SISTERHOOD & SERVICE
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 325,000 initiated members in graduate and undergraduate chapters located in 12 countries including the United States, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Dubai, Germany, Japan, Liberia, Nigeria, South Korea, South Africa and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
our founders & Incorporators
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. Seven sophomores who were extended an invitation for membership without initiation were endowed with founder status.
Led by Ethel Hedgemon (Lyle), the nine Howard University students who came together to form Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority were the scholastic leaders of their classes. Each also had a special talent or gift that further enhanced the potential of this dynamic group.
Incorporators Nellie May Quander, Norma E. Boyd, Minnie Beatrice Smith, Julia Evangeline Brooks, Ethel Jones, Nellie Pratt 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.
