NORFOLK, Va. — A highway marker has been Dedicated to the Iota Omega chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority in Norfolk.
The marker stands at the First Baptist Church on Bute Street.
Alpha Kappa Alpha is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority, and Vice President Kamala Harris is a member.
The Iota chapter became the first graduate chapter of the sorority in Hampton Roads in December 1922, according to information on the marker.
"These women were important in community development and economic development," said Dr. Colita Nichols-Fairfax, the chapter's historian. "They were movers and shakers to push for quality schooling for black children. They were also active in the civil rights era," she said.
It's the ninth graduate chapter formed in the sorority, and is the second oldest chapter in the Mid-Atlantic region.
The chapter got its start at the church where the marker now stands.