History

In 1908, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority became America's first Greek-letter organization established by Black college women. Her roots date back to Howard University, Washington, D.C., where the idea for formation was conceived by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle of St. Louis, Missouri. She viewed the Sorority as an instrument for enriching the social and intellectual aspects of college life by providing mental stimulation through interaction with friends and associates.

Through the years, however, Alpha Kappa Alpha's function has become more complex. After her incorporation as a perpetual body in 1913, Alpha Kappa Alpha gradually branched out and became the channel through which selected college-trained women improved the socioeconomic conditions in their city, state, nation, and the world.

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated is based on the principles of sisterhood, scholarship, and service to ALL mankind. Alpha Kappa Alpha has grown through the years to become an international organization with a membership in excess of 150,000 women. Membership in our organization consists of women of distinction and exemplary character. These women excel in all areas of life and work closely with the community. Alpha Kappa Alpha has undergraduate and graduate chapters located in the United States, West Africa, Great Britain, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Korea, and Germany.

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                                                     Founders - Our Twenty Pearls

The nine Howard University students who were led by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle into a sisterhood in 1908. Nellie Quander and her gallant group who contributed the added dimension of a national organization and perpetual membership, and those who have come after them, the never-ending stream of eternally young, hopeful, and enthusiastic women, must be remembered.

The Original Group: Marjorie Hill, Lucy D. Slowe, Lillie Burke, Ethel Hedgeman Lyle, Anna E. Brown, Marie Woolfolk Taylor, Beulah E. Burke, Margaret Flagg Holmes, and Lavinia Norman.

The Sophomores of 1908: Norma Boyd, Ethel J. Mowbray, Alice P. Murray, Sarah M. Nutter, Joanna B. Shields, Carrie E. Snowden, and Harriett J. Terry.

The Incorporators: Norma Boyd, Julia E. Brooks, Ethel J. Mowbray, Nellie M. Quander, Nellie P. Russell, and Minnie B. Smith 

 

                                                       The History of Gamma Epsilon​

The Gamma Epsilon Philadelphia City chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated was officially chartered on June 24, 1945 by eighteen women at the University of Pennsylvania through the consolidation of the Mu chapter chartered at Temple University in 1922 and the Psi chapter chartered in 1925 at the University of Pennsylvania. 

 

Today, the schools in our charter include Drexel University, La Salle University, Philadelphia University, Saint Joseph's University and the University of Pennsylvania.



Charter Members  



Rebecca Argo Cummings

Eleanor Armstrong Samson
Leona K. Baylor
Madeline Bennett
Alice Campbell
Marguerite Carter
Winifred Evans
Louise Gibbons
Virginia Henderson
Marilouise Holland James
Ethel Jones Ryder
Margie Olivis Chambers
Doris Maul
Araminta Morgan Jackson
Roma Quinn Jackson
Margaret Seamon Wilson
Eva Taylor Kinder
Carrie Watson

 

For More Information:

 

AKA National Website -  www.aka1908.com

AKA Education Advancement Foundation - www.akaeaf.org