History

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®

Our Story

Founded on the historic campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 15, 1908, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.® holds the distinct honor of being the first Greek-letter organization established by African American college-trained women.

In the early 1900s, visionary student Ethel Hedgemon (Lyle) dreamed of creating a sisterhood that uplifted women of shared values and intellect - one that combined scholarship, service, and sisterhood for the greater good. Her dream blossomed into reality in 1908 with the founding of Alpha Kappa Alpha.

Just five years later, in 1913, Nellie Quander led the effort to incorporate the sorority in the District of Columbia, ensuring its legacy would endure for generations. Together, the nine original founders and seven invited sophomores built a foundation of scholarship, leadership, civic engagement, and lifelong sisterhood - values that continue to define Alpha Kappa Alpha today.

Over the decades, Alpha Kappa Alpha has expanded beyond campus walls, becoming a global force for good and a channel through which college-trained women have improved social and economic conditions in their communities and beyond. From its earliest days, Alpha Kappa Alpha has been a powerful voice for cultural awareness and social advocacy. Within just one year of becoming incorporated in 1913, the Sorority made its mark in education by establishing its first scholarship award (1914) - a beautiful beginning to the thousands of pioneering initiatives that would define the Alpha Kappa Alpha legacy.

In 1934, during the Great Depression, Alpha Kappa Alpha sponsored the groundbreaking Mississippi Health Project (MHP), bringing vital healthcare to African American communities in the Mississippi Delta who had long been denied access. By 1939, Alpha Kappa Alpha became the first organization to take life membership in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), inspiring other Greek-letter organizations to join in the movement for civil rights and justice. In 1947, Alpha Kappa Alpha helped found the American Council on Human Rights (ACHR), uniting more than 50,000 voices in the fight against racial discrimination and inequality.

Fast forward to the 1970s, Alpha Kappa Alpha deepened its commitment to education, contributing to a $500,000 campaign for the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). By the 1990s, the Sorority expanded its reach, focusing on Black families, partnering with the American Red Cross to fight AIDS, and launching initiatives to increase minority participation in the National Bone Marrow Registry. In the 2000s, Alpha Kappa Alpha celebrated its Centennial Year (2008) in grand fashion - 25,000 members gathered for a week of service and celebration, setting a Guinness World Record by serving over 16,000 meals. Alpha Kappa Alpha built 10 schools in South Africa, sent 40,000 shoebox gifts nationwide, and continued its mission to uplift communities globally.

In the 2020s, Alpha Kappa Alpha continues to soar to even greater heights - setting new Guinness World Records, preparing thousands of women's hygiene kits, donating over 1 million CHIPP bags for hungry children, spending $30 million with Black-owned businesses in a single month, launching its For Members Only Federal Credit Union, and raising $2.6 million for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in one day through the establishment of an endowment at every HBCU in the nation.

Through every era, one truth has remained constant: our mission of "Service to All Mankind." Today, with more than 365,000 members in over 1,085 chapters, Alpha Kappa Alpha continues to cultivate excellence, promote unity and friendship, and uplift women and communities worldwide - all while carrying forward the elegant legacy of our beloved sisterhood.