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Notable Delta Omega Women

FELICIA D. ANDERSON penned the words of Virginia State University's ALMA MATER. Anderson-Turner Auditorium in Virginia Hall, on the campus on Virginia State University, was partly named for her.

 

LOUISE STOKES HUNTER wrote the chapter's first history:  The History of Delta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. ®, 1921-1978. Dr. Hunter was the first Black female graduate of the University of Virginia. She served as the eighth president of Delta Omega chapter.

 

ROSE BUTLER BROWNE was professor of Education at Virginia State College (University). She was one of the first African-American women to receive the Ed.D. Degree from Harvard University and was the first vice-president of Delta Omega Chapter. She then went on to serve as the first Regional Director of the Mid-Atlantic Region.

 

ANNA LAURA LINDSAY was a member of the music faculty at Virginia State College (University) for 48 years.  She conducted "Treble Clef," a choral group.  The Lindsay-Montague Building at Virginia State University is partly named in her honor. She served as treasurer of Delta Omega chapter for more than 35 years.

 

ZATELLA TURNER served as 17th president of Delta Omega Chapter, Editor-in-Chief of the Ivy Leaf magazine, the official publication of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.®, and Regional Director of the South Atlantic Region of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.  She was known in the Petersburg, VA area as a Shakespearean scholar and she established the "Shakespeare Hour" at Virginia State College (University). Anderson-Turner Auditorium in Virginia Hall, on the campus on Virginia State University, was partly named for her. Dr. Turner was well known.

 

ELIZABETH A. COOPER served as director of the Matoaca Laboratory School at Virginia State College (University).  She was the founding member of Chesterfield County, VA "Friends of the Library."  The Ettrick-Matoaca Library in Chesterfield, VA is named The Elizabeth Anderson Cooper Library in her honor. She also served as the 23rd chapter president of Delta Omega. She also served as principal of the Matoaca laboratory school.

 

PAULINE SIMES PURYEAR was a charter member and the first president of Delta Omega chapter. She then went on to serve as the fourth international president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.® and editor -in-chief of the Ivy Leaf magazine.

EDNA MEAD COLSON  was a graduate of Fisk and Columbia universities, was one of the 6 original charter members, invited without initiation, to form the chapter in 1921. She served as third chapter president, and was the first Dean of the School of Education at Virginia State. The Colson Auditorium in Harris Hall is named for her.

LOUISE BARRETT was a long-standing Registrar at Virginia State College. There is a dormitory named in her honor in the Virginia State student village.

MAE HATCHETTE SEABROOK and ALPHA SMITH ROGERS served as South Atlantic Regional Directors.

 

MARY E. BRANCH served as International Corresponding Secretary of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.®.  and also as the second elected chapter president in Delta Omega. She then went on to serve as President of Houston Tilloston College in Texas. Great friends with WEB DuBois, she organized the first scholarship contest, which was later published in the historic Crisis magazine. Branch Hall on the campus of Virginia State is named for her.

 

LUCILLE "TECHA" FRAZER established herself throughout the nation as an outstanding teacher in the field of physical education.  At Virginia State College (University), she organized and sponsored the Women's Athletic Association (WAA) and its sports day activities.  In May 1994, she was inducted into the VSU athletic "Hall of Fame."

 

**Several dormitories at Virginia State University are named in honor of members of Delta Omega Chapter: 

  • Branch Hall in honor of MARY E. BRANCH

  • Howard Hall (Quad II) in honor of OTELIA SHIELDS HOWARD

  • Whiting Hall in honor of TOSSIE P. F. WHITING

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