National History

Founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, DC on January 15, 1908, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority is the oldest Greek-letter organization established by African American college-trained women. The original group of nine women were Anna Easter Brown, Beulah Burke, Lillie Burke, Marjorie Hill, Margaret Flagg Holmes, Ethel Hedgeman Lyle, Lavinia Norman, Lucy Slowe and Marie Woolfolk Taylor.

Late in February 1908, seven sophomore women were admitted without initiation. These members were Norma Boyd, Ethel Jones Mowbray, Alice Murray, Sarah Meriweather Nutter, Joanna Berry Shields, Carrie Snowden and Harriett Terry. These sixteen women are all recognized as Alpha Kappa Alpha founders.

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated^® was founded on a mission comprised of five basic tenets that have remained unchanged since the sorority’s inception more than a century ago. Alpha Kappa Alpha’s mission is to cultivate and encourage high scholastic and ethical standards, to promote unity and friendship among college women, to study and help alleviate problems concerning girls and women in order to improve their social stature, to maintain a progressive interest in college life, and to be of “Service to All Mankind".

For more information on Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and its programs, log on to www.aka1908.com.

For more information on Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Great Lakes Region, log on to https://aka1908.com/greatlakes.