Alpha Kappa Alpha is the oldest African-American Sorority in the United States. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, DC in 1908. The local chapter, Iota Phi Omega, was founded in 1973. The chapter was started by eighteen women in Ohio from Elyria, Lorain, Oberlin, and Sandusky.
The motto of Alpha Kappa Alpha is “service to all mankind.” Over the years, Iota Phi Omega Chapter has sponsored many programs and supported countless community service organizations and projects in an effort to live up to that goal. It has worked in partnership with the American Cancer Society, Lupus Foundation, Urban League, American Heart Association, and NAACP.
As the Sorority begins its second century, this chapter will continue to strive to raise the bar of community service and to bring innovative programs and leadership to North East Ohio.
1971-72—In the Beginning
The Lorain City School System turned out to be the meeting or gathering place for members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority in the early seventies. Two of these educated African-American women got together on the occasion of lunch. They eventually became charter members of Iota Phi Omega Chapter, the small chapter on the shores of Lake Erie.
Member Lynette Ledbetter had just graduated from North Carolina Central University, a predominately African-American college in Durham, North Carolina in May of 1971. She was hired by Lorain City Schools as a part of a movement that Black students had conducted previously to get African American teachers into the school system.
The Personnel Director, Olan Reese, and DeRoy Gorham, an African American administrator, conducted recruitment trips to predominately Black universities throughout the southern part of the United States.
Member Ledbetter was assigned to Admiral King High School, which was the largest high school in the city. It also had a large population of African-American students. She taught a curriculum that dealt with business and secretarial training.
It was at Admiral King High School that she met another member who worked for the LCS. Member Exie Ashburn was an administrator who lived in Sandusky, Ohio. Member Exie stopped by the teachers’ lounge at Admiral King (AK) for lunch and noticed a new African-American employee.
Member Ashburn asked to join Member Ledbetter for lunch that day. After their initial meeting, Member Ashburn frequently took her lunch at the AK teacher’s lounge. Sometimes they would be joined by another Member, Caroll Barnes, who was an English teacher at the school. Both Member Barnes and Member Ledbetter had just graduated from college in June 1971.
Other than there being a few of the minority women in the school system, they found that they had something else in common. They were all members of the greatest Sorority in the world, Alpha Kappa Alpha.
Exie, who lived in Sandusky, knew several other members. These members lived in both cities, Sandusky and Lorain. One of the first Members that Exie introduced to Member Lynette was Member Lula Beatty Garrett. Member Garnett also worked for Lorain City Schools, had moved to the Lorain area, and was married to Rev. James Garnett. Another Member who worked for the school system was Member Paulette Mabry.
Both Members Lula and Exie being married to ministers was sheer coincidence, but it was something else they had in common other than being members of AKA.
Member Lula knew Member Deloris Warfield who was also employed by LCS. Member Deloris was a teacher at one of the local elementary schools.
The closest chapter to Lorain or Sandusky was the Alpha Chapter in Cleveland, Ohio. Unbeknownst to Member Lynette were the members of Lorain, or Sandusky was not active in any chapter except herself, who had become a General member after her recent graduation from NCCU.
After much discussion among members Ashburn, Barnes, Garrett, Ledbetter, and Warfield, the group decided to invite other AKAs they knew to a meeting at Friendship Baptist Church on Reid Avenue in Lorain where James Garrett was pastor. The purpose of the gathering was to discuss starting a chapter in the area.
Member Ledbetter was tapped to correspond with the National Office for the group. She would express the group’s desire to form their own chapter on the shores of Lake Erie. Through the communication process, it was learned that you need at least 10-13 members to charter a new chapter. We were then directed to contact the office of the Great Lakes Regional Director.
Unfortunately, in the beginning, there were not enough Members in Lorain and/or Sandusky area to start a chapter. However, there were other small towns in the surrounding areas with members looking to stay active between Lorain and Sandusky such as Elyria, Oberlin, and Fremont, Ohio. We found that we needed a minimum of twelve members to charter a chapter.
The Members that became involved in seeking a charter included a diverse number of women willing to come together to start a chapter for the Members in the area. We started meeting in Members’ homes to discuss and plan for a chapter.
Iota Phi Omega was one of 136 chapters chartered between 1964 and 1973. In the Great Lakes Region, we were the next graduate chapter chartered at Iota Sigma Omega (10/27/73) in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The Chartering Members
There were several women throughout our area who were helpful in the chartering of Iota Phi Omega Chapter. These women contributed in various ways to our success. Some agreed to become active members of the chapter. Others found members that we did not know to help us. Whatever was asked, our Members were willing to do what needed to be done for us to become a chapter.
The following Members had some influence in helping to establish Iota Phi Omega as a chapter.
Several Members were present for our chartering ceremony and repas in the home of Member Dorothy (Dottie) Anderson in Lorain, Ohio. Those present included then Regional Director and future International President, Member Eva Evans. Member Evans was there to present the actual charter.
Member Anderson was very well known in the Lorain area. She was the wife of Dr. Marvin Anderson, one of the Black doctors practicing in Lorain, and the mother of five sons. Dottie, as she is called by her friends, was originally from Springfield, Ohio. She was one of the founding members of the Lorain County Urban League and a former Board of Trustee for Lorain County Community College. She was also an elected member of the Lorain City Schools Board of Education.
Member Juanita “Mickey” Rosemond from Sandusky, Ohio. She worked as a tailor in Sandusky. Member Rosemond was born in St. Augustine, Florida. She had three daughters, one of whom, was JoAnn. She wanted to become an Alpha Kappa Alpha. Member JoAnn Rosemond, Juanita’s daughter, was initiated on the first line for Iota Phi Omega.
Member Deloris Warfield (1941-2001) was born in Roanoke, Alabama. She lived in the Lorain area for most of her life. She graduated from Lorain High School. After attending Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, she attended Kent State University, where she received a Bachelor’s degree in education. Member Warfield began teaching in Lorain. In September 2000, she opened an alternative school for 4th,5th, and 6th grade students called NSOROMA Academy.
Member Roonette “Rooney” Tabor was new to the area. She lived in Elyria, Ohio. She moved there with her husband, Al, when he was hired by the Cleveland Browns.
Member Naomi Rutledge taught nursing at St. Joseph School of Nursing in Lorain, OH.
Member Caroll Barnes came to Lorain with her husband, Wilber from Alabama. Caroll was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama. She was hired as an English teacher by Lorain City Schools.
Member Barbara Orr was also from Mobile Alabama. She lived in Lorain with her husband. Renee and young daughter, Yolanda. She also worked for the Lorain City Schools.
Member Margaret Smith was a resident of Oberlin, OH. She had attended Phlander-Smith College.
Member Frances Ashley lived in Elyria, Ohio, and was a very active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. She was a member of Alpha Omega Chapter in Cleveland, Ohio. She switched her membership briefly to help Iota Phi Omega get chartered. After one year, she returned to the Alpha chapter.
Member Lula Garrett Beatty was one of the Members instrumental in recruiting and inviting other Members in the area to join our chapter.
Member Exie Ashburn became the first Chapter President after the chapter was established. She worked tirelessly to have the chapter provide service to our community.
Member Jean Doneghy came together with others to provide her support in the chartering.
Member Lynette Ledbetter worked along with the other Members and was elected as the first Secretary of the chapter.
Member Paula Wise, who came from the greatest distance to become a charter member, was from Frement, Ohio. She was later elected as the first Tammiouhos of the chapter.
There are other Members involved in our chartering that were not present the day the charter was presented. They included members Vivian Brown, Gloria Furcron, Barbara Hill Johnson, Paulette Mabry, Patricia Petty Wilson (who later became a Regional Director), and Wilma Sallee Stacey.
The Great Lakes Regional Director, Member Eva Evans presented the charter in November 1973 at the home of Member Anderson. Member Mattelia Grays was the International President and Member Bernice Sumlin from Dayton, OH was the First Supreme. Iota Phi Omega became the 30th graduate chapter in the Great Lakes Region.
In 1974, members attended our first regional conference held in Cincinnati, Ohio. Those members representing Iota Phi Omega were Barnes, Furcon, Ledbetter, and Orr.
The 1970s
Our first social event was a Pink and Green Ball held at Kennedy Hall in Lorain, OH. The purpose of this event was to try to bring other Greeks in the area together so they could meet and possibly form their own chapters as we had done. However, the only Greeks in the area that formed a chapter were the men of Alpha Phi Alpha. Some years later, the Delta formed a local chapter.*
Immediately following the chartering, members of Iota Phi Omega began to impact their respective communities. The Champagne Breakfast became our first Annual Event. The breakfast is given annually to honor/recognize members of the community per our national initiatives.
LIIAKA (Ladies Interested in AKA) was a club for African-American high school girls.
One of the goals of LIIAKA was to take the young ladies on a tour of the campus of historically black colleges. To this end, the young ladies raised money for a trip to Atlanta, GA, and visited Spelman, Morris Brown, and Morehouse. On their second trip, the group visited Howard University in Washington, DC.
Member Dottie Anderson became Chapter President of Iota Phi Omega. The other officers included Member Barbara Johnson*, Vice-President, Member Caroll Barnes*, Secretary, and Member Naomi Rutledge*, Treasurer.
The first line was initiated in 1976. It included Harriet Arnold, Lynn Amison Dupree, Dorothy Farrar, Marilyn Freeney, Shirley Howard, Joyce Jackson, and Jo Ann Rosemond Ecfenfels. Member Orr was Chapter President. The final ceremony was held at the home of Member Exie Ashburn.