Our History

Mrs. Mary Church Terrell, Dr. Sara Winifred Brown, Dr. Nancy Fairfax Brown, and Miss Mary E. Cromwell were founders of the College Alumnae Club, which was organized in 1910 in Washington, D.C.  Twenty university graduates joined, elected officers, and planned a program.  The new club desired to stimulate young women to attain professional excellence, to exert influence in various movements for the civic good, and to promote a close, personal, and intellectual fellowship among professional women. 

In 1919 the Club invited the first group of university graduates, who lived outside of the District of Columbia to organize.  Baltimore accepted the invitation.  Through the efforts of the College Alumnae Club, seven branches were organized in cities where college women desired the affiliation with the foundation group. 

On April 6 - 7, 1923, representatives of the newly organized branches met in Washington, D.C. to consider the establishment of a national organization.  A temporary National Association of College Women was formed.  It was at the next conference on April 25 - 26, 1924 that the permanent organization was established, and in November of that year, the association was incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia.

The association has cooperated with national and local social economic programs and is affiliated with the National Council of Negro Women, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, United Negro College Fund, The National Coalition for Literacy, and the American Council on Education.