On January 15, 1908, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority became America’s first Greek-letter organization established by black college women.  Her roots date back to Howard University, Washington D.C., where the idea for formation was conceived by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle of St. Louis, Missouri.  She viewed the Sorority as an instrument for enriching the social and intellectual aspects of college life by providing mental stimulation through interaction with friends and associates. Through the years, however, Alpha Kappa Alpha's function has become more complex. After her incorporation as a perpetual body in 1913, Alpha Kappa Alpha gradually branched out and became the channel through which selected college-trained women improved the socioeconomic conditions in their city, state, nation, and the world.

Alpha Kappa Alpha cultivates and encourages high scholastic and ethical standards; promotes unity and friendship among college women; alleviates problems concerning girls and women; maintains a  progressive interest in college life; and serves all mankind through a nucleus of more than 170,000 women in the United States, the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. is the international standard of true sisterhood, service, and scholarship.

Alpha Kappa Alpha was founded by twenty college students known as "The Twenty Pearls." These Beautiful Women Are:

 Pearl Anna Easter Brown, Pearl Beulah Burke, Pearl Lillie Burke, Pearl Marjorie Hill, Pearl  Margaret Flagg Holmes, Pearl Ethel Hedgeman Lyle, Pearl Lavinia Norman, Pearl Lucy Slowe ,Pearl Marie Woolfolk Taylor, Pearl Norma Boyd, Pearl Ethel Jones Mowbray, Pearl Alice Murray, Pearl Sarah Meriweather Nutter, Pearl Joanna Berry Shields, Pearl Carrie Snowden ,Pearl Harriett Terry, Pearl Nellie Quander, Pearl Nellie Pratt Russell, Pearl Julia Brooks, & Pearl Minnie Smith.