Nellie Quander
Nellie M. Quander (1880–1961) was the great-great-granddaughter of Nancy Quander, an enslaved woman freed by George Washington’s will. Shortly after graduating from Howard University in 1912, Quander spearheaded the incorporation of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA), the oldest black sorority in the country.
In February 1913, Quander wrote to suffrage organizer Alice Paul expressing interest in participating in the first suffrage march on Washington, D.C., but only if she and her sorority sisters did not “meet with discrimination on account of race.” At the parade, Paul insisted that African American women walk at the back. It is unclear how many AKA members chose to march under those circumstances.