Minnie B. Smith was an incorporator of Alpha Kappa Alpha

Alpha Kappa Alpha

Alpha Kappa Alpha is the first Greek-lettered sorority established and incorporated by African American college women. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of nine students, led by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle...

 Sorority, the first sorority founded by African American women. Although Smith died young in the influenza epidemic in 1919, the legacy she created with Alpha Kappa Alpha has continued to generate social capital for nearly 100 years.

Minnie Smith graduated from Howard University

Howard University

Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...

 in 1912. She taught at the Mott School while attending college.

Howard University and incorporation

When Smith graduated from Howard University, it 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.

When hearing plans of twenty-two members desiring to cede from Alpha Kappa Alpha in order to form a new sorority, Nellie Quander

Nellie Quander

Nellie Mae Quander was an incorporator and the first international president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. As president for several years, she helped expand the sorority and further its support of African American women at colleges and in communities. The sorority established a...

 contacted graduate members, including Smith, in order to stop the proposals. As a result, Smith, Quander, Norma Boyd, Julia Evangeline Brooks

Julia Evangeline Brooks

Julia Evangeline Brooks was an incorporator of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, the first sorority founded by African American women. The sorority has continued to generate social capital for nearly 100 years....

, Nellie Pratt Russell

Nellie Pratt Russell

Nellie Pratt Russell was an incorporator of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, the first sorority founded by African-American college women...

 and Ethel Jones Mowbray

Ethel Jones Mowbray

Ethel Jones-Mowbray was one of the twenty founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, the first sorority founded by African American women. Her legacy was an organization that has helped African American women succeed in college, prepare for leadership and organize in communities, and...

 incorporated Alpha Kappa Alpha on January 29, 1913. The dissenters formed another sorority entitled, Delta Sigma Theta

Delta Sigma Theta

Delta Sigma Theta is a non-profit Greek-lettered sorority of college-educated women who perform public service and place emphasis on the African American community. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was founded on January 13, 1913 by twenty-two collegiate women at Howard University...

 Sorority. Smith served as the secretary of the incorporating committee and as Supreme Basileus of Alpha Kappa Alpha, while Quander was away studying mentally handicapped

Handicapped

Handicapped or handicap may refer to:*Handicapping, various methods of leveling a sport or game**Golf handicap, a sport-specific handicapping method**Go handicaps**Handicaps in shogi**Asian handicap, bookmakers technique to level odds...

 children in Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

.

In 1919, Smith contracted the Spanish influenza, and died shortly after contracting the disease.