Mary Lou Allison Gardner Little

Mary Lou Allison Gardner Little, previously Mary Lou Allison Little, previously Mary Lou Allison, (November 2, 1896 – March 8, 1992) was an American educator and the primary founder of the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, as well as its first national president from 1925 to 1926. She taught in the Los Angeles Unified School District for 35 years through her retirement in 1967.

Originally founded as a professional organization raising standards among teachers, the historically African American sorority broadened its focus and had 70,000 members in 400 chapters across the United States and the Caribbean by the time of her death. At each international biennial international meeting, Sigma Gamma Rho awards the Mary Lou Allison Loving Cup to its most outstanding chapter.

Allison was born November 2, 1896, in Kentucky, and moved with her parents to Indianapolis, Indiana. After both their parents were killed in late 1899 or 1900, she was separated from her brother and raised by a family friend, Katie Johnson, in Indianapolis. During high school, she had a scholarship to the John Herron Art Institute, and graduated from Shortridge High School in Indianapolis in 1915.

In 1918, Allison earned her teaching certificate in 1918 from Indianapolis Normal School. She taught in Indianapolis from 1918 to 1925.

In 1919, Allison began attending Butler University as a part-time student. In 1922, she gathered a group of her friends at her home to discuss forming a sorority that would raise the standard for teachers, by encouraging them to go beyond their normal school training and pursue undergraduate degrees.

On November 12, 1922, Allison and six of her best friends created Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, an organization for African American educated women to come together and form a sisterhood. The other founders were Vivian White Marbury, Hattie Mae Dulin Redford, Dorothy Hanley Whiteside, Nannie Mae Ghan Johnson, Bessie Rhodes Martin and Cubena McClure.

Soon after founding the organization, Allison realized she wanted to appeal to more women worldwide. She became the organization's first national president (Grand Basileus) from 1925 until 1926, wrote its pledge, and helped evolve into a national community service sorority. In 1929, the sorority became incorporated into the national collegiate sorority, establishing the Alpha Chapter on Butler campus.

In 1928, she moved to Los Angeles, California with her first husband Wilford Gardner, where she enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles. After becoming a widow, she married Roy Little in 1949. They later divorced. Little taught in the Los Angeles school system for 35 years and retired in 1967.

Little died in March 1992, aged 95, at her home in Los Angeles.