Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession: Correcting the Record

The Woman Suffrage Procession held on March 3, 1913, in Washington, D.C., marked a pivotal moment in American political history. Organized by Alice Paul and the National American Woman Suffrage Association, the parade symbolized a public demand for women’s enfranchisement, but it also laid bare the racial tensions within the broader suffrage movement. Amidst this complex backdrop, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®—the first Greek-letter sorority established by African American college women—played a significant, though often misrepresented, role in the day’s events.

Founded in 1908 at Howard University, Alpha Kappa Alpha was the only Black sorority in existence at the time of the 1913 march. Its members were part of a small but influential cadre of African American women attending institutions of higher education. By 1913, Alpha Kappa Alpha had already established a tradition of service and intellectual leadership, and its members were well aware of the political significance of the suffrage movement and the implications of exclusion from it (Giddings 56–57).

Contrary to later narratives attributing participation to sororities not yet founded, archival documents confirm Alpha Kappa Alpha’s direct involvement. Nellie M. Quander, Supreme Basileus of Alpha Kappa Alpha, corresponded with parade organizer Alice Paul to advocate for the inclusion of Howard University women in the collegiate division. In a letter dated February 15, 1913, Paul responded that she would like "to decide on the best place for your section," indicating that Quander was actively negotiating their placement (Cahill 103). Her efforts ensured that Howard women, many of whom were Alpha Kappa Alpha members, would be publicly represented in the parade, resisting efforts to relegate Black participants to the rear. Another honorary member of the Sorority, Julia Lathrop, a social reformer and the first director of the United States Children’s Bureau, was also a public advocate for Black women’s voting rights and supported the inclusion of the Howard women in the procession.

Alice Paul, though initially supportive of Black suffragists’ participation, ultimately acquiesced to segregationist pressures from Southern white women. Paul had originally invited Black suffragists to march, but when objections arose, she attempted to minimize their visibility by proposing they march inconspicuously within the larger body. When some thirty African American students from Howard University insisted on marching under their own collegiate banner, Paul refused. She later “compromised” by allowing them to march—separated from white women by a delegation of white male suffrage allies (Vassar College Libraries). Mary Church Terrell, the first president of the National Association of Colored Women, marched proudly with the Howard women. Similarly, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, after being told to march in a segregated unit, defiantly stepped from the crowd to join her state’s (Illinois) delegation mid-parade.

These arrangements bore fruit. According to The Times Dispatch of Richmond, Virginia, "colored women" from Howard University were announced as participants in the "college and New York divisions," despite dissension within the suffrage movement ranks ("Colored Women in Suffrage Parade," Times Dispatch 2). Similarly, the Joliet Evening Herald-News reported that "colored coeds" from Howard would march in the collegiate section behind Elsie Hill (“Colored Women in Suffrage Parade,” Joliet Evening Herald-News 1). The New York Age also reported on March 6, 1913, that "the colored women marched with the college women from Howard University," confirming their visible and unsegregated role in the academic delegation. Additionally, the Washington Herald stated that the college women marched “under their respective banners,” affirming the institutional presence of Howard’s delegation in the collegiate ranks.

A firsthand account published on March 14, 1913, in The Howard University Journal detailed the distinctive appearance of the Howard women: "Every girl wore tied over her shoulder and swinging down her back a large Howard pennant, presenting an admirable spectacle of uniformity" (Howard University Journal 1). According to that same publication and other historical sources, including Pauline Hill’s Too Young to Be Old: The Story of Bertha Pitts Campbell, only seniors in Howard's Class of 1913 were permitted to march with the Black women listed in The Crisis article. These seniors, likely including Alpha Kappa Alpha members Bertha McNiel, Georgiana Simpson, Harriet Shadd, and Caddie Park, were described as the only college girls wearing institutional insignia in the procession.

Contemporary accounts and scholarly analysis further reinforce Alpha Kappa Alpha’s presence. In Conversations with Alice Paul, Paul acknowledges that Howard University women participated in the procession and were organized by suffragist Elsie Hill (Paul). This direct statement validates the placement of the Howard group in the college division and contradicts efforts to retroactively assign credit elsewhere. Their placement, dress, and leadership participation reflect a coordinated, visible assertion of Black women’s intellectual and civic identity.

In conclusion, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated’s role in the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession must be reclaimed with historical accuracy. Through the documented participation of its members and the leadership of Nellie Quander, the sorority contributed both bodies and voices to a cause that would eventually reshape American democracy. Their contributions were deliberate, principled, and reflective of Alpha Kappa Alpha’s enduring motto: “By culture and by merit.”

Works Cited

Cahill, Cathleen D. Recasting the Vote: How Women of Color Transformed the Suffrage Movement. University of North Carolina Press, 2020.

Clifford, Carrie Williams. “Suffrage Paraders.” The Crisis, vol. 5, no. 6, Apr. 1913, p. 296.

“Colored Women in Suffrage Parade.” The Times Dispatch [Richmond, VA], 2 Mar. 1913, p. 2.

“Colored Women in Suffrage Parade.” Joliet Evening Herald-News [Joliet, IL], 2 Mar. 1913, p. 1.

“Colored Women March in Academic Section.” The New York Age, 6 Mar. 1913.

“College Women March with Their Banners.” The Washington Herald, 4 Mar. 1913.

Giddings, Paula. In Search of Sisterhood: Delta Sigma Theta and the Challenge of the Black Sorority Movement. HarperCollins, 1988.

Hill, Pauline S. Too Young to Be Old: The Story of Bertha Pitts Campbell. Author House, 2008.

The Howard University Journal, vol. 10, no. 21, 14 Mar. 1913, p. 1. Howard University Digital Howard. http://dh.howard.edu/huj_v10/21

Paul, Alice. Conversations with Alice Paul: Woman Suffrage and the Equal Rights Amendment. University of California Digital Library. content.cdlib.org/view?doc.view=entire_text&docId=kt6f59n89c.

“Votes for Women.” Vassar College Libraries, https://vclibrary.vassarspaces.net/votes-for-women/essay-votes-for-women/.

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