Norma Elizabeth Boyd

Norma Elizabeth Boyd (August 9, 1888 – March 14, 1985) was one of sixteen founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first sorority founded by African-American women students, at Howard University. She was also one of the incorporators of the organization in 1913.

Boyd was an educator in Washington, D.C., public schools for more than thirty years, and expanded her students' worlds by taking them to Congressional hearings. She was one of the most politically active of the founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha, with interests both domestic and international.

In 1938 Boyd established the Non-Partisan Council, the first group representing minorities to lobby the United States Congress. For her efforts in creating and guiding the Non-Partisan Council, in 1948 Boyd was named "Woman of the Year in the Field of Legislation" by the National Council of Negro Women.

Boyd was active in a wide variety of organizations, including many with an international focus. Named a United Nations observer, Boyd represented the United States on several committees, as well as at a conference in Brazil.

Early life Boyd was educated in public schools in Washington, D.C. In September 1906, Boyd was admitted to Howard University's College of Arts and Sciences, where she majored in math. Howard University was the top historically black college in the nation. It was a time when only 1/3 of 1% of African Americans and 5% of whites of eligible age attended any college. Boyd graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1910.

Career and later life A lifelong learner, over the years Boyd took graduate courses in education and public relations at Columbia University, New York University, University of California at Berkeley, Vermont's Middlebury College Language School, National Autonomous University of Mexico, American University and George Washington University.

For more than thirty years, Boyd was an educator in public schools in Washington, D.C. Boyd would bring student council officers to congressional hearings, to educate them about the political process. She retired from teaching in 1948.

Involvement in the sorority In 1913, Boyd was the corresponding secretary on the first Directorate of Alpha Kappa Alpha.

In 1938, Boyd established the "Non-Partisan Lobby for Economic and Democratic Rights" (NPC), which lobbied Congress on issues of public service, education, voting rights, and employment related to African Americans.

The Non-Partisan Council worked with the NAACP, The Urban League, The United Office and Professional Workers of America, The National Association of Graduate Nurses, the American Federation of Churches, the Colored Women's Club, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Auxiliary, and the New York Voter's League. Established in 1946, the American Council of Human Rights superseded the Non-Partisan Council.

For her efforts in creating and guiding the Non-Partisan Council, in 1948 Boyd was named "Woman of the Year in the Field of Legislation" by the National Council of Negro Women.

Norma Elizabeth Boyd, the last surviving founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA), died in Washington, D.C., on March 14, 1985. Boyd was also president of the International House Association in Washington, D.C. From 1958–1959 she chaired the World Fellowship Inter-Faith Committee at All Souls Church, Unitarian, of Washington, D.C.