SS Ocean Telegraph was a World War II navy military ship. It was built by Moore Dry Dock Company of Oakland, California. Vivian Osborne-Marsh was born in Houston, Texas, and received her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley. She founded the Berkeley campus’ Kappa Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She went on to found several other chapters. Two major projects that she organized were the Traveling Library, which provided books to rural portions of Georgia, and Teen Lift, which provided opportunities for underprivileged teenagers to visit events such as symphonies and operas. She was involved in many civic organizations. On February 21, 1981, the mayor of Berkeley honored her contributions by declaring it to be Vivian Osborne Marsh Day. Vivian Osborne-Marsh wearing a fur coat, holding a bottle of champagne and bouquet, stands on the deck of the SS Ocean Telegraph. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority is an African American women’s’ Greek organization that was founded at Howard University in 1913. Delta Sigma Theta creates programming to improve political, educational, and social and economic conditions within black communities. Vivian Osborne Marsh, sponsor for the navy cargo ship "S.S. Ocean Telegraph" which she launched with this bottle of champagne on.
Type
image
Identifier
uclalsc_1889_b24_f06_011a.tif ark:/21198/z1z90wmh
Subject
African American civic leaders African American Greek letter societies Ships--Launching Marsh, Vivian Osborne, 1897-1986 SS Ocean Telegraph (Cargo ship)
If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.
Share your story
Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.
