This list of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorors (commonly referred to as AKAs[1]) includes initiated and honorary members of
Alpha Kappa Alpha (ΑΚΑ), the first inter-collegiate
Greek-lettersorority established for Black college women.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at
Howard University in
Washington, D.C., by nine women who were known as The Original Group of 1908, and seven sophomores, honor students who are also considered founders and are known as The Sophomores of 1910.[2]
Alpha Kappa Alpha has a membership of more than 200,000 women in over 950 chapters in the United States and several other countries. Membership is extended to female college undergraduate and graduate students. The sorority also bestows honorary membership as its highest honor.[3]
first woman and first African American to chair the State Board of Community Colleges in North Carolina; vice president of Northern Regions Energy Delivery Services, Progress Energy;
Managing editor and primary anchor at
WTKR NewsChannel 3 in
Norfolk, Virginia; youngest woman and first African-American to become news director at a commercial television station in the Southwest (
KMSB-TV in
Tucson, Arizona)
first female, first Jamaican Afro-Caribbean and first
Indian (India) American United States Senator from California,
Attorney General of California, District Attorney for San Francisco, CA, former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate; 2020 Democratic vice presidential nominee for the 2020 election, first African-American and first Asian-American vice presidential nominee of a major party; first female, first African-American, and first Asian-American
Vice President of the United States
former professional track runner, college all-American; assistant track and field coach, US Military Academy; Associated Head track coach,
California State University-Fullerton, first female (African-American) on their coaching staff; Olympic track and field coach of 2016 bronze medalist Bolade Ajomale
US Track and Field Heptathlon champion; three-time NCAA Heptathlon champion; NCAA Top Six Award winner; Verizon Academic All-America Hall of Fame; Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame; University of Houston Hall of Honor
nine-time All-American winner in gymnastics; won NCAA championships in all-around and floor exercise in 1989; member of U.S. National team; Associate Director of Intercollegiate Athletics,
Stockton University
Jane AddamsMaya AngelouGayleatha BrownElla FitzgeraldMeta Vaux Warrick FullerAntoinette GarnesAlicia KeysCoretta Scott KingCarmen de Lavallade-HolderWangari MaathaiNichelle NicholsRosa ParksEleanor RooseveltJada Pinkett SmithAlice Walker
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| class="fn" |
Rosetta Burke
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" |
New York State and
Army National Guard's Assistant Adjutant General
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Margaret Burroughs
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | founder of DuSable Museum of African American History in
Chicago, Illinois
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Margaret Busby
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | first African book publisher in the United Kingdom; writer and broadcaster; inducted into the
Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) by
Queen Elizabeth II
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Bebe Moore Campbell
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | author of Brothers and Sisters, Singing in the Comeback Choir, and What You Owe Me
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Emma C. Chappell
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | first African-American woman to form a commercial
bank in the US
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Suzette Charles
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" |
Miss America 1984 for seven weeks after
Vanessa Lynn Williams
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
June Jackson Christmas
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | founder of the Harlem Rehabilitation Center in
Harlem, New York
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Alice Coachman
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | first African-American woman to win an Olympic Gold Medal and first American woman to win a gold medal in track and field during the
1948 Summer Olympics in
London, England
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" | Carol Thompson Cole
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | president and CEO of Venture Philanthropy Partners
| style="text-align:center;" | [127][130]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Olivia Cole
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | first African-American actress to win an
Emmy award
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Julie Dash
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" |
filmmaker of Daughters of the Dust
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Belva Davis
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | first African-American
news anchor on the
West Coast
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" | Stephanie Elam
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Alpha
| class="note" |
CNN Business News correspondent
| style="text-align:center;" | [131]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Suzanne de Passe
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | only African-American to be nominated for an
Academy Award for writing;
CEO of
de Passe Entertainment
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Sadie and
Bessie Delany
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | authors of Having Our Say and civil rights activists
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Virginia Foster Durr
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | civil rights activist who supported
sit-ins and the
Freedom Rides
| style="text-align:center;" | [127][132]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Vonetta Flowers
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | gold medal winner of
bobsledding competition in
the 2002 Winter Olympics; first African-American (male or female) to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | artist and sculptor
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" | Bettiann Gueno Gardner
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | first African-American woman to be part-owner of a major
National Basketball Association team, the
Chicago Bulls
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Zina Garrison
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | first African-American to win a
tennis medal
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Marla Gibbs
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | actress on 227 and The Jeffersons
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Allyson Maynard Gibson
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | Attorney-General of the Bahamas, barrister, politician, and community rights advocate
| style="text-align:center;" | [134]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" | Patricia P. Gibson
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | businesswoman, recipient of the William F. Nabors Marketer of the Year Award
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Coretta Scott King
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | civil rights leader; wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Gladys Knight
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | lead singer of
Gladys Knight and the Pips; Grammy Award-winning
gospel and R&B artist
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Wangari Muta Maathai
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | first African woman to receive
Nobel Peace Prize
| style="text-align:center;" | [129]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Julia Cooper Mack
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | Senior judge of
District of Columbia's Court of Appeals
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Jessie Bryant Mosley
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | founder of the Smith-Robertson Museum and Cultural Center
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Constance Baker Motley
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | African-American civil rights activist,
judge, and
state senator
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Nichelle Nichols
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | actress on Star Trek;
NASA recruiter
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Rosa Parks
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | civil rights leader; catalyst for the
Montgomery bus boycott
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Mary E. Peabody
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | activist in civil and human rights
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Jo Marie Payton
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | actress on Family Matters
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Ernesta Procope
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | president of E. G. Bowman Company, Incorporated
| style="text-align:center;" | [127][138]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
M. Athalie Range
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | first African-American to serve on
MiamiCity Commission and
Florida's Department of Community Affairs
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Alma G. Stallworth
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" |
Michigan state representative
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" | Deborah Stewart-Parker
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | president and CEO/Consultant of International Business Solutions; first woman to lead an assembly plant at
Ford Motor Company
| style="text-align:center;" | [139]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
C. Vivian Stringer
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" |
Rutgers University head basketball coach
| style="text-align:center;" | [129]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Marietta Tree
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | first U.S. woman ambassador to the
United Nations; founder of Sydenham Hospital,
Harlem, first interracial hospital in the US
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
C. Delores Tucker
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | civil rights activist; first African-American
Secretary of State in
Pennsylvania (1971-77)
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" | Delores D. Wharton
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | president of the Fund for Corporate Initiatives; on the board of directors for
Phillips Petroleum,
Gannett, and
Kellogg
| style="text-align:center;" | [127][140]
}}
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Carol H. Williams
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" | founder of the Carol H. Williams Advertising Agency
| style="text-align:center;" | [129]
|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard"
| class="fn" |
Jane C. Wright
| style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Honorary
| class="note" |
surgeon and
cancer researcher
| style="text-align:center;" | [127]
}}
Citations
^"AKA Quick Facts"(PDF). Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 2007-06-30. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
^"History of Lambda Zeta". Lambda Zeta of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. Archived from
the original on February 26, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
^Schaller, Thomas F.; King-Meadows, Tyson (2006). Devolution and Black state legislators: challenges and choices in the twenty-first century. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 39.
ISBN978-0-7914-6729-9.
McNealey, Earnestine G. (2006). Pearls of Service: The Legacy of America's First Black Sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. Chicago: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
LCCN2006928528.
Parker, Marjorie H. (1966). Alpha Kappa Alpha: Sixty Years of Service. Chicago: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
Parker, Marjorie H. (1979). Alpha Kappa Alpha: In the Eye of the Beholder. Chicago: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
Parker, Marjorie H. (1990). Alpha Kappa Alpha Through the Years: 1908-1988. Chicago: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
Parker, Marjorie H. (1999). Past Is Prologue: The History of Alpha Kappa Alpha 1908-1999. Chicago: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
ISBN978-0-933244-00-9.
Ross, Jr., Lawrence (2000). The Divine Nine: The History of African-American Fraternities and Sororities in America. New York: Kensington.
ISBN978-1-57566-491-0.