ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA SORORITY, INCORPORATED ®

ALPHA PSI OMEGA CHAPTER

On behalf of the Alpha Psi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®, I bring you greetings.

Alpha Psi Omega, chartered June 2, 1932, has served the Greater Wilmington, NC area with distinction for years.  Our charter members had a vision, which culminated in Alpha Psi Omega, the FIRST Greek letter organization among African-American women in Southeastern North Carolina. We have celebrated over 90 years of service and sisterhood in this area.

The program theme for 2022-2026 is Soaring to Greater Heights of Service and Sisterhood. This administration has six initiatives. Strengthen Our Sisterhood will serve as the administration’s “Foundation Initiative” as we strengthen our bonds to support our service mission. The remaining five initiatives will serve as the “Program Initiatives” which include:

Empower Our Families
Build Our Economic Wealth
Enhance Our Environment
Advocate for Social Justice
Uplift Our Local Community

In order to execute this program, we partner with local civic and government organizations to directly help our neighbors at the point of impact.

 We invite you to explore our website to see the evidence of our work in the community and the programming thrusts we emphasize.  We also serve as mentors and advisors to the UNCW Omicron Phi undergraduate chapter.

We look forward to working with you as we Soar to Greater Heights of Service and Sisterhood.

In Sisterly Service,
Onya Z. Gardner,
President

APO CHAPTER OFFICERS

ONYA Z. GARDNER, TIANNA F. BUIE, REGINA WOOTEN, TARKISHA J. WILLIAMS,
PRESIDENT VICE-PRESIDENT ECORDING SECRETARY ASSISTANT SECRETARY

CASSANDRA s.CRUMDY, SONJA A. REDD, LANETTA PANTIEL, MELISSA m. WAITES,
TREASURER FINANCIAL SECRETARY PARLIAMENTARIAN CORRESPONDING
SECRETARY

TANYA D. JORDAN, SHEMEKA H. KEMP, KATHERINE h. GRICE, DEBRA KNOX,
chaplain hostess sergeant-at-arms historian

REBECCA H. HIXON, CHRYSTAL FRAY DAVIS, jihan francois, jhaniqua f. palmer
IVY LEAF REPORTER GRADUATE ADVISOR NOMINATING COMMITTEE nominating committee

ALPHA PSI OMEGA CHAPTER CHARTER MEMBERS

“THE VISIONARY FIVE”

Bettye Estelle Graves
Dora Tynes Smith Jones
Alice Wood Lofton
Catherine Howze Robinson
Fannie Penelope White

OUR HISTORY

“IN THE BEGINNING…THERE WAS MOTIVATION”

The history of Alpha Psi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® (AKA), is the story of people who were motivated by a vision. During the mid 1920s Alice Wood and Fannie White were students at Wilberforce University, an African Methodist Episcopal College in Wilberforce, Ohio. They were both from Wilmington, North Carolina; they both graduated from Williston Industrial High School, and they both belonged to historic St. Stephen A.M.E. Church. It was quite natural that their interests ran parallel when it came to pledging a sorority during their college years. Thus, they both chose Zeta Chapter of AKA at Wilberforce. Another of their college acquaintances by the name of Bettye found employment in New Orleans, Louisiana. Little did they know at the time that their paths would cross again only a few years later. Bettye eventually found her way to Wilmington where she join her friends from college. All three acquired employment with the New Hanover County Board of Education. Destiny had set its course and the best was yet to come for these highly motivated young women and the community they desired to serve.

Undaunted by the Great Depression looming in America at the time, not to mention the devastating effects this nationwide poverty epidemic had on their hometown, they persevered in an effort to continue their “Service to Mankind” as they had done in college. The three of them entertained the idea of starting a graduate chapter of AKA in Wilmington only to find that there were others who were interested as well. They recruited Catherine Howze Robinson and Dora Tynes (Jones) to join them in their quest. On June 2, 1932, Alpha Psi Omega Chapter of Alpha Appa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® became a reality, setting the stage for over 90 years of service to the Wilmington community and surrounding areas.

Although they did not officially meet until the fall of 1932, the newly chartered chapter made an instant impact on the community. Those industrious pioneers were anxious to acquaint the community with the dynamic presence of AKA in Wilmington. They initially hosted a complimentary dance at a facility called “The Barn,” know to many as a place where people dressed up for events and enjoyed featured performers of the era. The wheels were now in motion and there was no stopping the momentum. In order to further their ambitions to help others, they of course needed funds. Although small in number, they set about planning programs and activities with vigor. Such innovative fund-raising activities included dramatic performances by local artists and great artists from other areas.

Alpha Psi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® started with the vision of three young women with similar interests, goals, and values, as well as a desire to make a difference through service. The youthful enthusiasm of those young women flourished into the seed that produced the first of its kind in southeastern North Carolina. Their vision - over 90 years later, lives on.

Elizabeth Green Holmes Saulter joined the group at their first official meeting following the chartering of the chapter. She went on to be a stalwart in the chapter for well over 50 years, serving as Treasurer for many of those years. She became instrumental in carrying on the vision long after the others had passed on from this life.

PRESIDENTS OF ALPHA PSI OMEGA CHAPTER

Alice Wood Lofton 1932 - 1934

Fannie Penelope White 1934 - 1936

Sara Avant Moultrie 1936 -1940

Elizabeth Green Holmes 1941 - 1945

Frances Estelle Payne 1946 - 1946

Lucille Whitty Chavis 1947 -1948

Fannie Penelope White 1949 - 1951

Elizabeth Green Holmes 1951 - 1953

Anna Gardner Burnett 1953 - 1954

Edith Gertrude Jervay 1954 -1955

Alice Wood Lofton 1956 -1958

Dorothy Bailey Jackson 1959 - 1962

Inez Sophia Richardson 1963 -1963

Elizabeth Green Holmes 1964 -1965

Alice Wood Lofton 1966 -1968

Mary Delores Quick Moore 1969 - 1971

Bertha Boykin Todd 1972 - 1974

Inez Sophia Richardson 1975 -1976

Billie Ann Burnett 1977 - 1977

Annie Paige Fulbright Harris 1977 - 1978

Mary Delores Quick Moore 1979 - 1980

Addie Nixon Dunlap 1981 - 1984

Irma Reed Brown 1985 - 1989

Gussie Wylene Miller Mapson 1980 - 1992

Patricia Duren Waddell 1993 - 1995

Miriam Delores Fennell Davis 1995 - 1998

Lethia Sherman Hankins 1999 - 2002

Ivy Lori Murrain 2003 - 2006

Gussie Wylene Miller Mapson 2007 - 2010

Rachel DeVore Stephens, PhD 2010 - 2015

Kimberly Bankston, Esq. 2016 - 2017

Lula Little 2017 - 2019

Chrystal Fray Davis 2020 - 2022

Onya Gardner 2023 - Present

THE JEWELS OF ALPHA PSI OMEGA CHAPTER

GOLDEN SORORS: Sonja Adger-Redd, Grace Byrd, Margaret Fredlaw, Bettie J. Glenn, Barbara Kane, Cecilia A. Mitchell, Deloris Rhodes, Bessie Slade, Natalie Hinton Stallings, Acquenetta Wheeler.

PEARL SORORS: Lydia Braye

DIAMOND SORORS: Geneva Clark, Bertha B. Todd

last update: MARCH 2024