On Saturday, September 17, 2022, Epsilon Kappa Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.®, hosted a private memorial and headstone dedication in the Landmark Chapel at Forest Home Cemetery and Arboretum, 2405 W. Forest Home Ave., to honor local African American pioneer Mabel Emily Watson Raimey. The chapter had been fundraising since May 2021 for the headstone to honor Raimey. But who was Mabel Emily Watson Raimey and what did she do? Besides being a charter member of Epsilon Kappa Omega Chapter in 1949, Raimey was the first African American woman to attend Marquette University Law School, the first black woman to practice law in Wisconsin, a founding member and director of the Milwaukee Urban League from 1919 to 1955, membership chair for the first initiates to the Epsilon Kappa Omega Chapter in 1951, and contributor helping to cement a north-side YWCA facility in 1984, in addition to her trusteeship at West Allis Tabernacle Church. “As Alpha Kappa Alpha women, our chapter considers today a true honor to pause and place an exclamation point on Raimey’s service, community impact, and trailblazing legacy,” said President of the Epsilon Kappa Omega Chapter Debra Brown-Wallace. “Now with a proper headstone, Raimey can be an inspiration of future generations to come.”
