List of Phi Beta Sigma Conclaves

This article is about the conclaves of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. For the main fraternity article, see Phi Beta Sigma.

Phi Beta Sigma is an international historically African American collegiate fraternity. The conclave is the legislative power of Phi Beta Sigma. During a conclave year, delegates representing all of the active chapters from within the seven regions of the fraternity meet in the chosen city. The conclave or fraternity convention is currently held biannually and is usually hosted by graduate chapters of the chosen city. The host city is chosen through a selection process in which each of the eligible regions nominates a city and a formal bid is submitted. As of 2009, Phi Beta Sigma has held over 95 conventions in various cities throughout the United States The fraternity held its first conclave in Washington, D.C. in 1916.

Conclave

The conclave is the legislative power of Phi Beta Sigma. During a conclave year, delegates representing all of the active chapters from within the seven regions of the fraternity meet in the chosen city. The conclave or fraternity convention is currently held biannually and is usually hosted by the graduate chapters of the chosen city. The host city is chosen through a selection process in which each eligible region nominates a city and a formal bid is submitted. The region in which the current conclave is being held is ineligible for submitting a bid for the succeeding conclave.

Myrtle Beach Convention Center, 2021 Conclave

During the convention, members of the General Board – the administrative body of the fraternity-are elected and appointed. The general board may act in the interest of the fraternity when the conclave is not in session. In addition, seminars, social events, concerts, an international Miss Phi Beta Sigma Pageant, Stepshow, and oratorical contests are also held during the week-long conference. Throughout the years, notable individuals such as George Washington Carver and Carter G. Woodson were speakers at conclaves.

Phi Beta Sigma's first conclave was held on December 28 and 29, 1916 in Washington, D.C. It was attended by 200 members from three collegiate chapters: Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. However, no conclaves were held in 1917 and 1918 because of World War I.

The following list of conclaves includes actual, proposed, and forthcoming international conventions of Phi Beta Sigma.

List of conclaves

Number	Dates	Location	Host	References
1st	December 28, 1916 – December 29, 1916	Phi Beta Sigma House 1907 Third Street NW Washington, D.C.		[1][2][3][4][a]
2nd	December 1919	Washington, D.C.		[1][b]
3rd	December 26, 1920 – December 28, 1920	Washington, D.C.		[1][3][5][6][c]
4th	December 27, 1921 – December 31, 1921	Atlanta, Georgia		[1][2][5][d]
5th	December 1922	Baltimore, Maryland		[1]
6th	December 1923	Nashville, Tennessee		[1]
7th	December 26, 1924 – December 31, 1924	YMCA Building Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Epsilon	[1][2][7]
8th	December 27, 1925 – December 30, 1925	Richmond, Virginia	Lambda	[1][2][8][e]
9th	December 1926	Greensboro, North Carolina		[1]
10th	December 1927	St. Louis, Missouri	Kappa Sigma	[1][2][9][f]
11th	December 1928	Louisville, Kentucky		[1][2][g]
12th	December 1929	New York City, New York	Epsilon Sigma and Kappa Beta Sigma	[1][2][10][h]
13th	December 1930	Tuskegee, Alabama		[1]
		Nashville, Tennessee		[2][i]
14th	December 27, 1933 – December 30, 1933	Chicago, Illinois		[1][11][12]
15th	December 27, 1934 – December 30, 1934	Washington, D.C.		[1][13]
16th	December 27, 1935 – December 30, 1935	Atlanta, Georgia		[1][2][14][15][j]
17th	December 1936 – December 31, 1936	New York City, New York		[1][5][16][k]
18th	December 29, 1937	Detroit, Michigan		[1][17]
19th	December 27, 1938 – December 30, 1938	Winston-Salem, North Carolina		[1][18][19]
20th	December 26, 1939 – December 30, 1939	Howard University Washington, D.C.		[1][2][20][21][l]
21st	December 1940	Tuskegee, Alabama		[1][m]
22nd	December 1941	Academy of Music Philadelphia, Pennsylvania		[1][2][22]
		Richmond, Virginia		[23][n]
23rd	1944	Chicago, Illinois		[1][2][o]
24th	December 27, 1945 – December 30, 1945	St. Louis, Missouri		[1][2][24][3][p]
25th	1946	New Orleans, Louisiana		[1][2][q]
26th	December 27, 1947 – December 30, 1947	Atlanta, Georgia		[1][25]
27th	August 9, 1948 – August 14, 1948	Los Angeles, California		[1][3][r]
28th	December 27, 1949 – December 30, 1949	Washington, D.C.	Alpha Sigma	[1][3][26][27][s]
29th	1950	New York City, New York		[1]
30th	1951	Birmingham, Alabama		[1]
31st	December 27, 1952 – December 30, 1952	Slaughter's Hotel and George Carver Elementary Richmond, Virginia	Lambda and Iota Sigma	[1][28][29][30][31][32][t]
32nd	December 1953	Detroit, Michigan		[1][29]
33rd	December 27, 1954 – December 30, 1954	Norfolk, Virginia	Beta Sigma	[1][33][u]
34th	December 27, 1955 – December 30, 1955	Louisville, Kentucky		[1][33][34]
35th	1956	Miami, Florida		[1]
36th	December 27, 1957 – December 30, 1957	Dallas, Texas		[1][5][35][v]
37th	December 27, 1958 – December 30, 1958	Chicago, Illinois		[1][36]
38th	December 26, 1959 – December 30, 1959	Washington, D.C.	Alpha, Alpha Sigma, and Gamma Lambda	[1][37][38][w]
39th	December 27, 1960 – December 30, 1960	Hotel Park Sheraton New York City, New York	Epsilon Sigma	[1][39][40][x]
40th	1961	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania		[1]
41st	1962	Pick Carter Hotel Cleveland, Ohio		[1][41]
42nd	1963	Nashville, Tennessee		[1]
43rd	December 26, 1964 – December 30, 1964	Washington, D.C.	Alpha, Alpha Sigma, and Gamma Lambda	[1][42][43][44][y]
44th	1966	Los Angeles, California		[1]
45th	1967	Richmond, Virginia		[1]
46th	August 12, 1969 – August 16, 1969	Sheraton-Belvedere Hotel Baltimore, Maryland	Zeta Sigma	[1][45][z]
47th	1970	Winston-Salem, North Carolina		[1]
48th	August 15, 1972 – August 19, 1972	Fontainebleau Miami Beach Miami Beach, Florida		[1][46][32]
49th	1973	Houston, Texas		[1]
50th	August 4, 1975 – August 9, 1975	Hilton Heritage Detroit, Michigan	Delta Rho, Gamma Iota, and Iota Beta Sigma	[1][47][48]
51st	December 1976	Memphis, Tennessee		[1][49]
52nd	1978	San Francisco, California		[1]
53rd	December 26, 1979 – December 30, 1979	Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill Washington, D.C.		[1][50][51][52][32][aa]
54th	July 25, 1981 – July 31, 1981	Charleston, South Carolina		[53][32]
55th	December 26, 1982 – December 31, 1982	Atlanta, Georgia		[1][54]
56th	1984	New Orleans, Louisiana		[53]
57th	December 28, 1985	Louisville, Kentucky		[1][55]
58th	1987	Kansas City, Missouri		[1][56][ab]
59th	August 8, 1989 – August 13, 1989	Washington, D.C.		[1][57][32][ac]
60th	July 1991	Las Vegas, Nevada		[5][58][ad]
61st	August 4, 1993 – August 8, 1993	Raleigh, North Carolina		[58][59]
62nd	July 11, 1995 – July 16, 1995	Washington, D.C.		[58][32]
63rd	June 30, 1997 – July 6, 1997	Orlando, Florida		[24][60][61][32][ae]
64th	July 6, 1999 – July 11, 1999	Fairmont Hotel Dallas, Texas		[62][63][32]
65th	July 9, 2001 – July 15, 2001	Detroit, Michigan		[53][32]
66th	July 8, 2003 – July 13, 2003	Memphis Marriott Hotel Memphis, Tennessee		[20][53][64][65][66][af]
67th	July 12, 2005 – July 17, 2005	Sheraton Universal Hotel Universal City, California		[53][67]
68th	July 30, 2007 – August 5, 2007	Westin Hotel Charlotte, North Carolina	Beta Rho Sigma	[53][68][69][70]
69th	July 6, 2009 – July 12, 2009	New Orleans, Louisiana		[71][72][73][ag]
70th	July 20, 2011 – July 24, 2011	Sheraton Hotel Atlanta, Georgia		[74][ah]
71st	July 9, 2013 – July 14, 2013	Philadelphia Marriott Downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania		[74][ai]
Centennial Celebration	July 16, 2014 – July 20, 2014	Marriott Wardman Park Washington, D.C..		[75][aj]
72nd	July 15, 2015 – July 19, 2015	Little Rock Marriott Little Rock, Arkansas		[76][ak]
73rd	July 18, 2017 – July 23, 2017	Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center Detroit, Michigan		[76][al]
74th	July 9, 2019 – July 14, 2019	Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino Las Vegas, Nevada		[77][am]
75th	August 3, 2021 – August 8, 2021	Myrtle Beach Convention Center Myrtle Beach, South Carolina		[78][an]
76th	July 11, 2023 – July 16, 2023	George R. Brown Convention Center Houston, Texas		[79][ao]

Notes

1. At this conclave, an official publication for the fraternity was authorized, with member W.F. Vincent as the National Editor.
2. At this conclave, the General Board approved founder A Langston Taylor to assist in the organization of what was to become the sister sorority to Phi Beta Sigma (Zeta Phi Beta).
3. This was the first joint Conclave/Boule with Zeta Phi Beta.
4. This was the first inter-fraternity conference between Phi Beta Sigma and Omega Psi Phi.
5. At this conclave, Bigger and Better Business was established as a national program.
6. During this conclave, the fraternity was divided into 4 Regions (Eastern, Northern, Southern & Western) with a director of each Region. These directors were known as the Vice-Presidents.
7. In this conclave, branding the skin with a hot iron, as a part of the initiation process, was officially frowned upon.
8. The Distinguished Service Chapter was established at this conclave.
9. Although planned, no conclaves were held in 1931 and 1932 due to the Great Depression.
10. At this conclave, Omega founders Edgar Amos Love and Oscar James Cooper brought greetings on behalf of the members of Omega Psi Phi.
11. This was the 2nd joint Conclave/Boule with Zeta Phi Beta.
12. This was the Silver (25th) Anniversary Conclave.
13. The fraternity voted to become a permanent member of the National Negro Business League.
14. Conclave was scheduled for December 1942 but was canceled due to World War II. There was also no conclave in 1943.
15. This was the first conclave held in the spring. At it, the fraternity voted to support the United Negro College Fund.
16. This was a joint Conclave/Boule with Zeta Phi Beta.
17. At this conclave, the fraternity became a permanent member of the National Negro Business League.
18. This was the first conclave held in the summer.
19. This conclave celebrated the fraternity's 35th Anniversary.
20. The conclave's theme was Full Democracy–Nothing Less Business.
21. The conclave's theme was "Education - The Key to Freedom".
22. This was the third joint Conclave/Boule with Zeta Phi Beta.
23. This conclave celebrated the fraternity's 45th .
24. The conclave's theme was Reassessing Our Role Of Leadership For Culture And Service.
25. This conclave celebrated the fraternity's 50th Anniversary. Its theme was "A Past to Cherish, A Future to Fulfill".
26. The conclave's theme was Brotherhood–A Universal Necessity.
27. This conclave celebrated the fraternity's 65th Anniversary.
28. The conclave's theme was Sigma Men in Unity–Rekindling the Spirit of Service to Community.
29. This conclave celebrated the fraternity's 75th Anniversary.
30. This was the 4th joint Conclave/Boule with Zeta Phi Beta.
31. The conclave's heme was A Family Affair.
32. The conclave's theme was Coming Home. During the conclave, the general board approved Project S.W.W.A.C., Project S.A.A.T.P, and Project Vote as the fraternity's national programs.
33. The conclave's theme was Celebrating the Dream.
34. The conclave's theme is Living The Legacy: Marching Toward The Jubilee.
35. The conclave's theme was POWER UP! Marching Towards the Jubilee.
36. This conclave's theme was Celebrating One Century of Service.
37. The conclave's theme is I am My Brother's Keeper.
38. The conclave's theme was A Family Reunion.
39. The conclave's theme is The Pride and The Power: Celebrating African-American Men.
40. The conclave's theme was A Brotherhood of Conscious Men. One Conclave: Two Experiences.
41. The conclave's theme was Believe In Our Power, Leading The Movement.