Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity

First black intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity, organized at Cornell University to serve as a study group for African American students who faced racial prejudice and discrimination, both educationally and socially. Alpha Phi Alpha was established in 1906 at Cornell University by Henry Arthur Callis, Charles Henry Chapman, Eugene Kincle Jones, George Biddle Kelley, Nathaniel Allison Murray, Robert Harold Ogle, and Vertner Woodson Tany. Dubbed the “Seven Jewels,” these men developed an organization that became a brotherhood to promote scholarship, fellowship, and service to humanity among its members.

In 1907, a second chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha was founded at Howard University. The Seven Jewels thought it important to introduce fraternity life to the Howard student body, which likely faced the same issues as black students at Cornell.

Alpha Phi Alpha's national programs date back to 1919, when the fraternity implemented its Go-to-High School, Go-to-College campaign to increase the education level of the African American community. The fraternity also coined the phrase, “A Voteless People is a Hopeless People,” and began voter registration programs at a time when African Americans were not yet guaranteed the right to vote.

During the 1950s, Alpha Phi Alpha was at the forefront of the burgeoning civil rights movement by supporting the efforts of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense Fund, an organization that fought legal battles challenging the inequality of laws within the United States. Alpha member Thurgood Marshall was the organization's chief counsel. Alpha Phi Alpha also provided the financial and legal resources that helped coordinate marches, rallies, and fund-raisers for the civil rights movement, led by Alpha member Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

By the 1970s, Alpha Phi Alpha had grown to more than 700 chapters worldwide, with more than 175,000 members. Its scope has moved beyond domestic issues and now includes issues affecting Africans as well. The fraternity is devoted to forming mentoring programs that help minority youth, such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America, the March of Dimes, and Head Start. Alpha Phi Alpha is also involved with Habitat for Humanity, a project to provide affordable housing for the needy.