Margaret Flagg Holmes
Margaret Flagg Holmes | |
---|---|
teacher | |
Spouse |
John Clay Holmes
(m. 1917–1946) |
Parent(s) | Rev. Lewis Flagg and Callie McAdoo[1] |
Margaret Flagg Holmes (September 6, 1886 – January 29, 1976) was one of the sixteen founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, at Howard University in Washington, DC. It was the first sorority founded by African-American women.
She went on to earn a Master's in Philosophy at
In addition, Holmes served as president and vice-president of the Theta Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha in Chicago, where she was active for more than 30 years in programs for education and health. She also was active with the NAACP and the YWCA. Margaret Holmes demonstrated in her work as an educator and civic activist how African-American sororities supported women "to create spheres of influence, authority and power within institutions that traditionally have allowed African Americans and women little formal authority and real power."[3]
Early life
Born in Durham, North Carolina to Reverend Lewis and Callie (McAdoo) Flagg, Margaret Flagg attended elementary school in the city's public school system.[2] After her family moved to Washington, D.C., Margaret attended M Street High School (later called Dunbar High School), one of the city's academic high schools, where she graduated in 1904. Her ability was recognized by Howard University with the award of a scholarship. Flagg's ambition and abilities were demonstrated by her going to Howard at a time when only 1/3 of 1% of African Americans and 5% of whites of eligible age attended any college.[4] Howard was the top historically black college in the nation.[2]
College life and the establishment of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
In September 1904, Margaret started at
Career
At a time when many women taught primary school, Margaret Holmes earned advanced degrees and taught in academic high schools. In addition, she headed an academic department for years.
For nine years, Flagg served as a history, Latin and English teacher at the same Baltimore high school as fellow founder Lucy Diggs Slowe.[2] By studying during summers, Flagg earned a Master of Arts degree in philosophy in 1917 from Columbia University in New York.[2][5]
On August 1, 1917, Flagg married John Clay Holmes.
As the school expanded, it was renamed Du Sable High School. Margaret Holmes headed the history department for several years, until 1931. Such a position of leadership at the high school level was unusual for women educators of the time.[5] Holmes was an educator for more than 30 years, until 1953, teaching generations of students.[2]
Civic and Alpha Kappa Alpha involvement
In Chicago, Margaret Holmes participated in the
For more than thirty years, from 1922 to 1953, Margaret Holmes was active in Chicago's Theta Omega alumnae chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha. She served as the vice-president and president of the chapter. Both the chapter and national organization raised funds in the 1920s and 1930s for scholarships, and contributed to the NAACP and Urban League.[6] They worked to support education for African Americans and gain civil rights. Holmes helped serve the African American community through challenges of the Great Depression and the Great Migration, when Southern blacks arrived in Chicago at the rate of 5,000 per week.[2][7]
After her move later in life to New York, Holmes became a member of the Tau Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha. In total, she worked with the sorority for over sixty years.[8]
With her husband John, Margaret traveled across the
References
- ^ a b c d e f McNealey, Earnestine G. (2006). Pearls of Service: the Legacy of America's First Black Sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. Chicago, Ill.: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. p. 35. LCCN 2006928528
- ^ ISBN 0-933244-00-2.
- ^ Tamara L. Brown, Gregory Parks, Clarenda M. Phillips, African American Fraternities and Sororities: The Legacy and the Vision. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2005. p. 342.
- ^ James D. Anderson, The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860–1935. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1988, p.245
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Margret Flagg Holmes". Theta Rho Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. Archived from the original on 2008-01-01. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
- ^ Theta Omega Chapter, AKA Retrieved December 10, 2007. Archived November 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Nicholas Lemann, The Promised Land: The Great Migration and How It Changed America. New York: Vintage Books, 1992
- ^ Parks, Gregory S. (2008). "Black Greek-letter Organizations in the Twenty-First Century: Our Fight Has Just Begun". University Press of Kentucky. p. 47. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
...she remained active and continued to contribute to the sorority by joining the Tau Omega Chapter in New York.
Further reading
- Shirley Portwood, review of Christoper Robert Reed (1997), The Chicago NAACP and the Rise of Black Professional Leadership, 1910-1966. Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Summer 1999 Accessed December 10, 2007