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Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. ® Upsilon Eta Omega Chapter
International History Overview
The Visionary
Ethel Hedgemon was the visionary and principal founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Her warmth and outgoing personality combined with a strong desire to interact with other collegians with like minds and exceptional talents for the betterment of themselves and mankind, propelled her to spearhead the movement that led to the founding of the nation’s first black sorority.
Hedgemon experienced numerous notable achievements in her life and her career, among them included being the first female African-American to teach in a “normal” school in Oklahoma, founding the Mother’s Club of Philadelphia, being a charter member of the West Philadelphia League of Women Voters and chairing the Philadelphia Mayor’s Committee of 100 Women Sesquicentennial Anniversary of the Adoption of the U.S. Constitution, and her marriage to George Lyle, who was the first male African-American to teach in a “normal” school in Oklahoma. Within the sorority, she played an integral part in our founding, served as national treasurer for 23 years, was a charter member and president of Omega Omega Chapter in Philadelphia, PA and is the only member ever to be named Honorary International President.
The Nine Founders
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 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 Seven Sophomores
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 Incorporators
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.