Herstory
In 1908, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority became America’s first Greek-letter organization established by Black college women. The roots date back to Howard University, Washington, D.C., where Ethel Hedgeman Lyle conceived the formation of St. Louis, Missouri. She viewed the sorority as an instrument for enriching college life's social and intellectual aspects by providing mental stimulation through interaction with friends and associates. However, through the years, Alpha Kappa Alpha’s function has become more complex. After her incorporation as a perpetual body in 1913, Alpha Kappa Alpha gradually branched out. It became the channel through which selected college-trained women improved the socioeconomic conditions in their city, state, nation, and the world.
In a world where materialism is pervasive, and technology and competition have decreased the need for collaboration and cooperation, it is critical to have an association that cuts across racial, international, physical, and social barriers to help individuals and communities develop and maintain constructive relationships with others. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. is that vital organization. Alpha Kappa Alpha is a sisterhood composed of women who have consciously chosen this affiliation to self-fulfillment through volunteer service. The purpose of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. 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 to improve their social stature, to maintain a progressive interest in college life, and to be of Service to All Mankind.
Click here for more information about Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and its programs.
Our Beloved Twenty Pearls who established the legacy of Sisterhood, Scholarship, and Service:
Ethel Hedgeman-Lyle
1887-1950
Educator
Ethel Hedgeman was the visionary and principal founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Her warmth and outgoing personality, combined with a strong desire to join 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.
Hedgeman experienced numerous notable achievements in life and her career upon her graduation, among them marriage to George Lyle, being the first 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. Within the sorority, she played such an integral part in its founding that she served as national treasurer for 23 years, was a charter member and president of Omega Omega Chapter in Philadelphia, and was the only member ever to be named Honorary Supreme Basileus (International President).