Margaret Flagg Holmes

Born in Durham, North Carolina to Reverend Lewis and Callie (McAdoo) Flagg, Margaret Flagg attended elementary school in the city's public school system. Howard was the top historically black college in the nation. ==College life and the establishment of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority==

In September 1904, Margaret started at Howard University, where she majored in Latin, history, and English. She was among the nine African American women students who founded the sorority on January 15, 1908. ==Career==

At a time when many women taught primary school, Margaret Holmes earned advanced degrees and taught in academic high schools. In addition, she headed an academic department for years. For nine years, Flagg served as a history, Latin and English teacher at the same Baltimore high school as fellow founder Lucy Diggs Slowe. By studying during summers, Flagg earned a Master of Arts degree in philosophy in 1917 from Columbia University in New York. On August 1, 1917, Flagg married John Clay Holmes. The couple moved to Chicago, Illinois, where she returned to teaching in 1922. Holmes first taught Latin at Wendell Phillips High School, the first secondary school for African Americans in Chicago. It attracted talented teachers and students. Holmes earned recognition as "Best Latin Teacher of the City" by the North Central Association. As the school expanded, it was renamed Du Sable High School. Margaret Holmes headed the history department for several years, until 1931. Such a position of leadership at the high school level was unusual for women educators of the time. Holmes was an educator for more than 30 years, until 1953, teaching generations of students. ==Civic and Alpha Kappa Alpha involvement==

In Chicago, Margaret Holmes participated in the NAACP and the YWCA. Through her civic work relating to civil rights, Holmes collaborated with national NAACP leaders Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, and Dr. Joel Elias Spingarn. They worked to support education for African Americans and gain civil rights. Holmes helped serve the African American community through challenges of the Great Depression and the Great Migration, when Southern blacks arrived in Chicago at the rate of 5,000 per week. After her move later in life to New York, Holmes became a member of the Tau Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha. In total, she worked with the sorority for over sixty years. With her husband John, Margaret traveled across the United States and Canada. In Paris, France, Margaret met the famous African American dancer Josephine Baker. The Holmes couple were received by Pope Pius XI in 1931. After her husband died in 1946, Margaret Holmes moved to New York City to live with her sister. Holmes died on January 29, 1976, aged 89. ==References==