THE FOUNDING OF ALPHA PHI ALPHA

Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African American Men, was founded on December 4, 1906™ 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 fraternity initially served as a study and support group for minority students who faced racial prejudice, both educationally and socially, at Cornell.

The founders, commonly referred to as "the Jewels", 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 established at other colleges and universities, many of them historically black institutions, soon after the founding at Cornell. The first alumni chapter was established in 1911. 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 American descendants.

Alpha Phi Alpha has long stood at the forefront of the African-American community’s fight for civil rights through leaders such as W.E.B. DuBois, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Edward Brooke, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Andrew Young, William Gray, Paul Robeson, and many others. 

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.

OUR JEWELS

The seven 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
Vertner Woodson Tandy


Pictured below, from top to bottom, left to right, respectively