PHENOMENAL WOMEN OF ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA
Ethel Hedgeman Lyle
Founder and "The Guiding Light" of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Jane Addams
Founder of Hull House, one of the first homes for wayward girls Chicago, Illinois.
Marian Anderson
First African-American woman to sing at the Metropolitan
Opera.
Dr. Maya Angelou (1983)
Award-winning novelist and poet; Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest
University in Winston-Salem; Grammy winner for Best Spoken Word; works include
And Still I Rise, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and "Phenomenal Woman".
Yvonne Braithwaite-Burke
Former Congresswoman from California and first woman to chair the Democratic
National Convention.
Angie Brookes
The first woman President of the United Nations.
Yvette Lee Browser
Producer of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and A Different World, and creator and
executive producer of Living Single.
Bebe (Elizabeth) Moore Campbell
Accomplished Author of Brothers and Sisters and Your Blues Aint Like Mine.
Many of her writings have been featured in major publications including the
New York Times magazine and The Washington Post.
Suzette Charles
Crowned Miss America in 1984, contemporary singer and actress
Olivia Cole
Award-winning actress. Appeared in Roots and the Broadway play The Raisin
in the Sun.
Alice Coachman Davis
First African-American woman in the world to win a gold medal and first American
female to win a gold medal in track and field.
Annie Elizabeth “Bessie”
Delaney
The second African-American female to receive a dentistry license in New York;
a Civil Rights Activist
Sarah “Sadie” Delaney
Educator, Businesswoman, and Author; Co-authored the book, Having Our Say:
The Delaney Sisters’ First 100 Years
Ella Fitzgerald
Internationally famous jazz singer, known as the "First Lady of Song".
Vonetta Flowers
First African-American to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics for bobsledding.
Bettiann Guena Gardner
Co-Chairwoman of Soft Sheen Products.
Zina Garrison -Jackson
Won a gold medal and a bronze medal in 1988 for tennis doubles and singles
respectively.
Althea Gibson
A pioneer in amateur tennis and professional golf.
Gwendolyn Goldsby Grant
Advice Columnist for Essence.
Chamique Holdsclaw
Basketball Player for the Washington Mystics and Author of a book that Chronicles
her success.
Dr. Marilyn Hughes-Gaston
Assistant Surgeon General.
Shirlee Tailor Haizlip
Author of The Sweeter The Juice.
Carmen de Lavellade Holder
Renowned ballet dancer and theater actress; Performed in A Portrait of Billie,
based on the life of Billie Holiday; Professor at Yale University.
Janice Huff
NBC Meteorologist and St Louis Emmy Award Winner.
Catherine Hughes
CEO/owner of Radio One, a multimillion dollar corporation.
Dr. Mae Jemison
Became the first African-American woman astronaut in 1992. She is also a noted
physician. She has done medical studies in Cuba, Kenya, and Thailand.
Virginia Johnson
Prima ballerina, one of the original members of the Dance Theatre of Harlem;
has made guest appearances in other major ballet companies.
Star Jones
Starlet Jones is a lawyer, former assistant district attorney and former NBC
news correspondent; Former 2nd Supreme Basileus of Alpha Kappa Alpha. Also
a former legal analyst for Inside Edition, Today, and Nightly News. She is
currently a co-host of TV Show "The View".
Coretta Scott King
Civil Rights Activist, Director of Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Social
Change and Civil Rights Activism.
Gladys Knight Parker
Accomplished singer and actress.
Andrea Lyle-Wilson
Granddaughter of founder Ethel Hedgeman Lyle.
Muriel Lyle-Smith
Granddaughter of founder Ethel Hedgeman Lyle and President of Panache Productions.
Jewell Jackson McCabe
President of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.
Lt. Col. Anita McMiller
Deputy Legislative Assistant to Chairman of Joint Chief of Staff.
Toni Morrison
Nobel prize winner; novelist and poet whose works include Song of Solomon
and Beloved.
Nichelle Nichols
Actress and Activist; Star Role as Lt. Uhura of Star Trek.
Jomarie Payton Noble
Humanitarian and actress; star of Family Matters.
Sonia Norwood
Mother and manager of singer/actress Brandy Norwood.
Hazel O'Leary
United States Secretary for the Department of Energy.
Rosa Parks
Considered to be the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement", for
refusing to give up her seat to a white man in 1955. Her actions launched
the Montgomery Bus Boycott which lasted for one year.
Suzanne de Passe
Chairman and CEO of de Passe Entertainment.
Septima Poinsette Clark
A Civil Rights activist and trainer of many great civil rights activists.
Phylicia Rashad
Actress on the award-winning Cosby show and the TV series Cosby.
Roxie Roker
One of the first African-American actresses to cross the color lines and play
the wife of a White man on the television series “The Jeffersons”;
Mother of rock star Lenny Kravitz.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Humanitarian and former First Lady of the United States.
Sonia Sanchez
Noted author and poet.
Ntozake Shaunge
Author of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is
Enuf.
Jada Pinkett-Smith
Actress whose works include: The Nutty Professor, Set it Off, Menace to Society,
A Different World, and All of Us.
Georgiana Simpson
First African-American female to get a PhD.
Marietta Tree
First U.S. Woman Ambassador to the United Nations.
Dr. C. Delores Tucker
National Chairman of the National political Congress of Black Women.
Dr. Debbye (Deborah) Lynn Turner
Crowned Miss America in 1990; Humanitarian
Madame Leah Tutu
Wife of South African activist Bishop Desmond Tutu.
Iyanla Vanzant
Author of 10 books and Public Inspirational Speaker.
Marjorie Judith Vincent
Crowned Miss America in 1991.
Diane Watson
The first Black woman to preside over the California State Senate.
Faye Wattleton
The first woman to head the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Lynn Whitfield
Humanitarian and actress. She is the star of The Jospehine Baker Story.
Dorothy Cowser Yancy
President of Johnson C. Smith University.
