Kenneth Spencer Research Library

Each week we’ll be posting a photograph from University Archives that shows a scene from KU’s past. We’ve also scanned more than 1,700 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

This week we’re highlighting photographs of an historic KU organization found within Spencer’s African American Experience Collections. Additional materials about Alpha Kappa Alpha – primarily donated by former members – can be found in Spencer’s Kansas Collection by searching our online finding aids. Records and photographs documenting the Delta’s Chapter’s history at KU can also be found in University Archives at call number RG 67/128. 

Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Chapter, 1930. Dorothy Hodge Johnson Collection.
Call Number: RH MS-P 549. Click image to enlarge.

The Delta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated celebrates its first 100 years at the University of Kansas during the weekend of February 13-15, 2015. It is the first African American Greek-letter organization chartered at KU.

Their national organization, Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA), which began in 1908 at Howard University, is our nation’s first sorority organized by African American college and university women. Today AKA includes members from diverse racial and ethnic identities.

On Friday, February 13, 2015, from 1p.m. to 3p.m., Spencer Research Library will present a display of the Delta Chapter’s archives at the Oread Hotel. It will include these historical photographs (and the one above) from the Kansas Collection’s African American Experience Collections:

AKA Delta Chapter house at 1101 Indiana in Lawrence, circa 1940-1949.
Dorothy Hodge Johnson Collection. Call Number: RH MS-P 549. Click image to enlarge.

AKA Delta Chapter Ivy Leaf Pledge Club, 1944. Photograph by Duke D’Ambra.
Julia V. (Richards) Harris Collection. Call Number: RH MS-P 1179. Click image to enlarge.

AKA Delta Chapter Ivy Leaf Pledge Club, 1945. Photograph by Duke D’Ambra.
Julia V. (Richards) Harris Collection. Call Number: RH MS-P 1179. Click image to enlarge.

Deborah Dandridge
Field Archivist and Curator
African American Experience Collections

Tags: African American Experience, African American Experience Collections, African American life, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Deborah Dandridge, Delta Chapter, Kansas Collection, KU History, Sororities, Throwback Thursday, University history, University of Kansas

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 5th, 2015 at 4:29 pm and is filed under Kansas Collection, Throwback Thursday. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.