Alpha Kappa Alpha: Black Women Building a Legacy of Service
At the beginning of the 20th century, fewer than 1,000 Black students were enrolled in American colleges. Black women faced the combined barriers of racism, sexism, and limited access to higher education. Yet on the campus of Howard University, a group of young women decided to build an institution of their own. On January 15, 1908, Ethel Hedgemon Lyle and eight other Howard University students founded Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® in Miner Hall.
Their purpose extended beyond friendship. They envisioned a sisterhood grounded in scholarship, ethical leadership, cultural refinement, community advancement, and service to Black people. These students became known as the Original Nine. Seven additional sophomore women later received founder status, bringing the recognized number of founders to 16. (Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.)
Among these pioneering women was Lucy Diggs Slowe, who became the organization’s first president. Slowe graduated as valedictorian of Howard’s Class of 1908, was the first Black woman to win a major national tennis championship, and later served as Howard University’s first dean of women.
The sorority’s official colors—salmon pink and apple green—came to symbolize grace, growth, vitality, and enduring sisterhood. Its ivy leaf symbolized strength and the ability to flourish under difficult conditions.
In 1912, the organization faced a critical struggle over its future. Nellie May Quander and other members defended Alpha Kappa Alpha’s original identity and mission.
On January 29, 1913, Quander, Norma Elizabeth Boyd, Minnie Beatrice Smith, and their colleagues secured the sorority’s legal incorporation, providing the organization with the permanent structure it needed to grow nationally and internationally. (Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.)
Alpha Kappa Alpha became the first Greek-letter organization established by African American college women.
Its members did not confine their work to college campuses. They developed programs that supported education, public health, civil rights, economic advancement, political engagement, and assistance for underserved families. Between 1935 and 1942, the sorority sponsored the Mississippi Health Project, which sent Black medical professionals into rural Mississippi communities where thousands of Black residents had limited access to medical care. (home.nps.gov)
Members became educators, physicians, attorneys, scientists, artists, elected officials, entrepreneurs, diplomats, and civil-rights leaders. Across generations, the organization’s central principle remained “Service to All Mankind.” Alpha Kappa Alpha was founded during an era when society severely limited the ambitions of Black women. Its founders responded to those limitations by building a sisterhood that could educate, organize, advocate, heal, and serve.
DTOA—Descendants of the Taken Ones. We honor the women who transformed sisterhood into organized service and lasting power. They did not wait to be admitted to existing circles of influence. They created their own circle—and expanded it around the world. From nine visionary students, a permanent institution of Black women’s leadership emerged.

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