The Chrystal G. Tibbs Papers comprise materials accumulated through Tibbs's participation in Alpha Kappa Alpha conferences, chapter meetings, and special interest groups at the local, state, regional, and national level over a span of fifty years. The activities of Michigan-based chapters are particularly well represented. Materials also include personal and professional documentation directly related to Tibbs and her immediate family. The collection is divided into four series: Personal Papers, Professional Career, Powell Family Papers, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.
Dr. Chrystal Tibbs is a retired elementary school administrator and lifetime member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. A longtime Michigan resident, Tibbs spent her career in the Detroit Public School system and has been active in numerous Michigan chapters of A.K.A. for five decades.
Chrystal Garrell Powell Tibbs was born on May 17th, 1932, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania to Robert Bernard Powell and Maggie Webster Winstead Powell. Robert served as a member of the clergy, a position he maintained while deployed during World War II, while Maggie pursued a lifelong career in education as both an educator and a community leader. All four of the Powell sisters, Gloria, Clara, Elfrida, and Chrystal, were supported in their educational pursuits and careers by their parents. Tibbs graduated valedictorian of her class at the Charles Sumner School in Parkersburg, West Virginia in 1949. She subsequently attended Bluefield State College (1949-51) and Oberlin College (1951-52) before obtaining her B.S. in Elementary Education in 1955 from Wayne State University. She earned a Master's of Education in 1962, also from Wayne State, followed by a Master of Arts in Library Science from the University of Michigan in 1968 and a PhD in Education from Michigan State University in 1974. Tibbs served in administrative capacities at various Detroit elementary schools and as Principal of Hampton Elementary School.
Membership in the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority spans multiple generations of Tibbs's family; her mother, three maternal aunts, three sisters, and two daughters have all been members. Tibbs first became a member of A.K.A. in 1950 while at Bluefield State College, where she was inducted into the Beta Omicron chapter. Upon her marriage and subsequent move to Detroit, Tibbs became a member of the Alpha Rho Omega chapter, for which she was later elected to the offices of Anti-Basileus (Vice President), Epistoleus (Corresponding Secretary), and Member at Large. In 1991 Tibbs became a charter member of the Tau Alpha Omega chapter of Redford, Michigan, where she has served as Basileus (President), Anti-Basileus, and Philacter (Sergeant at Arms). In 2008 Tibbs served as President of the Vision Fair Foundation, a charitable organization under the auspices of the Tau Alpha Omega chapter. Tibbs became a Golden Soror (50 year member of A.K.A.) in 2000 and was awarded the Golden Soror of the Year award in 2009. She has been a delegate to dozens of regional and national conferences and events over a fifty-year span. Tibbs was appointed Great Lakes Regional Representative to the International Archives Committee of A.K.A. in 2009, a post to which she has been reappointed twice and held until 2014. In this capacity, Tibbs worked to educate A.K.A. members with regard to archival practice and preservation of the history of the sorority, its chapters, and its membership. Tibbs became involved with the Exhibits and Special Collections Committee for A.K.A., and as of 2017 holds the position of Chairman of the History Committee.
