Delta Delta Delta was founded in 1888 at Boston University. Although there were already three existing sororities on campus, Sarah Ida Shaw saw the need for a group that would stand apart from the rest. With this thought in mind, Sarah enlisted the assistance of her friend Eleanor Dorcas Pond to “found a society that shall be kind alike to all and think more of a girl's inner self and character than of her personal appearance.” By November of that year, the two women had written the constitution, rituals and selected the emblems and insignia for the new fraternity.

​

On November 27, 1888, Thanksgiving Eve, the two friends swore loyalty and allegiance to Delta Delta Delta under the shadow of the Park Street Church. Following the holiday break, the women began building the chapter by recruiting the first initiates into Tri Delta. On January 15, 1889, eighteen women were initiated into the chapter, including seniors Florence Isabelle Steward and Isabel Morgan Breed, both of whom are also considered founders. 

​