The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority becomes the first Greek-letter organization founded and established by African American college women.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (ΑΚΑ) is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen students led by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle. Forming a sorority broke barriers for African-American women in areas where they had little power or authority due to a lack of opportunities for minorities and women in the early 20th century. Alpha Kappa Alpha was incorporated on January 29, 1913.
The sorority is one of the nation's largest Greek-letter organizations, having more than 300,000 members in 1,024 chapters in the United States and several other countries. Women may join through undergraduate chapters at a college or university, or they may also join through a graduate chapter after acquiring an undergraduate or advanced college degree.Alpha Kappa Alpha is part of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC). The current International President is Dr. Glenda Glover, and the sorority's document and pictorial archives are located at Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.