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December 4, 1906, Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate
Greek-letter fraternity in the United States established
for men of African descent, was founded at Cornell University
in Ithaca, New York. The Seven
college men who recognized the need for a strong bond of
Brotherhood between African Americans are the visionary
founders known as the "Jewels"
who are: Henry Arthur Callis,
Charles Henry Chapman, Nathaniel
Allison Murray, Eugene Kinckle
Jones, Vertner Woodson Tandy,
George Biddle Kelley, and Robert
Harold Ogle. The
Fraternity initially served as a study and support group
for minority students who faced racial prejudice educationally
and socially at Cornell. During those beginning days,
the Jewel founders and early leaders of the Fraternity
worked to lay a solid foundation for Alpha Phi Alpha's
principals of scholarship, fellowship, good character
and the uplifting of humanity.
The
certificate of incorporation for the organization was
filed and recorded in the office of the Secretary of the
State of New York as Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated
on January 29, 1908. The Fraternity was again Incorporated
on April 3, 1912, under the laws of the District of Columbia.
The purpose and object of the Fraternity was declared
to be "educational and for the mutual uplift of its
members."
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