Alice Murray

Alice Porter Murray ( February 22, 1888 – July 14, 1957) was one of seven sophomore founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the first sorority founded by African-American women, on January 15, 1908.

Early life Alice Murray was born in St. Louis, Missouri on February 22, 1888. Her father was Philip H. Murray, the founder of the Colored Kentuckian, editor and proprietor of the St. Louis Advance, and the president of the Afro-American Press Association. In Washington, D.C., her father published the Colored Citizen and was the inspector of public improvements under a board of public improvements. Her mother, Mary, died around 1897. During high school and college, Murray lived with her aunt and uncle on U Street in Washington, D.C.

Murray graduated from The Academy, Howard's preparatory school in 1906. She was admitted to Howard University and entered Howard Teachers College in 1906. Later, she taught English at the George Washington Carver High School and Junior College.

Personal life Murray married Milton L. D. Grant on July 27, 1914, in Baltimore, Maryland. Grant was a medical doctor.

According to the 1930 United States census, the couple's fortune had changed during the Great Depression and their home had become a boarding house with eight roomers. She was listed as a "servant" and Grant as a carpenter. In 1946, Grant was charged and convicted of a wrongful death resulting from an illegal abortion.

She lost contact with the sorority after college. Murray died on July 14, 1957, in Washington, D.C.