NATCHEZ — The ladies of Delta Sigma Theta are going to paint the town red.

The alumnae chapters of Natchez, Alcorn and Delta Epsilon are in town for their statewide founder’s day conference.

Decked in their colors of red and white, the 400 women began their conference Friday evening with a welcome mixer and are now moving into workshops for the rest of the weekend.

Berthenia Rose Jackson, Natchez alumnae chapter president, said Delta Sigma Theta is not a social sorority.

“We are a service organization,” she said. “We do good work everywhere we go.”

But the sorority sisters are not all about work, Jackson said.

“We do a lot of bonding,” she said. “I attend a lot of these meetings over the state of Mississippi, and we see the same (sisters,) and we get to know each other.”

And tonight, Delta Sigma Theta is having a dance.

The “Delta Blues Revue Gala” is from 8 to 11:30 p.m. and is open to the public.

The admission is $25 to the dance, which is at the Natchez Convention Center.

The founder’s day conference takes place annually to celebrate the chapter’s inception.

“We were founded in 1913 on the campus of Howard University by 22 dynamic young women, and we’re been going strong ever since,” Jackson said.

This is the first time the conference has taken place in Natchez.

“It’s a very big deal to have it in Natchez,” Jackson said. “We are very, very glad to be chosen as the site.”

Jackson said it’s been hard work facilitating the conference, but it’s worth it.

“I am just so excited,” she said. “Everybody is working together so that things go well, and that’s what Delta’s do — we work together.”

The Deltas will close out the conference with an ecumenical service Sunday morning.

“(The sorority) was founded on Christian principles, so we always have an ecumenical service,” Jackson said.