming the 49th Street Academy to the Hollingsworth Academy. Soror Hollingsworth and her family attended a special ceremony. What’s even more special, the students at the school researched names and presented their final choices to the school board.

Soror Hollingworth was initiated into Alpha Omicron, at the time an alumnae and collegiate chapter, in 1957. In 1933, Alpha Omicron was the first Greek chapter in the Pacific Northwest. Founder Bertha Pitts Campbell was one of the charter members. It did not take long before these two women became best friends. Soror Hollingsworth celebrated her 101st birthday October 29th, 2021.