The Sisterhood is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, with chapters throughout the United States and Canada.

It was the second sorority to be founded in the U.S., after I. C. Sorosis (now known as Pi Beta Phi) in Monmouth, Illinois in April 1867.

[2] The founding members were Mary Allen [Stafford] (1848–1927), Ella Stewart (1848–94), Alice Bird Babb (1850–1926), Hattie Briggs [Bousquet] (1849–77), Franc Roads [Elliott] (1852–1924), Alice Virginia Coffin (1848–88), and Suela Pearson [Penfield] (1851–1920).

[1] The sisterhood was founded after some of these seven girls were invited to join a chapter of I. C. Sorosis organized in Mount Pleasant a month earlier.

[1][3] The organization was originally rooted in the philosophy and institutions of the Methodist Church, which actively promoted women's rights and education in America during the 19th century.

[5] The first International chapter (i.e. outside the United States) was established in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1911.

began as a collegiate sorority at Iowa Wesleyan, tensions developed between that original chapter and the wider body.

campaign, which sought to raise the public profile of the organization while nonetheless maintaining its traditions of secrecy.

Meetings for members are, however, highly guarded and a secret password must be used to prove membership.

meetings and activities do not require any particular religion or religious practice, except for a belief in God.

At that time membership was open to women over the age of eighteen, who believed in God and had lived at their present address for a least a year.

has evolved over recent generations into a deliberately diverse, community-based organization with 5,632 chapters and some 197,000 dues paying members.

commissioned a set of portraits in oil of its seven founders from Marion Dunlap Harper.