The Links is an American social and service organization of prominent black women.[ 1] [ 2] It was founded in 1946 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania .[ 2] [ 3] [ 4] As of 2021, it has more than 17,000 members in 299 chapters. A list of some of The Links' notables members follows.
Betty Shabazz
Marian Wright Edelman
Name
Chapter
Notability
References
Stacy Abrams
Atlanta
Georgia House of Representatives
[ 1]
Hannah Atkins
Oklahoma Secretary of State and Oklahoma House of Representatives
[ 5]
Marian Anderson
Honorary
Contralto
[ 6]
Etta Moten Barnett
Actress and contralto vocalist
[ 7]
Cheri Beasley
Triangle Park
Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court
[ 8]
Joyce Beatty
United States House of Representatives and Ohio House of Representatives
[ 9]
Anita Lyons Bond
Civil rights activist and academic
[ 10] : 108
Keisha Lance Bottoms
Mayor of Atlanta , Senior Advisor to the President of the United States , and director of the White House Office of Public Liaison
[ 1] [ 11]
Gwendolyn Boyd
President of Alabama State University and mechanical engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
[ 12]
Johnnetta Cole
President of Spelman College and Bennett College ; director of the Smithsonian Institution 's National Museum of African Art
[ 10] : 105
Misty Copeland
Honorary 2022
Ballet dancer for American Ballet Theatre
[ 13] [ 6]
Val Demings
United States House of Representatives
[ 9]
Mattiwilda Dobbs
Honorary 1973
Opera singer with the Metropolitan Opera
[ 6]
Marian Wright Edelman
Founder and president emerita of the Children's Defense Fund
[ 10] : 105
Helen G. Edmonds
Professor and chair of the Department of History and dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at North Carolina College (now North Carolina Central University )
[ 14]
Amanda Edwards
Member of the Houston City Council
[ 15]
Kamala Harris
Honorary 2018
Vice President of the United States , United States Senate , and Attorney General of California
[ 13] [ 16] [ 17] [ 6]
Patricia Roberts Harris
Honorary 1978
United States Secretary of Health and Human Services , United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development , and United States Ambassador to Luxembourg
[ 6]
Mary Gibson Hundley
Teacher at Dunbar High School , Miner Teacher's College , Eastern High School , and Howard University
[ 18]
Sheila Jackson Lee
United States House of Representatives and member of the Houston City Council
[ 10] : 105
Jo Ann Jenkins
CEO of AARP
[ 8]
Eddie Bernice Johnson
United States House of Representatives and Texas Senate
[ 10] : 105
Edith Irby Jones
physician and first woman president of the National Medical Association
[ 4]
Elaine Jones
President and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund
[ 19] [ 10] : 105
Ann Jordan
Director of the Department of Social Services for the University of Chicago Medical Center
[ 10] : 105
Barbara Jordan
United States House of Representatives and Texas Senate
[ 4] [ 19]
Elizabeth Duncan Koontz
Honorary 1984
Director of the United States Women's Bureau
[ 6]
Thelma Patten Law
Physician
[ 4] [ 19]
Pauline Weeden Maloney
Rector of Norfolk State University .
[ 20] [ 14]
Veronica Mallett
Urogynecologist and senior vice president and chief administrative officer of the More in Common Alliance (MICA)
[ 21]
Annette March-Grier
President of Roberta's House Inc.
[ 22]
Eugenia L. Mobley
Dean of the Dental School and vice-president at Meharry Medical College
[ 23]
Constance Baker Motley
Honorary 1980
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and New York Senate
[ 6]
Rosa Parks
Honorary 2003
Civil rights activist associated with the Montgomery bus boycott
[ 6]
Sharon Pratt
Mayor of the District of Columbia and treasurer of the Democratic National Committee
[ 10] : 105
Ayanna Pressley
United States House of Representatives and member of the Boston City Council
[ 9]
Leontyne Price
Honorary 1988
Spinto soprano with the Metropolitan Opera
[ 6]
Hazel R. O'Leary
United States Secretary of Energy and president of Fisk University
[ 10] : 105
Danielle Outlaw
Commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department and chief Portland Police Bureau
[ 24]
Condoleezza Rice
Honorary 2013
United States Secretary of State , United States National Security Advisor , director of the Hoover Institution , and provost of Stanford University
[ 6]
Jo Ann Robinson
Activist during the Civil Rights Movement and educator in Montgomery, Alabama
[ 25]
Angela Rye
Commentator on CNN and executive director and general counsel to the Congressional Black Caucus
[ 26]
Tami Sawyer
Civil rights activist and local politician
[ 27]
Betty Shabazz
Civil rights advocate and wife of Malcolm X
[ 13] [ 10] : 102
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Honorary 2010
President of Liberia
[ 6]
Marian Spencer
Vice Mayor of the Cincinnati City Council
[ 28]
Juliana Stratton
Chicago
Lieutenant Governor of Illinois and Illinois House of Representatives
[ 8]
Evelyn Reid Syphax
Educator who was chair of the Arlington Public Schools Board
[ 10] : 125
Pat Timmons-Goodson
Associate justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court
[ 17]
Yvonne Walker-Taylor
President of Wilberforce University
[ 29]
Carmen J. Walters
Gulf Coast 2017 / Jackson
President of Tougaloo College
[ 30] [ 8]
Susie Ione Brown Waxwood
Philanthropist and clubwoman
[ 31] [ 32]
Frederica Wilson
United States House of Representatives , Florida Senate , and Florida House of Representatives
[ 9]
Mary Wineberg
Cincinnati
Gold medalist in the 2008 Summer Olympics for track and field athlete
[ 8]
See also
References
^ a b c Hudson, Christina (2022-01-25). "The Links, Incorporated (1945- )" . BlackPast.org . Retrieved 2025-06-29 .
^ a b "The Links, Incorporated | American organization | Britannica" . Britannica.com . Archived from the original on August 29, 2024. Retrieved February 7, 2022 .
^ "The Links, Incorporated Celebrates 75 Years Of Excellence" . BET . November 9, 2021. Archived from the original on February 7, 2022. Retrieved February 7, 2022 .
^ a b c d Brown, Olive D. (October 22, 2020). "The History and Impact of Links, Incorporated in Texas | Handbook of Texas" . Texas State Historical Association . Retrieved 2025-06-29 .
^ "Hannah Atkins Obituary (2010) - Oklahoman" . Legacy.com. Archived from the original on 2015-02-18. Retrieved 2021-01-20 .
^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Members" . The Links, Inc . Retrieved 2025-06-29 .
^ "Etta Moten Barnett Papers" . Chicago Public Library . Retrieved 2025-05-26 .
^ a b c d e Hudnell, Jennifer (2020-10-09). "The Links, Incorporated Hosts 25th Anniversary Walk For Healthy Living Walk-A-Thon Virtually; Thousands of Black Women and Community Members Make Strides Toward Better Health" . LinksInc.org . Retrieved 2025-05-26 .
^ a b c d "Civil Rights Icon John Lewis Lauds The Links, Incorporated and Issues Voting Rights Call to Action" . Congresswoman Joyce Beatty . April 20, 2019. Archived from the original on February 9, 2022. Retrieved February 9, 2022 .
^ a b c d e f g h i j k Graham, Lawrence Otis (2014). Our kind of people . [Place of publication not identified]: HarperCollins e-Books. ISBN 978-0-06-187081-1 . OCLC 877899803 .
^ "Keisha Lance Bottoms sworn in as Atlanta mayor" . WTXL . 2018-01-03. Archived from the original on 2022-02-15. Retrieved 2022-02-15 .
^ Gwendolyn E. Boyd , The History Makers, April 25, 2007. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
^ a b c "The Links, Inc: A women's volunteer service organization enriching African American culture" . WXYZ 7 News Detroit . 2023-02-17. Retrieved 2025-05-26 .
^ a b admin. "Leadership" . Links . Archived from the original on 2024-08-06. Retrieved 2024-07-18 .
^ "Chapter Members | Houston (TX) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated" . houstonlinks.org . Archived from the original on 2022-03-21. Retrieved 2022-02-25 .
^ "America's black upper class and Black Lives Matter" . The Economist . August 22, 2020. Archived from the original on February 7, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2021 .
^ a b Pitts, Myron B. "Myron B. Pitts: Sen. Kamala Harris, VP-elect, shines light on The Links" . The Fayetteville Observer . Archived from the original on February 7, 2022. Retrieved February 7, 2022 .
^ "Collection: Papers of Mary Gibson Hundley, 1910-1985" . hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu . Archived from the original on 2022-03-21. Retrieved 2022-02-25 .
^ a b c Brown, Olive D. (March 1, 1995). "The History and Impact of Links, Incorporated in Texas" . Texas State Historical Association . Retrieved 2025-05-26 .
^ "Many Lavish Social Events Highlight Links' Twelfth National Assembly" . California Eagle . 1960-07-07. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-02-11 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Meharry Medical College Ventures Names Dr. Veronica Mallett President and CEO" . www.nashvillemedicalnews.com . 2021-05-10. Retrieved 2023-08-22 .
^ "Annette R. March-Grier" . Roberta's House . Retrieved 2025-05-26 .
^ "Charter Members" Archived 2022-02-17 at the Wayback Machine Parthenon (TN) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated.
^ "Protecting Public Safety with Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle M. Outlaw" . Washington Post . ISSN 0190-8286 . Archived from the original on February 7, 2022. Retrieved February 7, 2022 .
^ "Robinson, Jo Ann Gibson | Encyclopedia.com" . www.encyclopedia.com . Retrieved February 9, 2022 .
^ "About Angela Rye" . diversity.gatech.edu . Archived from the original on 2022-02-15. Retrieved 2022-02-15 .
^ "Public Policy" . Tami Sawyer . Retrieved 2022-01-21 .
^ Moore, Gina Ruffin (2007). Cincinnati . Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-5144-9 .
^ "Yvonne Walker Taylor, Educator born" . African American Registry . Retrieved 2022-02-13 .
^ "Home" . Gulf Coast (MS) Chapter Links, Inc . Retrieved 2025-06-29 .
^ "The Links, Incorporated, 30th National Assembly, July 1996: Celebrating 50 Years, 1946–1996" . Thirtieth National Assembly of Links, Inc., 1996, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States . 1996. Archived from the original on February 9, 2022. Retrieved February 9, 2022 .
^ "Chapter History" . Central New Jersey (NJ) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated . Retrieved February 9, 2022 .