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Image / Group portrait of 10 Alpha Kappa Alpha women, Los Angeles, 1920-1930

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Title
Group portrait of 10 Alpha Kappa Alpha women, Los Angeles, 1920-1930
Alternative Title
Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority
Date Created and/or Issued
[1920-1930]
1920/1930
Contributing Institution
UCLA, Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library
Collection
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
Rights Information
spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
Description
Helen Wheeler Riddle was the first African American woman to graduate from USC Law School. She was a member of the Los Angeles branch of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. She was active in clubs and events. She was the uncredited author of the USC Fight Song.
Top row from left: Corine Stovall, Ph.G., Minnie Mitchell Wickliffe, Ph. B., Vada Somerville, D.D.S., Alice Garrott, D.D.S., La Verne Martin, Junior Liberal Arts. Bottom row from left: Hortense Taylor, Junior Liberal Arts; Grace Broyles, A.B.; Helen Wheeler, Junior Law; Naida McCullough, Grad. Music; Hazel Baskins, Senior Liberal Arts; Edith A. Jones, A.B.
LaVerne Martin was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and a member of community clubs and organizations.
Dr. Alice Watkins Garrott was a dentist who married dentist. Dr. Alva Curtis Garrott.
Minnie Mitchell Wickliffe taught at Emerson Institute in Mobile, Alabama, and in high schools in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and St. Louis, Missouri. She was married to Gustavus Woodson Wickliffe, an attorney, and her children were Caroline Wickliffe Antoine and Gustavus Woodson Wickliffe. She was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority branch in Los Angeles. She was active in clubs and events.
Hortense Taylor was a member of the Los Angeles branch of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. She was active in clubs and events.
Corine Stovall was a member of the Stovall family of Los Angeles, and was active with events for the Stovall Foundation. She was active in clubs and events aimed at community uplift, often called the African American clubwomen’s movement..
Alpha Kappa Alpha (ΑΚΑ) is a Greek-lettered sorority, the first established by African-American college women on January 15, 1908 at Howard University. The membership is for college-educated women.
Dr. Vada Somerville (born Vada Jetmore Watson) of Pomona graduated from USC, married dentist John Alexander Somerville (1912), was the first African American woman and the second African American person to graduate from USC School of Dentistry (1918), and was the first African American woman certified to practice dentistry in the state of California. She was a civil rights activist, highly involved in several civic and community organizations.
Naida McCullough was a school teacher in Los Angeles, and a charter member of the University of Southern California Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. She served as president for the USC branch. In 1925 she also was a temporary Far Western regional director and she established the Alpha Gamma Chapter at the University of California, Los Angeles. She was a well-known concert pianist and art patron.
Caption below: Top Row, left to right--Corine Stovall, Ph.G., Minnie Mitchell Wickliffe, Ph.B., Vada Somerville, D.D.S., Alice Garrott, D.D.S., LaVerne Martin, Junior Liberal Arts. Bottom Row--Hortense Taylor, Junior Liberal Arts; Grace Broyles, A.B.; Helen Wheeler, Junior Law; Naida McCullough, Grad. Music; Hazel Baskins, Senior Liberal Arts; Edith A. Jones, A.B.
Type
image
Identifier
uclalsc_1889_b25_f04_004.tif
ark:/21198/z19c8fkh
Subject
African American civic leaders
African American Greek letter societies
African American clubwomen’s movement
Riddle, Helen Wheeler, 1904-1956
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
McCullough, Naida
Minnie Mitchell Wickliffe, 1872-1960
Garrott, Alice Watkins, 1889-1985
Broyles, Grace
Taylor, Hortense
Jones, Edith A., 1891-1983
Baskins, Hazel
Martin, LaVerne
Somerville, Vada, 1885-1972
Stovall, Corine, 1897-1991
Source
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections

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