On January 15, 1908,  Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®️ became the first Greek-lettered organization established by and for black women. Her roots date back to Howard University in Washington, DC, 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. Ethel and a group of nine formed the preliminary organization. This group included: Beulah Elizabeth Burke, Lillie Burke, Margaret Flagg Holmes, Marjorie Hill, Lucy Diggs Slowe, Marie Woolfolk Taylor, Anna Easter Brown, and Lavinia Norman.

Late in February 1908, seven students of the class of 1910 were admitted. These members were: Joanna Mary Berry Shields, Norma Elizabeth Boyd, Ethel Jones Mowbray, Sarah Meriweather Nutter, Alice P. Murray, Carrie Snowden, Harriet Josephine Terry.  In the later years it became the Alpha Kappa Alpha tradition to honor all these women as “founders.”
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The movement for incorporation led by the sorority’s first president, Nellie M. Quander. The other incorporaters were: Norma Elizabeth Boyd, Julia Evangeline Brooks, Ethel Jones Mowbray, Nellie Pratt Russel, and Minnie B. Smith.

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®️ became incorporated on January 29, 1913. The sorority is committed to serve in every community wherever she is located with 993 plus undergraduate and graduate chapters; with over 355,000 members in the United States, the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa. Through the years, Alpha Kappa Alpha’s function has become more complex. Since her incorporation as a perpetual body,  Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®️ 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.

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Motto "By Culture and By Merit"
Symbols Enameled green ivy leaf; Twenty pearls
Colors Salmon Pink and Apple Green
Flower Pink Tea Rose

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The purpose of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®️ is to cultivate and encourage high scholastic and ethical standards; promote unity and friendship among college women; alleviate problems concerning girls and women; maintain a progressive interest in college life, and to be of service to all mankind.