


Soror Nellie Quander
and the Right to Vote
On February 15, 1913, Howard University graduate and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority international president Nellie May Quander wrote a letter to Alice Paul, the organizer of the 1913 suffrage parade expressing that “there were a number of college women of Howard University who would like to participate in the women suffrage procession,” but not if they were forced to deal with "discrimination on account of race affiliation.” Quander did not receive a response. Two days later, Quander wrote a second letter to Paul reiterating the desire to participate and asking to be positioned “in a desirable place in the college women’s section.”

A Historic FIRST:
The National Non-Partisan Council of Public Affairs (NPC), the first African American lobby organization, was launched in 1938.
"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."
— Soror Norma Elizabeth Boyd, Founder of the NPC
...Sorors in Retrospect
Diamond Soror Myra Briggs Delta Rho Omega
Diamond Soror Mildred Robinson Holmes Zeta Omega
Pearl Soror Jacqueline Wade Alpha Alpha Tau Omega