Viola Tyler Goings was born in Flushing, Ohio. She is one of the founders of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. established on the college campus of Howard University, and a lifelong member of the organization. "The Five Pearls," was also the famous nickname of the founding Sorors of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority. On completion of her high school education, she became a co-ed at Howard University. After graduating from Howard University with a teaching degree in math, she taught in Smithville, North Carolina, and later accepted the position to teach at the Annapolis High School in Maryland. Later, she advanced her career and became an Assistant Principal at the Cambridge High School in Cambridge, Maryland. She married Fred Goings and later moved to Springfield Ohio, to continue pursuing her career as an educator. As a teacher Ms. Tyler taught mathematics and English for many years until her retirement. However, being a career woman did not interfere with the love and nature bestowed upon her two sons and two daughters and active participation in community affairs. Words of reflections: “there is a Zeta in a girl regardless of race, creed, or color, who has high standards of principles, a good scholarly average, and active interest in all things. Viola Tyler Goings’ triumphant life ended in March 1983 in Springfield Ohio. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. was founded January 16, 1920, at Howard University, Washington, D.C. The Klan was very active during this period and the Harlem Renaissance was acknowledged as the first important movement of Black artists and writers in the U.S. This same year the Volstead Act became effective heralding the start of Prohibition and Tennessee delivered the crucial 36th ratification for the final adoption of the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote. The worst and longest economic recession to hit the U.S. would define the end of the decade-The Great Depression. It was within this environment that five female college students at the college envisioned a sorority which would directly affect positive change, chart a course of action for the 1920s and beyond, raise consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic achievement, and foster a greater sense of unity among its members. These women believed that sorority elitism and socializing overshadowed the real mission for progressive organizations and failed to address fully the societal mores, ills, prejudices, and poverty affecting humanity in general and the black community. Sources Zeta Phi Beta http://www.zphib-thz.org/founders.html