Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated was founded January 16, 1920 on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. by five coeds affectionately known as the Five Pearls. The Most Honorable Sorors Arizona Cleaver Stemons, Pearl Anna Neal, Myrtle Tyler Faithful, Viola Tyler Goings and Fannie Pettie Watts. These five women, sought to establish a new organization predicated on the precepts of Scholarship, Service, Sisterhood and Finer Womanhood. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. was the first Greek-letter organization to charter a chapter in Africa (1948), form adult (Amicae) and youth auxiliary groups, (Archonettes, Amicettes, and Pearlettes) and to be constitutionally bound to a brother organization, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated.

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Zeta's national and local programs include endowment of its National Educational Foundation, community outreach services and support of multiple affiliate organizations. Zeta chapters and auxiliary groups have given uncountable hours of voluntary service to educate the public, assist youth, provide scholarships, support organized charities and promote legislation for social and civic change. A nonprofit organization, Zeta Phi Beta is incorporated in Washington, D.C. and in the state of Illinois. The dues and gifts of its members support the Sorority.