Alpha Kappa Alpha: 100 Plus Years of the Ivy "Spreading and Climbing"

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By the second quarter century of its existence, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority had established itself as the premier sisterhood for African American women. Having done this, the leaders of Alpha Kappa Alpha put into action plans to affect communities on a world wide scale.
One such program was the Mississippi Health Project. The brainchild of eighth Supreme Basileus, Ida Louise Jackson, the program was initiated in 1933. Born and raised in Vicksburg, MS., Supreme Basileus Jackson knew first hand the need for medical outreach among the rural communities in Mississippi. With the approval of the United States Public Health Service, Alpha Kappa Alpha created a program designed to provide medical prevention and treatment services in these communities. They set up clinics in churches, schools, and sometimes old plantations. Beginning in the summer of 1935, volunteers, many of whom were also members, travelled daily, sometimes between 40 and 60 miles and often on hot, dusty Mississippi roads, to provide vaccinations and information on nutrition to indigent populations.

In the seven years of its operation, the Mississippi Health project vaccinated more than 15,000 children against small pox and diphtheria. The project was pioneering in the ways that it successfully reached these rural African American communities. It was lauded by many national presses and was a catalyst for the federal government to begin to rethink its strategies for medical outreach in these communities. Our legacy of being pioneers in the realm of medical outreach is continued in the Centennial Program with platform #5, Healthcare Management and Economics. The spirit of the project is also alive and well in the efforts of Soror Persharon Dixon, who for the past two years has dedicated her life to providing service for those whose lives were impacted by Hurricane Katrina.