History, Heritage and Timeless Service 1955-2013: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Zeta Omicron Omega Chapter Mid-Atlantic Region

By Zeta Omicron Omega Chapter

This a history book of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Zeta Omicron Omega Chapter in Kinston, N. C. . This is a written documentation of innumerable hours of service to the community. Within this book you will learn about Zeta Omicron Omega Chapter through international and chapter programs, donations, and hours of volunteering service to all mankind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jan 3, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491833858

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© 2014 Zeta Omicron Omega Chapter. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/29/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-3386-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-3384-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-3385-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013920249

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

National Perspective

Regional Perspective

Introduction

Heritage And Service

Beginning Of Service

Commemorating Chapter Service

Honoring Women Of Service

Sharing Service With Others

Programs Of Service

Donations And Community Service

Service To The Youth

Financial Operations Make Service Possible

First In Service

Service Leaders

Years Of Service

Bibliography

Appendix

Zeta Omicron Omega History and Archives Committee

The following members dedicated countless hours of their time and energy toward the completion of this book. The chapter thanks each member for their effort and dedication.

Chair

Iris Jones-Nelson

Members:

Wanda Barnes

Geraldyne Barbour

Teedra Brown

Valeria Davis

Deborah Fleming

Debra Joyner

Annie Kornegay

Denise Lanier

Betty Little

Amanda Outlaw

Barbara Seaforth

This book is dedicated to our

Distinguished and Dedicated Charter Member Of

Zeta Omicron Omega Chapter

Copy%20of%202%20Charter%20Member%20Marilyn%20Cogdell.jpg

Golden Member

Marilyn McIver Cogdell

Marilyn Mclver Cogdell, the sole living charter member of Zeta Omicron Omega Chapter has been active for 69 years, having been initiated at Virginia State College in 1944. She has served her chapter diligently as various officers and committee chairs. She received the Mid-Atlantic Regional President of the Year Award for 1980-81.

Professionally, Marilyn has been a social worker since 1947, having worked in Durham County, Craven County and was the first Black hired at Lenoir County Department of Social Services in 1951. After 15 years of employment she accepted a state position at Dobbs School as the Program Services Director in charge of social work, psychology and cottage life until her retirement in 1988.

She has been a licensed real estate broker since 1977 and was the first Black employed by Century 21, Harry H. Cummings, Inc. in Kinston, NC. She was recognized as a million dollar producer for over seven consecutive years from 1988-1995. Marilyn has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the Governor’s Award for Excellence in 1994.

AKA INTERNATIONAL HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE FOR TIMELESS HISTORIES

ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA SORORITY, INCORPORATED

A Legacy of Sisterhood and Timeless Service

Confined to what she called a small circumscribed life in the segregated and male-dominated milieu that characterized the early 1900s, Howard University co-ed Ethel Hedgeman dreamed of creating a support network for women with like minds coming together for mutual uplift, and coalescing their talents and strengths for the benefit of others. In 1908, her vision crystallized as Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first Negro Greek-letter sorority. Five years later (1913), lead incorporator Nellie Quander ensured Alpha Kappa Alpha’s perpetuity through incorporation in the District of Columbia.

Together with eight other coeds at the mecca for Negro education, Hedgeman crafted a design that not only fostered interaction, stimulation, and ethical growth among members; but also provided hope for the masses. From the core group of nine at Howard, AKA has grown into a force of more than 265,000 collegiate members and alumnae, constituting 972 chapters in 42 states, the District of Columbia, the US Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, Germany, South Korea, Japan, Liberia, and Canada.

Because they believed that Negro college women represented the highest—more education, more enlightenment, and more of almost everything that the great mass of Negroes never had—Hedgeman and her cohorts worked to honor what she called an everlasting debt to raise them (Negroes) up and to make them better." For more than a century, the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sisterhood has fulfilled that obligation by becoming an indomitable force for good in their communities, state, nation, and the world.

The Alpha Kappa Alpha program today still reflects the communal consciousness steeped in the AKA tradition and embodied in AKA’s credo, To be supreme in service to all mankind. Cultural awareness and social advocacy marked Alpha Kappa Alpha’s infancy, but within one year (1914) of acquiring corporate status, AKA had also made its mark on education, establishing a scholarship award. The programming was a prelude to the thousands of pioneering and enduring initiatives that eventually defined the Alpha Kappa Alpha brand.

Through the years, Alpha Kappa Alpha has used the Sisterhood as a grand lever to raise the status of African-Americans, particularly girls and women.