Ethel Hedgeman Lyle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ethel Hedgeman Lyle
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Ethel Hedgeman Lyle, original founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha
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| Born | February 10, 1887 |
| Died | November 28, 1950 (aged 63) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Howard University (BA) |
Ethel Hedgeman Lyle (born Ethel Hedgeman, February 10, 1887 – November 28, 1950) was a very important person. She helped start the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority (AKA) at Howard University in 1908. This was the first sorority created by African-American college women. Many people call Ethel Hedgeman Lyle the "Guiding Light" for this organization.
Ethel worked as a teacher for forty years. She was also very active in her community. She served as the National Treasurer for the sorority for over twenty years. Ethel Hedgeman Lyle was the first president of Omega Omega. This was the first alumnae chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha in Philadelphia. She also helped start the West Philadelphia chapter of the League of Women Voters. In 2000, a school in St. Louis, Missouri, was named the Ethel Hedgeman Lyle Academy in her honor.
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Early Life and Education
Ethel Hedgeman was born in 1887 in St. Louis, Missouri. She went to public schools in St. Louis. In 1904, Ethel graduated with honors from Sumner High School. She was the first student from Sumner to get a scholarship to Howard University. Howard was a top college for Black students.
Ethel started at Howard University in 1904. She had to take a break from her studies because she got sick. While in college, she was part of the Howard choir. She also joined the YWCA and the Christian Endeavor. She enjoyed being in drama plays too. People said she was lively and charming, even though her health was delicate.
Her Career and Impact
Starting Alpha Kappa Alpha
Ethel Hedgeman played a key role in creating Alpha Kappa Alpha. This was the first Greek-letter organization started by Black college women in America. She got the idea from a Howard faculty member, Miss Ethel Tremaine Robinson. Miss Robinson shared her own sorority experiences from Brown University.
Ethel began looking for interested classmates in early 1907. She and eight other students officially founded Alpha Kappa Alpha on January 15, 1908. Ethel Hedgeman was the sorority's vice-president. She also designed the special symbol, or insignia, for the sorority.
Teaching and Community Work
After graduating in 1909 with a degree in liberal arts, Ethel became a teacher. Her first job was in Eufaula, Oklahoma. She taught music at Sumner Normal School from 1909 to 1910. She was the first African-American woman college graduate to teach in an Oklahoma normal school. She also earned a Teacher's Life Certificate there. In 1910, Ethel moved to Centralia, Illinois, where she continued teaching.
On June 21, 1911, Ethel Hedgeman married George Lyle. They had known each other since high school and college. They moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There, Ethel gave birth to their only child, George III. George Lyle was also a teacher. Both believed teaching was very important for the future of African Americans.
Ethel kept teaching in Philadelphia. She taught English at the Thomas Purham School and Chester A. Arthur School. She retired in 1948, after teaching for almost forty years. She helped many generations of students.
Besides teaching, Ethel was active in public life. She helped create important community groups. These included the West Philadelphia League of Women Voters and the Mother's Club. She was also a member of the Republican Women's Committee of Ward 40. She was very involved in her church.
Ethel was the national treasurer of Alpha Kappa Alpha from 1923 to 1946. She helped guide the sorority through big changes. These included the Great Migration, when many African Americans moved from the South to the North. She also led during the Great Depression and World War II. In 1926, she started and became the first president of Omega Omega in Philadelphia. This was the first alumnae chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha in the city.
In 1937, the Mayor of Philadelphia asked Ethel to lead a special committee. This Committee of 100 Women planned the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution.
Later Life and Legacy
Ethel Hedgeman Lyle passed away on November 28, 1950, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Honors and Recognition
The spirit of AKA hovering over us and our little deeds and acts—smoothing here, covering there, broadening younger, and making us do our best to think, to act, up to the highest in us. It is a force bigger than we are, stronger than we are, and it compels us to climb to the heights where it dwells.
Ethel Hedgeman Lyle received many awards for her achievements. In 1926, Alpha Kappa Alpha named her Honorary Basileus. This was a special title given only to her. In 1951, the sorority started the Ethel Hedgeman Lyle Endowment Fund. This fund helps support the sorority's work.
Her granddaughters, Andrea Lyle-Wilson and Muriel Lyle-Smith, became honorary members of Alpha Kappa Alpha in 1994. In 2018, her great-great granddaughter, Chantél Harris, also became an honorary member. In 2020, another great-great granddaughter, Scierra Hall, joined the Alpha Chapter at Howard University.
In St. Louis, where Ethel was born, a group of Alpha Kappa Alpha members opened a charter school. It is called the Ethel Hedgeman Lyle Academy. It started in 2000 and now teaches hundreds of children from kindergarten to 10th grade.
