St. Louis, Missouri (February 10, 1887 – November 10, 1915) age 63 yrs

Ethel Hedgeman Lyle, born Ethel Hedgeman, sometimes spelled Hedgemon, was a founder of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority (ΑΚΑ). She established it at Howard University in 1908. It was the first sorority founded by African American college women. Lyle is often referred to as the “Guiding Light” for the organization. To start the sorority, Hedgeman began recruiting interested classmates in the beginning of 1907. Hedgeman and eight other classmates founded Alpha Kappa Alpha on January 15, 1908. Hedgeman served as vice-president of the sorority and designed the insignia for the sorority. As national treasurer of Alpha Kappa Alpha from 1923 to 1946, She helped lead the sorority through years of rapid social change, including the Great Migration of more than a million African Americans from the South to the North, the Depression and challenges of World War II