My Family Tree

2nd cousin, 1 x removed

President

Family Members in the Divine Nine 

Nellie Quander was an incorporator and the first international president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. Her family could trace its lineage and sense of purpose for three hundred years in Maryland and Virginia. The Quanders are considered to be one of oldest free African American families whose ancestors had once been enslaved in America. Quander along with Smith, Norma Boyd, Julia Evangeline Brooks, Nellie Pratt Russell and Ethel Jones Mowbray moved to incorporate Alpha Kappa Alpha on January 29, 1913. After leading the initiative to incorporate the sorority, Quander served as president of Alpha Kappa Alpha. In 1918, at the first Boulé at Howard, she was officially elected president. After having served six years, at the next Boulé in 1919 at Chicago, Illinois, she resigned. During her tenure, she wrote the constitution’s preamble and appointed fellow members to implement the sorority’s expansion. Later, Quander was the first director of the North Atlantic Region of AKA

Jessye Norman Born: September 15, 1945 Augusta, Georgia African American opera singer Jessye Norman is an African American opera singer. Her rich soprano voice covers an uncommonly wide range, from classical to modern compositions. Early years Jessye Norman was born on September 15, 1945, in Augusta, Georgia. Her father, Silas, was an insurance broker and her mother, Janie, was a schoolteacher. There were four other children in the family. Music was very important in the family, and all the children took piano lessons at a young age. Her parents encouraged Jessye musically, and she began singing in church choirs at the age of four. Norman's first step toward a singing career, taken at the suggestion of her high school chorus teacher, was to enter the Marion Anderson vocal competition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at age sixteen. She did not win the competition, but her singing did gain her a full scholarship to Howard University in Washington, D.C. Norman fell in love with oper...

Bazolean Woody Smith (paternal aunt) Bazolean Woody was born, the daughter of Ola. She had 3 sons. She died on January 18, 2020. https://youtu.be/knrflyHCwc8 https://www.facebook.com/Obituaries.In.Atlanta.Georgia/posts/with-heavy-hearts-we-announce-the-death-of-bazoline-smith-leave-your-condolences/1853096158157343/

Sarah Walker  Sarah was born in 1928. She had one son and two daughters with Adolphus Walker. She died in February 2020 at the age of 92.