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.
