Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority is the oldest Greek-letter organization established in America by black women. Founded in 1908, by nine students of Howard University in Washington DC, its membership approaches two hundred thousand women in the United States, the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa. Building on the experiences of more than 100 years of sisterhood and service, Alpha Kappa Alpha is moving into a new century of increased services and richer fellowships.
The purpose of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. is to cultivate and encourage high scholastic and ethical standards. To promote unity and friendship among college women. To study and help alleviate problems concerning girls and women in order to improve the social stature. To maintain a progressive interest in college life, and to be of service to all mankind.
20 Pearls
Believing that Alpha Kappa Alpha should influence members throughout their lives and “horrified” when met with proposals by some members to form an entirely new organization, Nellie Quander initiated a dynamic plan: the organization would incorporate and expand. A committee was formed to take appropriate action. Committee members included: Norma Boyd, Julia Brooks, Ethel Jones Mowbray, Nellie Pratt Russell and Minnie Smith. Along with Quander, these members are referred to as the organization’s “Incorporators.” Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority was legally incorporated January 29, 1913.
Ethel Hedgeman Lyle – Founder and “guiding light” of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. whose purpose was to promote scholarship, sisterhood, and service among Black college women.
Jane Addams – Founder of Hull House, Chicago, Illinois.
Marian Anderson – The first Black woman to sing at the Metropolitan Opera.
Maya Angelou – Renowned novelist and poet.
Gwendolyn Calvert Baker, PhD. – President of the United States Committee for UNICEF.
Angie Brookes – The first woman President of the United Nations.
Yvonne Braithwaite-Burke – Former Congresswoman from California and first woman to chair the Democratic National Convention.
Bebe Moore Campbell – Author of Brothers and Sisters and Your Blues Aint Like Mine.
Suzette Charles – Miss America, 1984.
Marva Collins – Founder of her own private school in Chicago’s west side.
Sharon Pratt Kelly – The first woman to serve as mayor of Washington, D.C.
Ella Fitzgerald – Internationally famous jazz singer.
Bettiann Gueno Gardner – Co-Chairman of Soft Sheen Products.
Zina Garrsion – Tennis Star.
Gwendolyn Goldsby Grant – Advice Columnist for Essence.
Dr. Marilyn Hughes-Gatson – Assistant Surgeon General.
Shirlee Tailor Haizlip – Author of The Sweeter The Juice.
Janice Huff – NBC Meteorologist and St. Louis Emmy Award Winner.
Dr. Mae Jemison – The first Black woman astronaut.
Coretta Scott King – Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Social Change and Civil Rights Activism.
Dr. Margaret Lawrence – First African American to complete a residency at the New York Psychiatric Institute. Selected by Pi Psi Omega Chapter to receive honorary membership in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Jewell Jackson McCabe – President of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.
Lt. Col. Anita McMiller – Deputy Legislative Assistant to Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Toni Morrison – Nobel prize winning novelist and poet.
Jomarie Payton Noble – Humanitarian and actress; star of Family Matters.
Hazel O’Leary – United States Secretary for the Department of Energy.
Rosa Parks – Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.
Jada Pinkett – Actress whose movies include; The Nutty Professor, Set It Off, and Menace to Society.
Phylicia Rashad – Actress on the award-winning Cosby Show and the tv series Cosby.
Eleanor Roosevelt – Humanitarian and former First Lady of the United States.
Sonia Sanchez – Noted author and poet.
Ntozake Shange – Author of “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf”.
C. Delores Tucker – National Chairman of the National Political Congress of Black Women.
Dr. Debbye Turner – Humanitarian and Miss America, 1990.
Leah Tutu – Wife of South African activist Bishop Desmond Tutu.
Marjorie Judith Vincent – Miss America, 1991.
Diane Watson – The first Black woman to preside over the California State Senate.
Faye Wattleton – The first woman to head the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Lynn Whitfield – Humanitarian and actress; star of The Josephine Baker Story.
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