Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated ® (AKA), an international service organization, was founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1908. It is the oldest Greek-letter organization established by African American college-educated women.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated® is comprised of more than 360,000 initiated members in graduate and undergraduate chapters located in 12 nations and territories including the United States, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Japan, Liberia, Nigeria, South Korea, South Africa and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Led by International President & CEO Danette Anthony Reed of Dallas, Texas, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, often is hailed as “America’s premier Greek-letter organization for African American women.”
Mission & Purpose
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® was founded on a mission of five basic tenets that have remained unchanged since the sorority’s inception. Our mission is:
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to cultivate and encourage high scholastic and ethical standards,
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to promote unity and friendship among college women,
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to study and help alleviate problems concerning girls and women in order to improve their social stature,
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to maintain a progressive interest in college life,
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and to be of “Service to All Mankind.”
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, on the campus of Howard University in Washington, DC. Our founders were among the fewer than 1,000 Negroes enrolled in higher education institutions in 1908, and the 25 women who received bachelor of arts degrees from Howard University between 1908 and 1911. Nine juniors and seniors constituted the founding members.
The Nine Founders
The Nine Founders were: Anna Easter Brown, Beulah Burke, Lillie Burke, Marjorie Hill, Margaret Flagg Holmes, Ethel Hedgemon (Lyle), Lavinia Norman, Lucy Diggs Slowe and Marie Woolfolk (Taylor).
The Sophomores Seven
To ensure the continuity of the organization, seven honor students from the Class of 1910, who previously had expressed interest, were invited to join without initiation. Those seven, “The Sophomores,” included: Norma Boyd, Ethel Jones (Mowbray), Alice Murray, Sarah Meriweather (Nutter), Joanna Berry (Shields), Carrie Snowden and Harriet Terry.
The Founders’ Window (pictured above) was produced by Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority member and internationally renowned African-American artist, Lois Mailou Jones (1905-1998). Dedicated in 1978, the three-paneled stained-glass window commemorates the sorority’s founding and memorializes its founders. Founders’ Window is located at Rankin Chapel at Howard University.
Incorporating a Legacy
After attending a sorority meeting in 1912 where she heard proposals from then-current members to change the group’s name, colors, symbols and motto, Nellie May Quander (initiated in 1910 and; president of Alpha Chapter from 1911-1912), realized the need for an intervention to preserve the premise of the sorority that she and its founders held dear was an urgent matter. Quander quickly formed a committee, initially comprised of a trio including herself and members Norma E. Boyd and Minnie Beatrice Smith, — and later expanded to include three sorority officers, Julia Evangeline Brooks, Ethel Jones (Mowbray) and Nellie Pratt (Russell),— whose mission was to seek and acquire incorporation.
These women, committed to Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, expanded to solicit the support of other like-minded undergraduate and graduate members who held true to the vows they had taken upon their initiation. The effort culminated in the successful protection and subsequent perpetuity of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority through its incorporation on January 29, 1913, with Quander, Boyd and Smith as signers of the petition. It was the first Black Greek-letter organization to attempt and successfully complete such a measure. The incorporation of the sorority positioned it to broaden its service concept offerings while ensuring the preservation of its founding principles and brands.
For additional information regarding the International programs, leadership, and history of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®, please visit www.aka1908.com.