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Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Alpha Theta Omega Chapter


The Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) Sorority was founded in 1908 at Howard University, Washington, D.C. It was formally incorporated in 1913 as a perpetual body, and became recognized as America's first Greek-letter society established for and by African American college women. As an auxiliary of AKA, Alpha Theta Omega was formed in Raleigh, N.C. on June 15, 1928. In recent decades, the chapter's activities have emphasized service to the community in the key areas of education, health, the Black family, economics, and the arts.The collection consists chiefly of the chapter's scrapbooks compiled annually, from 1972 to 2003, with programs, news clippings, handbooks, photographs, and other printed mate ... (more below)

Title

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Alpha Theta Omega Chapter

Collection Number

Org.5

Date(s)

1972 - 2003

Language

English

Physical Description
Volumes
34
Cubic feet
6
Abstract

The Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) Sorority was founded in 1908 at Howard University, Washington, D.C. It was formally incorporated in 1913 as a perpetual body, and became recognized as America's first Greek-letter society established for and by African American college women. As an auxiliary of AKA, Alpha Theta Omega was formed in Raleigh, N.C. on June 15, 1928. In recent decades, the chapter's activities have emphasized service to the community in the key areas of education, health, the Black family, economics, and the arts.

The collection consists chiefly of the chapter's scrapbooks compiled annually, from 1972 to 2003, with programs, news clippings, handbooks, photographs, and other printed material documenting the organization's service projects and activities. Chapter scrapbooks include coverage of the annual Debutante Ball events. Additionally, the collection includes Alpha Theta Omega's scrapbooks on its nominees for the regional man of the year award, 1974-1979, and citizen of the year award, 1987.

Physical Location

For current information on the location ofthese materials, please consult the Public Services Branch, State Archives of North Carolina.

Creator

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Alpha Theta Omega Chapter

Repository

State Archives of North Carolina


Arranged chronologically.


Available for research.


Copyright is retained by the authors of these materials, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law (Title 17 US Code). Individual researchers are responsible for using these materials in conformance with copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials.


Processed by Fran Tracy-Walls, February, 2006

Encoded by Fran Tracy-Walls, February, 2006


The Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) Sorority was established in 1908 at Howard University, Washington, D.C. The sorority's founder, Ethel Hedgeman Lyle, conceived the idea of the sorority as a means of enriching college life by encouraging social and intellectual interaction among students and associates. AKA became recognized as America's first Greek-letter society in the United States established for and by African American college women. It was formally incorporated in 1913 as a perpetual body, and today has its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois.

From a single undergraduate chapter, AKA has grown into the 21st century as an international organization with over 175,000 women in more than 900 chapters. The mission of AKA and its affiliates is to encourage and to cultivate high scholastic and ethical standards, to promote unity and friendship among college women, to study and help alleviate problems concerning girls and women, to maintain a progressive interest in college life, and to be of service to all mankind. Candidacy for membership into Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority is open to qualifying women who are pursuing or have completed courses leading to a degree froman accredited college or university. Emphasis is upon excellence in scholarship, leadership and service. All chapters are to be involved in their respective communities in the following areas known as the  "International Five Targets:" Education, Health, the Black Family, Economics, and the Arts.

The auxiliary, Alpha Theta Omega Chapter of AKA (Raleigh, N.C.) was founded on June 15, 1928 by Ethel L. Clarke, Sarah Cochran, Eloise Cooke, Helen B. Davis, Amanda Jones, Susie Vick Perry, Ella Ryalls, Minnie D. Turner, and Celia Wortham. In 1937, Alpha Theta Omega added to community service projects the sponsorship of a debutante program. Over the years, the program has involved young women from Raleigh, the surrounding area, and sometimes from other states and foreign countries. By the end of the century, the sorority had contributed more than one million dollars in scholarship aid to debutantes matriculating at colleges and universities throughout the United States.

In 1924 Alpha Kappa Alpha had organized the various auxiliary chapters into geographic regions. Alpha Theta Omega, in 1928 joined all other North Carolina chapters and Virginia chapters as co-members of the AKA South Atlantic Region. At the 1953 convention in Newport News, Va., the Mid-Atlantic Region was formed, with North Carolina and Virginia members as its constituents.

At the 13th Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference in Raleigh in 1966, Alpha Theta Omega first gave recognition to the local outstanding male in the Raleigh area. Subsequently, in 1969, the Mid-Atlantic Region established a Man of the Year Award for the entire region. Beginning in 1981, this award title was changed to Citizen of the Year for both the Raleigh chapter and the region.

In 1967 the Alpha Theta Omega Chapter purchased property and began the renovation of a building that became its first sorority house. In 1991 the sorority dedicated a new quarter-million-dollar facility located in the heart of Southeast Raleigh African American community. At this sorority house and at other locations, sorority members support motivational programs for students such as the Walnut Terrace Housing Project programs, the AKA's On Your Side with a series on Parenting Skills, the Black Family, Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Breast Cancer, Teenage Pregnancy, Politics,and Finance.

The national AKA created in 1980 the Educational Advancement Foundation as a not-for-profit organization to provide ongoing support for its major service: education. In 2004 the Raleigh sorority established the Alpha Theta Omega Charitable Foundation, Inc. During the first years of the 21st century, the chapter's contributions to the local community have averaged fifteen thousand dollars yearly, including support of thirty service causes. These include but are not limited to the following: the Educational Advancement Foundation, the YMCA-Back A Child Program, YWCA-Back To Our Roots Program, North Carolina Symphony, Children's Concert Series, St. Augustine College, Shaw University, NAACP, United Way, Mental Health, Cerebral Palsy, and the Student Emergency Loan Fund. Additionally, the chapter is one of nine demonstration sites selected by the national AKA office, for implementation of an after school/Saturday morning reading initiative for at-risk students in grades 1-3. Known as the Ivy Reading AKAdemy, the program is funded by a federal grant, and typically serves students in a small group or in a one-to-one tutorial program.


[Identification of item], Org.5, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Alpha Theta Omega Chapter, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC, USA.


Received as gifts from various officers of the organization and accessioned July 1, 1975; June 26, 1979; November 25, 1980; July 9, 1981; September 9, 1982; December 28, 1988; October 25, 1991; May 20, 1994; November 21, 1996; July 10, 2002; January 24, 2006.


Additional information on topics found in this collection may be found in the Manuscript and Archives Reference System (MARS)  http://www.ncarchives.dcr.state.nc.us.


Scrapbooks, each covering chapter activities and projects over the course of a calendar year; and scapbooks on the Alpha Theta Omega Chapter's nominees as candidates for the regional Mid Atlantic Conference man of the year/citizen of the year award. These include John Baker former sheriff of Wake County, N.C.; Clarence Lightner, past mayor of Raleigh, N.C.; Vernon Malone, Dr. Prezell R. Robinson, former president of Saint Augustine's College, Harold H. Webb, and Daniel T. Blue, Jr., pioneering African American attorney and political leader.

Arranged chronologically.


Scrapbooks, each covering chapter activities and projects over the course of a calendar year; and scapbooks on the Alpha Theta Omega Chapter's nominees as candidates for the regional Mid Atlantic Conference man of the year/citizen of the year award. These include John Baker former sheriff of Wake County, N.C.; Clarence Lightner, past mayor of Raleigh, N.C.; Vernon Malone, Dr. Prezell R. Robinson, former president of Saint Augustine's College, Harold H. Webb, and Daniel T. Blue, Jr., pioneering African American attorney and political leader.


  • Baker, John H. (John Haywood)
  • Blue, Daniel Terry, 1949-
  • Lightner, Clarence E., 1921-
  • Malone, Vernon, 1931-
  • Robinson, Prezell R. (Prezell Russell), 1923-
  • Webb, Harold H.
  • Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Alpha Theta Omega Chapter (Raleigh, N.C.)--Awar
  • African American men--North Carolina--Raleigh
  • African American women--North Carolina--Raleigh--Societies and clubs
  • Awards--North Carolina--Raleigh
  • Civic leaders--North Carolina--Raleigh
  • Community development--North Carolina--Raleigh
  • Greek letter societies--North Carolina--Raleigh

This series includes scrapbooks on men who were nominated by the sorority as candiates for the Mid-Atlantic Region of AKA Man of the Year Award. The award title was changed in 1981 to Citizen of the Year. Nominees include John Baker, Clarence Lightner, Vernon Malone, Dr. Prezell R. Robinson, Harold H. Webb, and Daniel Terry Blue, Jr.

Item: 1  
Scrapbook on Clarence Lightner, Mayor of Raleigh
1974

Item: 2  
Scrapbook on Dr. Prezell R. Robinson, President of St. Augustine's College
1975

Item: 3  
Scrapbook on Vernon Malone, [member of Wake County School Board and County Commission and holder of other public service positions.
1977

Item: 4  
Scrapbook on John H. Baker, Sheriff of Wake County
1978

Item: 5  
Scrapbook on Harold H. Webb, [former school teacher and principal, and holder of a number of public service positions]
1979

Item: 6  
Scrapbook on Daniel T. Blue, Jr. [Pioneering African American attorney, political leader since the 1970s and founding member of the N.C. Legislative Black Caucus, organized in 1983]

This series consists primarily of the chapter's annual scrapbooks containing programs, news clippings, handbooks, photographs, and other printed material documenting the organization's activities. These albums highlight Alpha Theta Omega's involvement and leadership in the community through its commitment to AKA's  "International Five Targets:" Education, Health, the Black Family, Economics, and the Arts. Chapter scrapbooks also include coverage of the annual Debutante Ball and related events and activities. Additionally, there is one scrapbook of a reading program workshop, 1979.

Item: 7  
Chapter Scrapbook
1972

Item: 8.1  
Chapter Scrapbook
1973

Item: 8.2  
Chapter Scrapbook, (cont.)
1973

Item: 9  
Chapter Scrapbook
1974

Item: 10  
Chapter Scrapbook
1975

Item: 11  
Chapter Scrapbook
1976-1977

Item: 12  
Chapter Scrapbook
1978

Item: 13  
Chapter Scrapbook
1979

Item: 14  
Chapter Project Scrapbook: Reading Program Workshop
1979

Item: 15  
Chapter Scrapbook
1980

Item: 16  
Chapter Scrapbook
1981

Item: 17  
Chapter Scrapbook
1982

Item: 18  
Chapter Scrapbook
1983

Item: 19  
Chapter Scrapbook
1984

Item: 20  
Chapter Scrapbook
1985

Item: 21  
Chapter Scrapbook
1986

Item: 22  
Chapter Scrapbook
1987

Item: 23  
Chapter Scrapbook
1988

Item: 24  
Chapter Scrapbook
1989

Item: 25  
Chapter Scrapbook
1990

Item: 26  
Chapter Scrapbook
1991

Item: 27  
Chapter Scrapbook
1992

Item: 28  
Chapter Scrapbook
1993

Item: 29  
Chapter Scrapbook
1994

Item: 30  
Chapter Scrapbook
1995

Item: 31  
Chapter Scrapbook
1999

Item: 32  
Chapter Scrapbook
2000

Item: 33  
Chapter Scrapbook
2002

Item: 34  
Chapter Scrapbook
2003