Beginnings: 1907–1912 In the spring of 1907, student
Ethel Hedgemon Lyle led efforts to create a sorority at
Howard University in
Washington, D.C. Forming a sorority broke barriers for African-American women in areas where they had little power or authority due to a lack of opportunities for Black Americans in the early 20th century. Faculty member
Ethel T. Robinson encouraged Hedgemon by relating her observations of sorority life at the Women's College at
Brown University. Hedgemon began recruiting interested classmates; the group used the summer of 1907 to research and explore options for their new organization. In November 1907, Hedgemon and Marie Woolfolk Taylor gave a presentation to the university's administration to secure approval for a sorority, which was granted immediately. Thus, Alpha Kappa Alpha became the first sorority member of the
Divine Nine to be created at a historically black college or university.
Nellie Quander was selected as the sorority's first International president after Incorporation. On January 15, 1908, the nine founders held the first official business meeting of Alpha Kappa Alpha in Miner Hall. On February 21, 1908, the seven sophomores were admitted to the sorority without initiation and were also given a status as founders. In its first few months, Alpha Kappa Alpha created its rituals, held social events, and made presentations for the general public. On May 1, 1908, members planted ivy and a tree on the Howard campus; this practice was later adopted by the university and continued for decades. The sorority's first initiation was held in a wing of Miner Hall at Howard University on February 11, 1909. On May 25, 1909, Alpha Kappa Alpha held its first Ivy Day, a celebration that included planting ivy at Miner Hall. The sorority established many service efforts, including helping to create the
NAACP and the YWCA D.C. chapter, feeding the hungry, tutoring, and clothing people experiencing poverty.
Incorporation: 1912–1913 By the end of the 1911–12 school year, Alpha Kappa Alpha had more than forty members at Howard. In October, former president Nellie Quander was invited to attend a sorority meeting. In this meeting, the active members proposed changing the sorority's name, colors, and symbols. Quander opposed the changes, advising the students that they had no right, legally or ethically, to make such changes. Some of the undergraduate members who favored the changes held a meeting the next month with other collegiate women and voted to reorganize the group and incorporated the changes, forming what became
Delta Sigma Theta. Quander set up a committee that worked to incorporate Alpha Kappa Alpha to ensure its continuation. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority became the first African-American sorority to incorporate nationally on January 29, 1913. delegate badge from the 23rd Boulé. The tri-convention—consisting of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Phi Alpha, and
Kappa Alpha Psi—was held December 27–31, 1940, in
Kansas City,
Missouri.
Expansion and implementation of programs: 1913–1940 Alpha Kappa Alpha helped to support members by providing scholarship funds for school and foreign studies and by raising money for Howard University's Miner Hall. It was the first of the historically Black fraternities and sororities at Howard University to offer a scholarship program. A second chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha was chartered at the
University of Chicago in the fall of 1913. This sorority held its first annual
Boulé, a meeting of the sorority's governing body, at Howard University in December 1918. In addition, the sorority's crest was designed by Phyllis Wheatley Waters and accepted in the same Boulé. The sorority membership pin was approved in the following Boulé in
Kansas City,
Missouri. At the 1947, Boulé, pins for honorary members were designed and approved. By 1920, the sorority created a national service plan catered to the surrounding communities of each chapter. By May 1924, Alpha Kappa Alpha opened its vocational guidance program. Throughout the
Great Migration, members assisted the
Travelers Aid Society to help thousands of
Southern Blacks adjust to
Northern society, find housing, and navigate around the city. Members also volunteered at the
Freedman's Hospital. On May 10, 1930, Alpha Kappa Alpha, along with the fraternities
Kappa Alpha Psi and
Omega Psi Phi and sororities Delta Sigma Theta and
Zeta Phi Beta, formed the
National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) at Howard University. In April 1933, the sorority's international president
Ida Louise Jackson visited All Saints Industrial School in
Lexington, Mississippi, learning of the difficult conditions in the
Mississippi Delta during the
Great Depression. Some of the school's teachers did not have an education past the seventh grade. African Americans were trying to make a living sharecropping on plantation land as agricultural prices continued to fall. In the summer of 1934, Jackson initiated the Summer School for Rural Teachers to train future teachers. She worked with a total of 22 student teachers and 243 school children. In addition, she held night classes for 48 adults. By obtaining 2,600 books for the school's library, Jackson made it "the largest library owned by white or colored in all Holmes County." The Mississippi Health Project brought primary medical care to the rural Black population across the state for six summers.
Norma Elizabeth Boyd led the sorority to create the National Non-Partisan Lobby on Civil and Democratic Rights (NPC) in 1938, later renamed the National Non-Partisan Council on Public Affairs. It was the first full-time
congressional lobby for minority group civil rights. The NPC was dissolved on July 15, 1948, by twelfth Supreme Basileus Edna Over Gray-Campbell. In August 1945, Alpha Kappa Alpha established the American Council on Human Rights (ACHR) to replace the NPC. The council made recommendations to the government concerning
civil rights legislation. The ACHR was proposed at the 1946 Boulé. On January 25, 1948, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta,
Sigma Gamma Rho sororities, and Alpha Phi Alpha and
Phi Beta Sigma fraternities were charter members of the ACHR. Kappa Alpha Psi was later included in March 1949. On September 1, 1945, Alpha Kappa Alpha established The National Health Office in
New York City. The National Health Office coordinated activities with local chapters and worked with the ACHC to promote health initiatives before the
United States Congress, increase the number of student
nurses, and improve the state of health programs at
historically black colleges and universities. The National Health Office was dissolved in 1951, as its goals were incorporated into the sorority's international program.
Civil rights and educational training: 1950–1970 Throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, Alpha Kappa Alpha members helped to sponsor job training, reading enrichment, heritage, and youth programs. By encouraging youth to improve math, science, and reading skills, the sorority continued its commitment to community service and enriching the lives of others. Financially, Alpha Kappa Alpha expanded funding for projects in 1953 through the creation and trademark of a fashion show called Fashionetta. Politically, ACHR continued lobbying for equality concerning civil rights during the 1950s and 1960s. According to Collier-Thomas, the ACHR drew attention to legislation concerning education, transportation, employment, and improving equality in the
armed forces and public places. However, ACHR voted to dissolve operations in 1963. The sorority wanted to operate a student job training center. Led by president Julia Purnell, the sorority negotiated with the
Office of Economic Opportunity to operate a women's center from October 1964 to January 1965. The sorority published
The Heritage Series between 1968 and 1972. Alpha Kappa Alpha also donated $20,000 for preserving
Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthplace in
Atlanta,
Georgia, in the early 1970s. In 1978, during the sorority's seventieth anniversary, the Memorial Window at Howard University was dedicated to the founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha. Surviving founders
Lavinia Norman and
Norma Elizabeth Boyd attended the celebration of unveiling the Memorial Window, designed by
Lois Mailou Jones.
Bridging toward the twenty-first century: 1980–2007 Soon after the sorority's 75th anniversary, Alpha Kappa Alpha contributed funds to decrease Africa's poverty with the establishment of the African Village Development Program (AVDP). As a conjoint program with
Africare, it sought to decrease poverty in African villages. The sorority continued to provide after-school mentoring programs, such as ON TRACK. In addition, programs such as the Ivy Reading AKAdemy and Young Authors Program improved elementary reading comprehension skills, while PIMS highlighted programs in math and science. Other Alpha Kappa Alpha initiatives increased awareness of health-related issues, such as
AIDS,
sickle cell anemia,
breast cancer, and
the importance of staying in shape. The sorority supported the efforts of justice for the
Jena Six. It also partnered with African Ancestry, allowing members to use
DNA testing to find
genealogical data for themselves and their families.
Centennial celebration: 2008 Alpha Kappa Alpha celebrated its centenary with a year-long commemoration in 2008. The celebration coincided with the sorority's biennial Boulé. The activities included sorority members donating $1 million in scholarship funds to Howard University, contributing libraries for Middle School for Mathematics and Science and Asbury Dwelling for Senior Citizens, and unveiling a digital version of the entire
Ivy Leaf publication. From July 11 to July 18, 2008, Alpha Kappa Alpha held their 63rd Boulé which included a town hall meeting with the public, a unity march in conjunction with other NPHC members, and a concert featuring honorary member
Patti LaBelle. On July 17, 2008, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority set a
Guinness World Record when 16,206 members participated in the largest-ever silver service sit-down dinner in a convention. Alpha Kappa Alpha's accomplishments were heralded by the United States Congress, with
U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton and sorority member
U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee introducing legislation in both houses of the
United States Congress to commemorate the sorority's founding. In addition, the toy company
Mattel designed a
Barbie collectible doll fashioned with a pink and green evening gown. == Symbols ==