Fraternal History
Since its founding on December 4, 1906, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. has supplied voice and vision to the struggle of African-Americans and people of color around the world.
Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African-Americans, was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York by seven college men who recognized the need for a strong bond of Brotherhood among African descendants in this country. The visionary founders, known as the "Jewels" of the Fraternity, are Henry Arthur Callis, Charles Henry Chapman, Eugene Kinckle Jones, George Biddle Kelley, Nathaniel Allison Murray, Robert Harold Ogle, and Vertner Woodson Tandy.
The Fraternity initially served as a study and support group for minority students who faced racial prejudice, both educationally and socially, at Cornell. The Jewel founders and early leaders of the Fraternity succeeded in laying a firm foundation for Alpha Phi Alpha's principles of scholarship, fellowship, good character, and the uplifting of humanity.
Alpha Phi Alpha chapters were developed at other colleges and universities, many of them historically black institutions, soon after the founding at Cornell. While continuing to stress academic excellence among its members, Alpha also recognized the need to help correct the educational, economic, political, and social injustices faced by African-Americans.
 | Henry Arthur Callis Jewel Callis co-authored the Fraternity name with Eugene Jones and the only Jewel to become General President of the fraternity. He became a physician and worked as a medical consultant at the Veterans Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama, Professor of Medicine at Howard University and frequent contributor to medical journals. Callis' death in 1974 was a milestone for the fraternity as Callis became the last Jewel to enter Omega Chapter, and the fraternity entered a period when it had no living "Jewels". |  |
Charles Henry Chapman During the organization stages of Alpha chapter, he was the first chairman of the Committees on Initiation and Organization. Chapman entered the field of higher education and eventually became Professor of Agriculture at what is now Florida A&M University (FAMU). During his tenure at FAMU, Chapman was a founder of the fraternity's Beta Nu chapter. Charles Chapman died in 1934 and became the first Jewel to enter Omega chapter. |
 | Eugene Kinckle Jones Jewel Jones was Alpha chapter's second president and coauthored the Fraternity name with Henry Callis. Jones organized the first three chapters of the Fraternity and was a member of the first Committees on Constitution and Organization. Jones also has the distinction of being one of the first initiates as well as an original founder. Jones was the first Executive Secretary of the National Urban League and significantly expanded its multifaceted campaign to break the barriers to black employment, organized boycotts, and pressured schools to expand vocational opportunites for young black people. |
 | George Biddle Kelley Jewel Kelley was Alpha chapter's first President. Kelly served on committees that worked out the fraternity handshake and, and with Robert Ogle on the ritual. Kelley resided in Troy, New York and was active with Beta Pi Lambda Chapter in Albany, New York. George Kelley died in 1963. |
 | Nathaniel Allison Murray Jewel Murray was a member of Alpha chapter's first committee on organization of the new fraternal group, as well as the Committee on the Grip, and later became a charter member of Washington D.C.'s Mu Lambda Chapter. Murray pursued graduate studies at Howard University and later taught in public schools. Much of his career was spent at Armstrong Vocational High School in the District of Columbia. Nathaniel Murray died in 1959 |  |
Robert Harold Ogle Jewel Ogle proposed the Fraternity's colors and was Alpha chapter's first secretary. Ogle joined George Kelley in working out the first ritual and later became a charter member of Washington D.C.'s Mu Lambda Chapter. Robert Harold Ogle entered the career secretarial field and had the unique privilege of serving as a professional staff member to the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations. Robert Ogle died in 1936. |
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Vertner Woodson Tandy Jewel Tandy was the first treasurer of the Alpha chapter and the designer of the fraternity pin. The Fraternity became incorporated under his auspices. As a graduate of Cornell with a degree in architecture, he would became the State of New York's first registered black architect, with offices on Broadway in New York City. The Saint Phillips Episcopal Church in New York City is among the many buildings designed Tandy. Tandy also holds the distinction of being the first African-American to pass the military commissioning examination and was commissioned First Lieutenant in the 15th Infantry of the New York State National Guard. Vertner Tandy died in 1949, at age 64. |