National History

National Website: www.aka1908.com
Centennial Website: http://aka1908.com/centennial/
Regional Website: http://www.akacentral.org/

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. was founded January 15, 1908 on the campus of Howard University.  The First Greek-letter organization founded by African-American women, Alpha Kappa Alpha recently celebrated the centennial celebration in its founding city, Washington, D.C.

Under the direction of Ethel Hedgeman Lyle, Alpha Kappa Alpha’s history began with Anna Easter Brown, Beulah E. Burke, Lillian Burke, Margaret Flagg Holmes, Marjorie Hill, Lavinia Norman, Lucy Diggs Slowe, and Marie Woolfolk Taylor.  The sophomore class consisted of Joanna Berry Shields, Norma E. Boyd, Ethel Jones Mowbray, Sarah Merriwether, Alice P. Murray, Carrie E. Snowden, and Harriet J. Terry.

Alpha Kappa Alpha consists of members from every walk of life including judges, civil rights activists, writers, teachers, artists, nurses, basketball players, and CEO’s.  Some notable honorary members include Maya Angelou, Marian Anderson, Ella Fitzgerald, Alicia Keys, Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

By Merit and by Culture, Alpha Kappa Alpha has spread its roots across the globe, had an integral part of history since its conception, being of service to All Mankind.  Now consisting of over 200,000 members and nearly one-thousand chapters, Alpha Kappa Alpha will continue to grow over the next one hundred years as the First and Finest Black Sorority.