Margaret Flagg Holmes

Early life Born in Durham, North Carolina to Reverend Lewis and Callie (McAdoo) Flagg, Margaret Flagg attended elementary school in the city's public school system. Howard was the top historically black college in the nation. She was among the nine African American women students who founded the sorority on January 15, 1908. They worked to support education for African Americans and gain civil rights. Holmes helped serve the African American community through challenges of the Great Depression and the Great Migration, when Southern blacks arrived in Chicago at the rate of 5,000 per week.

After her move later in life to New York, Holmes became a member of the Tau Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha. In total, she worked with the sorority for over sixty years.

With her husband John, Margaret traveled across the United States and Canada. In Paris, France, Margaret met the famous African American dancer Josephine Baker. The Holmes couple were received by Pope Pius XI in 1931. After her husband died in 1946, Margaret Holmes moved to New York City to live with her sister. Holmes died on January 29, 1976, aged 89.