On a cold, windy morning nearly 84 years ago, a group of distinguished women gathered together for a special occasion. They stood in front of the Y.W.C.A. building in New Orleans as members of the 1935 Alpha Beta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Pictured above are:

Zeldon Belton, Anna Mae Berhel, Margaret Davis Bowen, Vera Brown, Ruth Carter, June Cotton, Gloria Dejoie, Annabelle Douglas, Hattie Duval, Iris Garret, Mildred Hall, Lucille Hutton, Elizabeth Jones, Lois LaBranche, Lucille Seraphin, Edna Simmons, Doris Taylor, Cecilia Thomas, Ella Ruth Thomas, Lucille Tureaud, Dorothea Washington, Audrey Williams, Fannie C. Williams, Edith Winand.

From November 15-17th., these ladies hosted the South Central Regional A.K.A. Conference here in the city for local members and visiting sorors from several other states across the South. It promised to be a major social event and lots of planning and hard work went into making it successful.

 Visiting Sorors From Out of Town : 

Octavier Alexander, Henrietta Baranco, Mattye Bedford, Viola Butler, Gladys Davis, Lois Davis, Hazel Hainsworth, Bernice James, Ollevette Jones, Elsie Lewis, Etta Moten, Mable Seats, and Dorothea Washington.

After posing for the above photo, the ladies gathered together in the reading room of the Y.W.C.A. to conduct conference business. They were welcomed by Anna Mae Berhel (local Basileus) along with Soror Lois Davis (Conference Director).

 The conference theme chosen was ” Make Your Community More A.K.A. Conscious.” One of the most interesting sessions of the day was a panel discussion on “The Place of Alpha Kappa Alpha in a Changing Social Order” which was led by educator, Fannie C. Williams. The meeting was then opened to general discussion, followed by a model initiation and a reconsecration service which marked the close of the business portion of the conference.

Four young women were installed as members that day. They were Lucille Hutton, Lucille Seraphin, Ruth Carter, and Dorothy Gordon of Jackson, Mississippi.

On Friday night, a lovely social affair was held in honor of all the visiting sorors in Hartzell Hall of the Peck Memorial Home on Pitt Street. Soft piano music was played by Ashton Murray. The hall was artistically decorated with swaying palms, as well as an electrically-lighted ivy emblem in the center of the mantel. Down the length of the table were ivy leaves, lovely pink baskets with pink mints, and a cedar letter file for each soror.

The closing social event of the conference was an informal “Get Together” to pay homage to Etta Moten, an AKA sister who appeared in a recital earlier at the Pythian Temple.

Etta Moten (1901-2004)

Etta Moten was an A.K. A. sister who was in town for the Regional Conference. She attended the functions given by her sisters that weekend, but is especially remembered as a great motion picture star and contralto vocalist. She was the 1st black American celebrity to perform at the White House in 1933 and is identified with her signature role as “Bess” in Porgy and Bess. She also became a civic activist, philanthropist, and supporter of cultural, social, and church institutions.

The Ladies of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority

On this special weekend, the Alpha Kappa Alpha sisters were assisted by another great group of sorority women, the ladies of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. The Deltas were there to help their sisters in time of need just as the A.K.A.s would be there to assist the Deltas whenever called upon to do so.

On Saturday from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m., a group of Delta Sigma Theta ladies entertained the A.K.A. sorors and their guests with a buffet luncheon given at the home of Mrs. Jesse Covington Dent. In the center of the table was the emblem of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority made of violets. Around the emblem was the ivy, the emblem of the Alpha Kappa Alpha.

Sorors from both groups were introduced to one another and thereafter the feeling of good fellowship prevailed. Afterwards, everyone was invited to go to the table and serve themselves.

The Entertaining Deltas were:

Emma Adams, Estelle Baranco, Julia Washington Bond, Irma Burleigh, Elizabeth Davis, Jessie Dent, Irene Edmond, Sylvia Labat and Oralee Baranco Mitchell.

The Men of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity

The men of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity’s Sigma Lambda Chapter didn’t usually go in for big social affairs, but whenever they did it often scored a social triumph. The Alphas held a dance at the Autocrat Club that Saturday night to pay back an old debt to the A.K.A’s (Alpha Beta Omega Chapter).

Three years earlier, when the men had their regional conference in New Orleans, the A.K.A.’s staged a lovely affair for them at the Autocrat Club, so the fraternity decided to do the same for their A.K.A. sisters.

Admission was by invitation only, and Whitney Haydel, Walter King, and one or two others guarded the door zealously. The fraternity members decorated the Autocrat with black and white paper ribbons. They wore ribbon boutonnieres to distinguish themselves from their guests, and they hung a huge blanket bearing the Alpha Phi Alpha’s symbol at the end of the room opposite the orchestra stand.

Late in the evening souvenir caps, noise makers, and love twine were given to the more than 150 guests. Alpha pledges stood guard at the bar, dispensing punch and being forced to do all the “dirty work” that evening.

Local Alphas in attendance were:

William R. Adams, Wlliam Belton, Osceola Blanchet, James Brown, Dr. J. Felton Brown, Armand Boutte, Dr. Charles Wesley Briggs, Edward M. Coleman, Dr. Percy P. Creuzot, Prof. Hall, Dr. C. C. Haydel, Whitney M. Haydel, Lamar Jones, Walter King, Dr. T. C. Mason, Orlando Moss, Rudolph Moses, R. K. Osby, E. V. Peppers, Pitt, Alfred C. Priestley, Clyde Reynolds, I. B. Ross, Ferdinand L. Rousseve, Numa Rousseve, Dr. George B. Talbot, Herman Washington, Edwin Williams, Ted Wright, Giles Wright and Dr. Andrew J. Young.

The Guest List

In the November 23, 1935 issue of The Louisiana Weekly, is a list of the 150 guests who attended the gala put on by the Alpha men. I have attempted to list many of them below in case any of our readers are interested. They are:

Alberta Armstrong, Irene Anderson, Rachel Adams, Emma Adams, Archie W. Arnaud, William R. Adams

Mayme Osby Brown, Zelda Blanchet, Anna Mae Berhel, Vera Brown, Daisy Blanchet, Onelia Bazenac, Oscar Bouise, Charles C. Brown, Benson Boutte, Herbert Baptiste, William Belton, W. J. Baker, James Brown, Dr. Charles H. D. Bowers, H. C. Blanks, J. A. Barnes

Cecil Carter, Peter Clark, Edward M. Coleman, Edna Cordier, Byrd Crudup
Allison Davis, Lois Davis, Anita Dave, Wadsworth Davis, Gloria Dejoie, Karl Douglas, Alice Dungey, Otto Duncan, Hattie Duval

Randolph Edmonds, Walter Evans, Dorothy Fassitt, Horace Goud

Eudora Haydel, Earline Haydel, Whitney M. Haydel, Dr. C. C. Haydel, Castro Harolson, Marcella Huggins, H. H. Huggins

C. James, Marie Jefferson, Albert Jones, Kenneth Jones, Lamar Jones, Ollevette Jones, Walter King

Sylvia Labat, Clothilde Labat, R. Labat, C.A. Lane, Alfreda LaBeau, Harrison Lawless, Elsie Lewis, George Longe, Eola Lyons, Lois Lucas,

Dr. Branger J. Martin, T. C. Mason, Mattye Medford, O. McKinney, Gaynell Moses,
Rene Rousseve, Charles Rousseve, Ferdinand L. Rousseve, Alvin Robinson, I. B. Ross, Harvey Ross

David Segue, J. Sheffield, Edward W. Sorrell, C. L. Speaker

G.B. Talbert, O.C.W. Taylor, Thaddeus Taylor, Ella Ruth Thomas, Winnie Paul Thomas, C.W. Thomas, A.P. Tureaud, Lucille Tureaud

Dorothea Washington, Alex Whitfield, Doris Whitefield, Fannie C. Williams
Andrew J. Young, Daisy F. Young

 On Sunday morning, the crowd gathered at Mt. Zion M.E. Church on Jackson where the Omegas staged their achievement program. Jesse O.Thomas (executive secretary of the Urban League) was the principal speaker.

Source: The Louisiana Weekly, 12 January 1935, page 1; 02 November 1935, page 3; 23 November 1935, pages 2 & 3

Lolita Villavasso Cherrie