She entered Howard University College of Arts and Sciences in September, 1906, In February 1908, she was admitted into the newly formed Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority without initiation, one of seven students in the sophomore class so honored. She majored in mathematics and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1910. Ms. Boyd was one of two women who was both a founder and an incorporator of Alpha Kappa Alpha, In 1913, she joined Nellie Quander and Minnie Smith on the committee formed to incorporate the sorority. She was named to the position of epistoleus on the first Directorate, and following that time, held many positions of honor in Alpha Kappa Alpha. She served as North Atlantic regional director, twice as basileus of Alpha Chapter, and as charter member and basileus of Xi Omega Chapter. in addition, she chaired the first committee to raise funds for the Mississippi Health Project. Many individuals believe, however, that her greatest contribution to the sorority was the establishment of the Non-Partisan Council on Public Affairs in 1938. The Non-Partisan Council, which produced the first full-time congressional lobby for minority group rights, was designed to secure full citizenship for all members of our society. It promoted cooperative social action to eliminate discrimination at all levels of government and thus to ensure a fully integrated society. In her statement of intent for the lobby, Ms. Boyd said, ". . . We can ask for and support such measures as will assure for our people decent living conditions, permanent jobs, and a voice in determining the conditions under which they live and work. We can effect these objectives only by making our power felt in the halls and floors of Congress, and activity toward this end begins with participation in the primaries of our land."
The council was in existence for ten years. During that time, Ms. Boyd developed the program of social and legislative action which was to win national and international respect for the sorority, and would lead to the establishment of the American Council on Human Rights. The council was the first sorority or fraternity organization recognized as an accredited observer by the United Nations.
Ms. Boyd was awarded a citation as "Woman of the Year in the Field of Legislation" from the National Council of Negro Women on June 13, 1948. Ms. Boyd traveled extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America and the British West Indies. Her travels, contributions, career in education, the suffrage movement and human rights are chronicled in her autobiography, A Love That Equals My Labor Women of vision, integrity and dedication are found throughout the story of Alpha Kappa Alpha. Ms. Norma Boyd, the longest living of the founders, exemplified all these virtues and by the example of her life, served as an inspiration to many. A founder and incorporator of the sorority and founder and director of the National Non-Partisan Council on Public Affairs, she combined the ideals of service to others with a warmth and humanity recognized and appreciated wherever she was.
Norma Elizabeth Boyd died in Washington, D.C. on January 4, 1985.
1906 enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences at Howard University Ethel was one of the seven honor students of the class of 1910 who was added without initiation to the Alpha Kappa Alpha founding group in late February 1908, thus becoming one of the charter members.
On May 25, 1909, the date of the first ivy Day celebration, she was among the group of young Alpha Kappa Alpha women who planted ivy at the south end of Miner Hall. Her future husband, George Mowbray, assisted her and the other girls in the historic occasion, Beautiful ivy graces many significant locations on the Howard campus, recalling that first and subsequent Ivy Day celebrations.
In 1909, Ethel Jones was elected to be the first vice president of Alpha Kappa Alpha and in March 19 1 0, she became basileus during the last semester of her senior year.
Mrs. Mowbray was an involved Alpha Kappa Alpha soror all of her life. She was active during the period of incorporation, although she had graduated from Howard University by that time, and she was an initiator of the expansion programs which followed incorporation. In Kansas City, Kansas, after Mu Omega Chapter was established, she continued her sorority activities on the local level, She also worked with the PTA organization on the junior high school level where she was a room mother.
The Mowbrays had two children, Helen Henry Mowbray and Dr. Geraldine Mowbray Arnette. Dr. Arnette, a practicing physician, is also an Alpha Kappa Alpha woman and now lives in Hyattsville, Maryland.
Ethel Jones Mowbray lived and worked in Kansas until her death on November 25, 1948.
Alice P. Murray There is only a meager record of the life history of Alice P. Murray, one of the founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. It is known that she was a member of the group of sophomores admitted to the sorority in the spring of 1908, and that she was an active participant in the early days.
Her father was P. A. Murray, and the family lived on U. Street in Washington, D.C. She entered Teachers College of Howard University in 1906, and graduated with a B.A. degree in liberal arts and pedagogy in 1910. As a student, she took many classes in kindergarten teaching methods. A number of articles written by Alice Murray were published by the Howard University journal. She was obviously very interested in music and she reviewed the Howard University Glee Club performances. Her short stories reveal her to have been a sensitive, cultivated person, Alice Murray disclosed some of her thoughts in the following poem included in a short story published when she was at Howard University.
Men I dreamed of autumn
I visioned pomp and charm,
A mallard winging swiftly south
Fleeing a hunter's harm;
A wild goose flying high and fast
Over swamp and moor
A weasel weaving through the grass
Training a rabbit's spoor
But autumn as I saw it,
Was not like this, alas
The duck is in the haversack,
The goose lies in the grass.
The rabbit hangs in the market,
And the weasel will never pass.
Sarah Meriweather Nutter was born in Washington, D.C. Her mother, Mrs. Mary L. Meriweather, was a teacher in the local public schools for many years, she later became a charter member of Xi Omega Chapter and for a number of years Mrs. Meriweather was the sorority's oldest active member. Mrs. Nutter's father, James Meriweather, was an alumnus and trustee of Howard University.
Sara Meriweather graduated from M. Street High School in 1906 and entered the College of Arts and Sciences, Howard University Her associates say she was always in a hurry and was extremely efficient. She was asked to become a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha because of her seriousness, studiousness and her scholastic ability She was an honor student majoring in English and history. Unlike most of her contemporaries, she graduated from Miner Normal School in 1912, two years after her graduation from Howard. Later in 1915, she pursued graduate studies at the University of Chicago. She taught English at the Teacher Training School in Baltimore, at Howard University, and at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C.
In 1914, Sarah Meriweather represented Howard University at the World Student Federation Convention at Princeton, New Jersey She sent Nellie Quander a piece of ivy from the grave of former President Grover Cleveland. This cutting was planted on the right side of the Manual Arts Building at Howard University.
In 1920, she married Attorney T. Gillis Nutter and moved to Charleston, West Virginia. Mrs. Nutter became a very active member of the Charleston community. Perhaps her most outstanding work was with the local branch of the NAACP, which she served as director of the Program Committee and chairman of the Education Committee. Mrs. Nutter was the organizer of the College Alumni Club of Kanawha County, West Virginia, and of the Book Lovers Club in Charleston. She was the first Black member of the West Virginia Society for Crippled Children.
In 1922, she helped to establish Nu Chapter at West Collegiate Institute (West Virginia State College), and in 1934 she organized Beta Beta Omega Chapter in Charleston. For 27 years, she worked ardently with this chapter, Mrs. Nutter was also a much sought after speaker at local churches. Sara Meriweather Nutter died on May 10, 1950 and is buried in Washington, D.C. Her gracious manner, high ideals and superior training, as well as her important contribution to the establishment of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, will be long remembered.
In December 1935, Mrs. Shields attended the 18th Boule in Richmond, Virginia as a delegate from Phi Omega Chapter in Winston-Salem and was presented a diamond pin in recognition of her role as a founder of the sorority. Mrs. Shields was a member of the Tau Omega Chapter from 1937 until her death. She visited graduate and undergraduate chapters of the sorority throughout the United States. She kept up a lively correspondence with Soror Lavinia Norman, a distant relative with whom she was always very close. Joanna Berry Shields died on February 2, 1965 in New York City at the home of her daughter and son-in-law, Dr. and Mrs. Samuel C. Brisbane. Mrs. Shields had been a widow for a number of years. She is buried in Staten Island, New York. Mrs. Shields' dedication to her family, her sorority and her community will be long remembered by those privileged to know her.
Only a small amount of information can be found about this founding member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Carrie Snowden entered the school of Arts and Sciences, Howard University, in 1906. She was a very close friend of Harriet Terry, and in February 1908, while a sophomore, she was accepted into the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority founding group without initiation. She has been described as a small, slim, gracious young woman who was very eager to join the sorority.
When members of the sorority returned to the campus for the school year of 1909, they held a meeting to elect officers. Harriett J, Terry was elected basileus for the first semester and Ms. Snowden was elected the new epistoleus.
Ms. Snowden graduated from Howard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in May 1910. She studied English, French, German, history, geography and science. Over the years, she continued to take additional subjects such as commerce, economics, social work and mathematics. Her last registration at Howard University was in 1943, when she took a course in typing. In later years, she was employed at Howard University as a switchboard operator, a position which she held until her retirement.
Ms. Snowden was a charter member of Xi Omega Chapter, which was established in 1923. She remained active in Xi Omega Chapter, always participating on the membership and amenities committees, Ms. Snowden was shy and retiring and her work with the sorority was her only civic activity.
Carrie E. Snowden died in Washington, D.C. in 1948 and is buried there.
She was a member of the first group of sophomores added to the founding group to ensure the continuity of the organization, She was remembered by her classmates for her quiet charm and ever-present smile.
On October 30, 1908, Ms. Terry was elected treasurer. On February 11, 1909, the first initiation ceremony took place in the attic of a wing of Miner Hall, The initiation hymn, "Hail Alpha Kappa Alpha Dear," was written by Ms. Terry.
In addition to her activities with Alpha Kappa Alpha, in 1908 Ms. Terry was elected secretary of the Howard University Class of 1910. Ms. Terry graduated in May 1910, with a B.A. degree in liberal arts. Her major subject was English, although she also studied Latin, French, German, political science, pedagogy, history, and chemistry.
After graduation, she was appointed head of the department of English and history at Gloucester High School, Capahoasic, Virginia. During World War 1, she accepted a job at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C,, making and inspecting money But her love of people and joy in teaching led her to Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College in Normal, Alabama, where for 37 years she taught English.
Ms. Terry's students knew her as an avid reader, and a lover of literature, people and movies. She was a competent and conscientious teacher who - it is said - often interrupted students' oral presentations with a firm "That will do." She taught extension courses for teachers in Athens and Limestone County Georgia with much success.
Ms. Terry was a charter member of the Chapel of the Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Normal and an active member of the National Federation of Women's Clubs and of various professional organizations.
In 1949, she helped establish Epsilon Gamma Omega Chapter in Normal, and served as chapter basileus. Ms. Terry retired from teaching in 1959 and returned to Washington, D.C. to live. In Washington, she affiliated with Xi Omega Chapter where she endeared herself to all because of her friendliness, charm and seemingly endless energy.
Harriet Josephine Terry died on August 15, 1967 in Washington. Terry Hall at Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University commemorates her service to the hundreds of students whom she taught.
