Life of pioneering Black woman remembered

Apr. 20—The life of a trail-blazing woman from Montgomery was remembered fondly Saturday in the city.

During a special afternoon ceremony, a maple tree was planted on the grounds of Montgomery Preparatory Academy in honor of Lavinia Norman, a Montgomery native who was one of the founders of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the first Greek letter sorority for Black women.

According to information supplied by Leahgreatta "Gretta" Chiles Hairston, Alpha Kappa Alpha is an international women's service organization of college graduates, with many holding post-graduate degrees. There are over 350,000 members from communities worldwide, including in Germany, Japan, South Korea, Dubai, South Africa, Liberia and Canada. "Our presence is also found within all 50 states within the United States," Hairston said.

Utilizing research from Earnestine Green McNealey's book "Pearls of Service: The Legacy of America's First Black Sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha" and other sources, Hairston said that, while attending Howard University, "Lavinia found herself with a very small group of nine women who were scholars, leaders and more. They were inspired by Ethel Hedgeman at Howard. These women began to share common interests, goals and dreams of how they could leave their mark on the world. In 1908, these women formed Alpha Kappa Alpha, which was the first Negro Greek letter sorority. Their circle of women grew to 16, all holding a deep reverence for God, hope, vision, strength of character and altruism. These women also knew the importance of stressing scholarship, culture, merit and the virtues of womanhood. They also knew that they had to use their talents and strengths to uplift and benefit others."

The sorority was formed in 1908 and incorporated in 1913.

Lavinia Norman was born to Thomas Henry Norman and Virginia Thomas in Montgomery when it was still known as Coal Valley. Her elementary education occurred at Simmons, which was founded in her father's home in 1879, Hairston said. Simmons was the first Black school in Fayette County. When Thomas Norman got a job with the U.S. Postal Service, he moved his family to Washington, D.C. In 1901, Lavinia followed two of her sisters to the prestigious Howard Preparatory School, from which she graduated in 1905.

Norman graduated from Howard University in 1909 with degrees in French and English. While serving Alpha Kappa Alpha at Howard, she helped shape the constitution and bylaws that still guide the organization today with needing only minimal revision, according to Hairston.

"For an organization as large as Alpha Kappa Alpha, to know that two of the original women came from West Virginia ... We are always looked down on for as not being as intelligent, and to know that we produced two women that became such leaders in the organization, and it just makes me feel proud that we, in this part of the Kanawha Valley, have someone we can be proud of," London resident Gloria Saunders Rehm, a 53-year member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, said Saturday.

The executive director of the UKVSAC/Booker T. Washington Community Center in London, Rehm said, "Being an Alpha Kappa Alpha woman, we want our women to grow into more, to be who they can really be in life." She referred to such prominent members of the AKA sorority as Katherine Johnson and Vice President Kamala Harris. "We're proud of our people, doctors, lawyers, judges," Rehm said.

"The reason why Howard is so significant to African-American history and history in the United States is because Howard was the first university born after slavery for the Negroes at that point, free Negroes," Hairston said. "It was formed in 1867, so you can see how early that was." Lavinia Norman's cousin, Francis Washington Rembert, was a Montgomery High School graduate who attended another of the oldest schools formed for Black students, Hampton (Virginia) University, she added. Montgomery High once stood where the Montgomery Preparatory Academy is now. "Some of us here today were graduated from that school (MHS)," said Hairston.

Rembert's mother, June Wood Washington, graduated from Simmons High School. "So, Lavinia's vision of excellence in education continues today in Montgomery," Hairston said. "The Upper Kanawha Valley of West Virginia has a legacy of her founding work by boasting of 33 college-educated women who were initiated into Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc."

Saturday's event "means that we can officially put something here in Montgomery, West Virginia to mark the fact, the historic fact, that Lavinia Norman was born here in Montgomery. At that time, Montgomery was even called Coal Valley," Hairston noted.

During the ceremony, Hairston shared a past quote from Lavinia Norman. After serving Alpha Kappa Alpha for over 75 years, she stated, "It did give me a thrill to see how the organization that I helped found is still a growing thing and will not die so long as it serves mankind."

Among those on hand Saturday for the event was Patricia Petty Wilson, who was born in Cannelton but now resides in Dunbar. Wilson is a past regional director for the Great Lakes region of AKA and still serves on sorority committees.

"It's very meaningful because Lavinia Norman was one of the original nine founders, and having that history is very important for our members, because in many states with the other founders there have been commemorative markers placed," Wilson said of the tree planting. "So this gives us the impetus to look forward to see about getting a permanent historical marker also at the site of her home (she was born in a home on Fayette Pike on Dec. 14, 1882 and passed away on Jan. 22, 1983 in Washington, D.C.)."

Wilson said documentation will be forwarded to the necessary offices to determine the next step in that quest.

"This year, under our new national president' Danette Reed of Texas, our focus has been on sisterhood," Wilson said. "And what was also so memorable about today is that we had three chapters represented here (Beta Beta Omega, Nu and Alpha Omicron Omega)."

Hairston said the importance of the nine AKA founders and others at the turn of the 20th century made a large impact on the college-going habits of Black students. She said there are estimates that fewer than 1,000 African American men and women were enrolled in higher education institutions around 1900.

"Lavinia's father and mother had 16 children and knew that education was key to the improvement of African American life," Hairston said. "That is why they started Simmons School in their home in Coal Valley, which later became Montgomery. In 1900, there were even fewer women than men who advanced on to college. So, Lavinia's life path had already beat all odds after reconstruction and yet during Jim Crow in the United States."

Norman served as president of AKA after Ethel Hedgeman, according to the organization's history. She accepted her first professional job back in West Virginia at Douglass High School in Huntington. For 40 years, she taught Latin, French and English as well as coaching a winning drama team and serving as the student newspaper advisor at Douglass.

"Lavinia worked within the Huntington Negro community to serve others as she had promised to do through Alpha Kappa Alpha at Howard," Hairston stressed. "In 1909, teaching was deemed a prestigious and critical career. With our nation redeveloping after reconstruction and during Jim Crow, she served as a mentor to many as well as worked to charter a chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc. in Huntington. That chapter is Beta Tau Omega."

Misty McCune, dean of students for Montgomery Preparatory Academy, was joined by MPA representatives Dr. Daniel Pearlson and Mark Ryan in welcoming the contingent Saturday. Pearlson led a tour of the school and described the academic efforts currently ongoing there.

McCune said the MPA was proud to take part in the ceremony.

"We are honored to embolden the roots and memory of Alpha Kappa Alpha founding member, and Montgomery's own, Lavinia Norman, by becoming a host to the red maple planted at Montgomery Preparatory Academy," said McCune. "It is magnificent to see this old campus be brought to new life, and we are proud to show the previous graduates what we have done to revitalize this special place so that it may be cherished by generations to come.

"May this maple grow sturdy and proud, and stand as a reminder of the beauty that can become our community through strength of heart, willingness of the soul, and perseverance through adversity.

"I hope our students will be inspired to grow and foster such a positive community effort, just as Lavinia has done, and as the wonderful women of Alpha Kappa Alpha continue to do."

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