The nine Howard University students who had been led by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle into a sisterhood in 1908, Nellie Quander and her gallant group who contributed the added dimension of national organization and perpetual membership, and those who have come after them, the never-ending stream of eternally young, hopeful enthusiastic women, need to be remembered. The efforts of these Alpha Kappa Alpha women in scholarship promotion, vocational guidance, encouragement of foreign study, health services, and the promotion of human and civil rights constitute a priceless part of the Black experience in America. Alpha Kappa Alpha is the oldest Greek-letterorganization established in America by Black college women. The record of its origin, growth and development, activities, evolving goals and accomplishments is more than an interesting chronicle of a colorful bit of college-based Americana. It is, rather, a significant and inspiring reflection of the development of a minority group in a changing culture.

In 1908, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority became America's first Greek-letter organization established by and for Black women. Her roots date back to Howard University, 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.

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