Michelle Obama has accepted an honorary membership in Alpha Kappa Alpha, the oldest African-American sorority in the country, the group's president, Barbara A. McKinzie, has announced.

The sorority is celebrating its centennial with a week of celebrations in the District. It was founded at Howard University in 1908, and counts Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, and former Washington mayor Sharon Pratt among its members. Eleanor Roosevelt was also an honorary member of the organization, whose membership now stands at more than 200,000.

Obama, with her work as an attorney, healthcare executive, and activist, fits right into the professional network of the sorority.

The induction of the wife of Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee, will not take place during this week's convention, McKinzie said. Details have not yet been set.

Among those being inducted tomorrow are Rutgers University basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer and Wangari Muta Maathai, the Kenyan environmental and political activist who is the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Though the organization said she will not be at the ceremony.

Nikita Stewart

By Marcia Davis  |  July 14, 2008; 4:52 PM ET
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