- Joanna Mary Berry Shields
Infobox Person
color=light black
name=Joanna Mary Berry Shields
image_size=100px
caption=Joanna Shields graduating fromHoward University
occupation= founder ofAlpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated;Teacher
dead= dead
birth_date=July 7 ,1884
birth_place=Catharpin ,Virginia , U.S.
death_date=February 2 ,1965 (aged 80)
death_place=New York, New York , U.S.
spouse=Dr. Samuel J. Shields
children=Vivian, Samuel, Jr.; Martha, Thomas, Hanna and Landrumcite book | last=McNealey|first=Earnestine G. | title=Pearls of Service: The Legacy of America’s First Black Sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha | year=2006 |publisher=Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated |location=Chicago p. 47.]
parents=Carrie Lucas and Charles BerryJoanna Mary Berry Shields (
July 7 ,1884 -February 2 ,1965 ) was one of the original nine founders ofAlpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, the first sorority founded by African American women. She created a legacy that has continued to generate social capital for nearly 100 years.Joanna Shields served as an educator for more than 20 years, both in the South, where need was especially critical, and in
New York City , where African American migration had created a new community.In addition, Shields was a leader in civic activities, where her years of accomplishments caused her to be chosen for the New York Mayor's Committee on Human Rights and the Consumers Protective Committee. In her life, Shields demonstrated how African American sororities supported women "to create spheres of influence, authority and power within institutions that traditionally have allowed African Americans and women little formal authority and real power." [Tamara L. Brown, Gregory Parks, Clarenda M. Phillips, "African American Fraternities and Sororities: The Legacy and the Vision". Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2005. p. 342.]
Early life and education
Joanna was born in
Catharpin, Virginia to Charles and Carrie Lucas Berry. Growing up, Berry attended private schools inPrince William County . At Manassas Industrial School inManassas, Virginia , she graduated with high honors. She attendedHoward University 's preparatory school in 1901, where she gained a high school education.In those years, only 1/3 of 1% of African Americans and 5% of whites attended any college, and Howard University was considered the top historically black college. [James D. Anderson,"The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935". Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1988, p.245] At Howard University, Joanna earned a
Bachelor of Arts degree "cum laude " insocial science andmathematics .Founding Alpha Kappa Alpha
Berry was one of nine women who founded Alpha Kappa Alpha on
January 15 ,1908 . She was the custodian of the chapter's records in 1909. After graduation, Joanna Shields was minimally involved for years in Alpha Kappa Alpha activities.When Berry relocated to
Winston-Salem ,North Carolina in 1922, she revived her connection to Alpha Kappa Alpha, by joining Phi Omega, a local graduate chapter. She also volunteered in youth activity through Alpha Kappa Alpha.McNealey 2006, op. cit., p. 48.]She was a chapter delegate to the 1935 Richmond Boulé and received a special
diamond pin for founding Alpha Kappa Alpha. After moving to New York in 1937, Shields was a member with Tau Omega inNew York City until her death.cite web |url=http://www.studentorg.vcu.edu/thetarho/shields.html|title=Joanne Mary Berry Shields|publisher=Theta Rho Chapter atVirginia Commonwealth University - Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated|accessdate=2007-11-17] She also kept in contact with fellow founderLavinia Norman .Teaching and civic leadership
After earning her degree, Berry returned to Virginia and taught at her old school, Manassas Institute.
In 1911, Berry moved to
North Carolina , where she taught at Slater Normal School, creating generations of teachers, one of the most critical and prestigious professions in the South. Later the school expanded its curriculum to become a full university, now calledWinston-Salem State University .Berry met her husband, Samuel J. Shields, in
New York City in 1913. They had six children together. The Shields family moved toSouth Carolina .There Joanna Shields worked as an educator at Central School in Darlington. In 1920, with financial support of the Rosenwald Fund, she increased the school year for
African-American children from three to six months.Two years later, Shields and her family moved back to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Shields began to participate more in civic and religious activities. She was secretary at the Wentz Memorial Church and worked with the church's nursery school.
In 1937 Shields and her family returned to
New York City . There Shields taught English atChristopher Columbus High School in the Bronx until 1943.Shields also was active in community groups, such as the
Harlem YMCA ,NAACP , Negro History Club, and theNational Council of Negro Women . She was instrumental as an advocate for consumers andsenior citizen 's rights by serving on the Mayor's Committee on Human Rights and the Consumers Protective Committee. She worked in the voter's registration movement.She volunteered to care for the sick and ill by visiting hospitals and
sewing . She died onFebruary 2 ,1965 , in New York City.References
External links
* [http://www.studentorg.vcu.edu/thetarho/shields.html Biography at Virginia Commonwealth University]
* [http://www.aka1908.com/past/ Honoring the Past: Alpha Kappa Alpha Founders]
* [http://aka1908.com/centennial/pdf/founders_pdf.pdf Centennial Celebration: Founders]
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