The list of Alpha Phi Alpha (ΑΦΑ) brothers (commonly referred to as Alphas)[1] includes initiated and honorary members.
Alpha Phi Alpha is the first inter-collegiate
Greek-letterorganization established for Black college students.[2] Convened in December 1905 as a literary society with the first presiding officer being
CC Poindexter, it was established as a fraternity on December 4, 1906, at
Ithaca, New York. Alpha Phi Alpha opened chapters at other colleges, universities, and cities, and named them with
Greek letters. Members traditionally
pledge into a chapter, although some members were granted honorary status before the fraternity discontinued the practice of granting honorary membership. A chapter name ending in "Lambda" denotes an alumni chapter.[3] The only alumni chapter that does not end in "Lambda" is Rho Chapter, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
No chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha is designated
Omega, the last letter of the Greek alphabet that traditionally signifies "the end". Deceased brothers are respectfully referred to as having their membership transferred to Omega Chapter, the fraternity's chapter of sweet rest.[4]Frederick Douglass is distinguished as the only member initiated posthumously when he became an exalted honorary member of the Omega chapter in 1921.[5]
The fraternity through its college and alumni chapters serves the community through nearly a thousand chapters in the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.[6]
The House of Alpha was first published in the December 1923 edition of The Sphinx Magazine. The poem would later be attributed to Bro. Sidney P. Brown and quickly became a staple within the fraternity. When speaking about the poem in 1981, Brown cited his experiences with Beta (Washington, D.C.), Theta (Chicago), Xi Lambda (Chicago Alumni), and Eta Lambda (Atlanta Alumni) as collective inspirations for the poem.[7] Loyalty to the Fraternity was repeatedly urged by brothers on the part of those who were among the initiated, and for every chapter with the vision of a fraternity house. The statement has become a
manifesto for the national fraternity and chapters, as each may symbolically be referred to as a "House of Alpha".[8][9]
Eugene K. Jones, sometimes referred to as "The Visionary Jewel", once said:
Alpha Phi Alpha, the oldest of Negro Fraternities, with all of its members presumably far above the average American and having a good and practical understanding of the salient factors involved in the Negro's problem...should be able to take into their hands the leadership in the Negro's struggle for status.[10]
President of
Central State University; president of
Wilberforce University; executive director and president of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASALH); 14th general president and historian of Alpha Phi Alpha
Professor of Mathematics University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley); first Black person admitted to the National Academy of Sciences; first tenured black professor in UC Berkeley history; former Chair of the Department of Statistics
Professor of Journalism at Columbia University; former Professor of History and Director of the Institute for African American Studies at the University of Connecticut; author of The Substance of Hope; staff writer at The New Yorker magazine; contributor to MSNBC TV; Dean of the Columbia University School of Journalism
Author of The Myth of Black Anti-Intellectualism; former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Black Psychology; University of Texas at Austin educational psychology professor; first Black person admitted to the University of Texas System Academy of Distinguished Teachers; Association of Black Psychologists Distinguished Psychologist
American sociologist; author of The Negro Family, Black Bourgeoisie, and On Race Relations; Fisk University Professor; recipient of 1940 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for the most significant work in the field of race relations; Guggenheim Fellowship Award recipient
Research entomologist; developer of the "male annihilation" method of insect control adopted by over 20 countries; original Montford Point Marine and 2017 recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal
Climate change scientist; 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for Science recipient; first African American President of the American Meteorological Society; awarded 2010 National Medal of Science by President Barack Obama; presidential advisor to Presidents Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and both Bushes; professor of climatology at the University of Oregon
Willard W. Garvey Distinguished Professor of Business History at Wichita State University; acclaimed for extensive and systematic research on African American consumerism; lecturer and author of books on the economic history of African Americans including Black Business in the Black Metropolis, Desegregating the Dollar, and Business in Black and White
The
Rhodes Scholarship is the world's oldest and arguably most prestigious international fellowship. The scholarships have been awarded to applicants annually since 1902 by the Rhodes Trust in Oxford based on academic qualities, as well as those of character.
Songwriter, composer; former lead singer of
The Impressions; 1991 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; 1993 NAACP Image Award Hall of Fame inductee
Jazz composer, lyricist, bandleader, and singer of the
Harlem Renaissance; lyricist of Shuffle Along, which became the first hit musical on
Broadway written by and about African-Americans
First African American director to win an Oscar Academy Award for Best Picture (Moonlight); Director of 2019 Golden Globe Award-winning movie If Beale Street Could Talk
Producer and director of films, including The Gospel, Pandora's Box, Stomp the Yard, Trois, and Roots (2016 remake); first African American to produce the Academy Awards Oscar presentations ceremony (2022)
First African American Justice of
US Supreme Court; attorney in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of
Topeka; first Director-Counsel of the
NAACP Legal Defense Fund; 1946
Spingarn Medal and 1993 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient; authored the Constitution for the newly independent African nation of Kenya
Representative from Illinois; first African-American chairman of a regular House Committee (Committee on Expenditures in Executive Department); Dawson Technical Institute at Kennedy-King College (Chicago) is named in his honor
Representative from
California; co-founder of the
Congressional Black Caucus;
Mayor of Oakland; led the fight in the US against South African apartheid; namesake of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland
Representative from Illinois; co-founder of the
Congressional Black Caucus; 1932 and 1936 Olympian; Ralph H. Metcalfe Federal Building (Chicago) is named in his honor
First Black Representative from New York (Harlem); Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee; first African American Chairman of a major committee in the U.S. House of Representatives; early civil rights and racial equality legislation advocate; long-time pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church
Representative from New York; co-founder of the
Congressional Black Caucus; the first Black person to chair the
Committee on Ways and Means; New York State Assembly Representative; Marine combat veteran awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals
U.S. Federal District Court Judge; Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands; First All-American football player in University of California history and California state champion in wrestling and boxing; Chartering member of Alpha Epsilon chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Assistant Attorney General of the state of Alabama who researched and wrote opinions which led
GovernorGeorge Wallace to pardon Clarence Norris, the last known surviving defendant in the international cause célèbre case of the
Scottsboro Boys; 29th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha
Chief architect of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's strategy for racial equality in dismantling the
Jim Crow laws; first Black editor of the Harvard Law Review; 1950 Spingarn Medal recipient
President of the Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc., which oversees the fundraising, design, and construction of the
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial; 31st General President of Alpha Phi Alpha
Attorney in Lucy v. Adams, which prevented the
University of Alabama from denying admission to applicants solely on account of race or color; civil rights activist; namesake of the Arthur Davis Shores Law Center and A. D. Shores Park in Birmingham, Alabama
First African-American to serve as Washington State Supreme Court Justice 1998-2002; first African-American to serve as King County Superior Court judge and Seattle Municipal Court judge; served as a special assistant to United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (1960-64) to investigate corruption related to Teamster Union pension funds; brought an indictment in Chicago against Teamster Union President James Hoffa; appointed by President Clinton in 1999 to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
Chief auditor for the Republic of Liberia, European correspondent for the Associated Negro Press in Paris, a government adviser on export-import banking issues for Liberia
Editor of the Sphinx; editor in chief of the Memphis World; co-founder and editor in chief of the Tri-State Defender; southern vice president of Alpha Phi Alpha during the
Montgomery bus boycott
ABC Network News Senior Justice Correspondent; 2012 National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Journalist of the Year Award winner; two-time Emmy Award winner (2001 and 2009); winner of the George Foster Peabody and Alfred I DuPont Awards
First African American
admiral,
United States Navy; first African American to command a US fleet; the Arleigh Burke-class warship USS Gravely (DDG 107) was named in his honor and commissioned on November 20, 2010
Montford Point Marine; awarded Congressional Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama; former executive director and general secretary of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; Alpha Award of Merit recipient
Colonel, United States Air Force; original Tuskegee Airman and 30-year career officer in the USAF; holds an Air Force record 409 fighter combat missions flown in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam; awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Air Medal, and Army Commendation Medals; awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President George W. Bush in 2007; inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2011; promoted to brigadier general in 2019
Author of Black Theology & Black Power; considered the "father of Black Liberation Theology"; Distinguished Professor of Theology at
Union Theological Seminary
Pastor, theologian, author, lecturer, civil rights activist, aide to Martin Luther King jr.; author of Preach!: The Power and Purpose Behind our Praise
Pioneer in the medical sciences of gastroscopy and endoscopy; inventor of the Berry endoscope; President of the National Medical Association 1965-1966; author of I wouldn't take Nothin' for My Journey: Two Centuries of an Afro-American Minister's Family
Prominent child psychiatrist; founder of the Comer School Development Program at the Yale University Child Study Center; associate dean at the
Yale University School of Medicine
Chemist who contributed to the science of
food preservation; author of 59
United Statespatents; a number of his inventions were also patented in foreign countries
First African American to hold both an MD and a Ph.D.; groundbreaking research scientist exploring differences in disease expressions by race; expert on blood typing and race-based medical diagnosis and treatment
Inventor who originated a respiratory protective hood (similar to modern
gas masks) and a
hair-straightening preparation; patented a type of
traffic light signal
Orthodontist; for many years, he was acknowledged as one of the best hands-on clinical orthodontics instructors in the world; a dental facility in
Barbados is named after him
North Carolina NAACP State President, 2018 MacArthur Foundation Genius award recipient, architect of the Moral Mondays Movement, author of The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays
Co-founder of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; second Executive Director of the National Urban League; Member of President
Franklin D Roosevelt's
Black Cabinet
First Executive Director of the National Urban League; Member of President
Franklin D Roosevelt's
Black Cabinet; 2nd Executive Director of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH); 1980 Spingarn Medal recipient; 15th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha
Co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); delivered the benediction at the
inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009; 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient
Gold medal winner at the IAAF World Cup, Summer Universiade, and Liberty Bell Classic; was not able to compete in the 1980 Olympics due to the US boycott on Russia, but held the world record that year in 100m
1948 Olympian and first African American to play with the
USA Olympic Basketball Team; first African American consensus All American college basketball player; NBA player; first African American to play in the NBA All-Star game; Basketball Hall of Fame
NBA player; Basketball Hall of Fame; two-time NBA Champion; seven-time NBA All-Star, 4x All NBA First Team; two-time All NBA Second Team; seven-time All-Defensive First Team; NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
NBA player and coach; second most wins all-time in NBA history; 1994 NBA Coach of the Year;
1996 Olympian;
Basketball Coach; Basketball Hall of Fame; twice inducted into the Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach, the first and only African American so honored
NFL player; first African American to be drafted by the Cleveland Browns and a member of the 1950 NFL championship team; University of Toledo Hall of Fame
NFL player; first African American All-American football player at Michigan State University; first MSU player to have jersey retired; first African American to serve on the MSU coaching staff; member of College Football Hall of Fame
NFL player,
Pro Football Hall of Fame; eight-time Pro Bowl selection; three-time First Team All-Pro selection; two-time Second Team All-Pro selection; four-time First Team All NFC; two-time Second Team All NFC; NFL 1990's All-Decade Team
NFL player; 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame; 5-time Super Bowl Champion (San Francisco 49ers 1988 & 1989; Dallas Cowboys 1992, 1993, & 1995); five-time
Pro Bowl player
NFL player; two-time college football All-American; College Football Hall of Fame; actor and singer; social activist; 1945
Spingarn Medal recipient;
Stalin Peace Prize laureate
Head of the
Grambling State University football program for 56 years; the winningest coach in college football history; first coach to record 400 wins; 408 total career wins
NFL player; one of the first two
African-Americans to play in the NFL's modern (post-World War II) era; actor; nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor
NFL player; 2007 College Football Hall of Fame Inductee; 1986 NFL Man of the Year; 1987 Sports Illustrated Co-Sportsman of the Year; former Cincinnati City Councilman
University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Fame; second African American to letter in varsity football at Michigan; three-time track and field All-American and eight-time Big Ten champion; famous for being excluded from the 1934 Michigan vs. Georgia Tech football game due to being African American
Structural engineer and bridge builder; designed the Canadian approach to the Ambassador Bridge linking the U.S. and Canada; designed and built the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, the first vehicular subway tunnel (under the Detroit River) between two nations
First African American to hold an executive position at the White House as Administrative Officer for Special Projects under President Dwight Eisenhower; NAACP field secretary; CBS TV writer; author of Black Man in the White House, Way Down South Up North, Forty Years a Guinea Pig, and A Black Man's View From the Top
Architect; designed buildings for
Howard University,
Hampton University and Langston Terrace Dwellings in Washington, D.C.; architect of Tuskegee, Alabama Army Airfield; first and only African American to design a US airbase
^Smoot, Charles (2018). "The Story of House of Alpha". The Jewel of the Midwest: A History of Alpha Phi Alpha in Illinois. Mount Pleasant, SC: Artisian House.
ISBN978-0-9755660-6-0.
^
abc"Alpha Phi Alpha Facts". Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Epsilon Zeta chapter. Archived from
the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved August 6, 2007.
^Mason, Herman (1999). "The Visionary Jewel—Eugene Kinckle Jones". The Talented Tenth: The Founders and Presidents of Alpha. Winter Park, FL: Four-G.
ISBN1-885066-63-5.
^
abc"Civil rights veterans join Martin Luther King Jr.'s fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha" (Press release). Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. December 2010. Most of you have been walking in the light of Alpha all these years, and now you have finally have made it official.
^The Sphinx Magazine, Spring 2017 volume 10.3 number 1 page 45
^
abMason, Herman (May 11, 1999).
"Sigma Pi Phi: The Boule". Skip's Historical Moments, Number 19. skipmason.com. Archived from
the original on November 28, 2007. Retrieved January 2, 2008.
^The Sphinx Magazine, Spring 2017 volume 10.3 number 1 pages 50-51
^
abcdeMason, Herman (May 25, 1999).
"Notable Honorary Members". Skip's Historical Moments, Number 24. skipmason.com. Archived from
the original on November 28, 2007. Retrieved January 2, 2008.
^"Ebony Magazine's "Power 150"" (Press release). May 2008. Archived from
the original on July 3, 2008. Retrieved June 7, 2009. Alpha continues to stand as the organization that represents the totality of the Black male...
^Alston, Joshua (January 12, 2007).
"Stepping Out of Line?". Newsweek Entertainment. MSNBC. Archived from
the original on January 27, 2007. Retrieved July 7, 2007.
^
abMason, Herman (1999). "Rayford Wittingham Logan". The Talented Tenth: The Founders and Presidents of Alpha. Winter Park, FL: Four-G.
ISBN1-885066-63-5.
^
ab"U.S. Senate approves resolution" (Press release). Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. November 6, 2006. Retrieved December 31, 2008. Alpha Phi Alpha is an exceptional organization that deserves to be recognized and honored for all of its many great achievements. The fraternity has helped shape more than 175,000 young men into extraordinary leaders who contribute positively to their communities and the world.[dead link]
^Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity (2005). Alpha Phi Alpha Men: A Century of Leadership (Video). Rubicon Productions.
^"Walter C. Carrington". Council of American Ambassadors. americanambassadors.org. Archived from
the original on January 5, 2007. Retrieved July 26, 2007.
^Howell, Ron (November 1997).
"Al Vann and the Revolution unplugged". City Limits. City Futures. Retrieved February 28, 2012. Coming out of my role in the sixties, it was understood that the role of the politician was to help build institutions.
^Prince, Richard (July 20, 2004).
"Tony Brown Named Hampton J-School Dean". Richard Prince's Journal-isms. Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education. Archived from
the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved July 29, 2007.
^Battle, Marc Kevin (March 1999).
"Spring Cover Story". The SPHINX. Vol. 84, no. 1 (African-American History ed.). Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. p. 50. 199908401. Retrieved October 24, 2021 – via issuu.com.
The list of Alpha Phi Alpha (ΑΦΑ) brothers (commonly referred to as Alphas)[1] includes initiated and honorary members.
Alpha Phi Alpha is the first inter-collegiate
Greek-letterorganization established for Black college students.[2] Convened in December 1905 as a literary society with the first presiding officer being
CC Poindexter, it was established as a fraternity on December 4, 1906, at
Ithaca, New York. Alpha Phi Alpha opened chapters at other colleges, universities, and cities, and named them with
Greek letters. Members traditionally
pledge into a chapter, although some members were granted honorary status before the fraternity discontinued the practice of granting honorary membership. A chapter name ending in "Lambda" denotes an alumni chapter.[3] The only alumni chapter that does not end in "Lambda" is Rho Chapter, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
No chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha is designated
Omega, the last letter of the Greek alphabet that traditionally signifies "the end". Deceased brothers are respectfully referred to as having their membership transferred to Omega Chapter, the fraternity's chapter of sweet rest.[4]Frederick Douglass is distinguished as the only member initiated posthumously when he became an exalted honorary member of the Omega chapter in 1921.[5]
The fraternity through its college and alumni chapters serves the community through nearly a thousand chapters in the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.[6]
The House of Alpha was first published in the December 1923 edition of The Sphinx Magazine. The poem would later be attributed to Bro. Sidney P. Brown and quickly became a staple within the fraternity. When speaking about the poem in 1981, Brown cited his experiences with Beta (Washington, D.C.), Theta (Chicago), Xi Lambda (Chicago Alumni), and Eta Lambda (Atlanta Alumni) as collective inspirations for the poem.[7] Loyalty to the Fraternity was repeatedly urged by brothers on the part of those who were among the initiated, and for every chapter with the vision of a fraternity house. The statement has become a
manifesto for the national fraternity and chapters, as each may symbolically be referred to as a "House of Alpha".[8][9]
Eugene K. Jones, sometimes referred to as "The Visionary Jewel", once said:
Alpha Phi Alpha, the oldest of Negro Fraternities, with all of its members presumably far above the average American and having a good and practical understanding of the salient factors involved in the Negro's problem...should be able to take into their hands the leadership in the Negro's struggle for status.[10]
President of
Central State University; president of
Wilberforce University; executive director and president of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASALH); 14th general president and historian of Alpha Phi Alpha
Professor of Mathematics University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley); first Black person admitted to the National Academy of Sciences; first tenured black professor in UC Berkeley history; former Chair of the Department of Statistics
Professor of Journalism at Columbia University; former Professor of History and Director of the Institute for African American Studies at the University of Connecticut; author of The Substance of Hope; staff writer at The New Yorker magazine; contributor to MSNBC TV; Dean of the Columbia University School of Journalism
Author of The Myth of Black Anti-Intellectualism; former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Black Psychology; University of Texas at Austin educational psychology professor; first Black person admitted to the University of Texas System Academy of Distinguished Teachers; Association of Black Psychologists Distinguished Psychologist
American sociologist; author of The Negro Family, Black Bourgeoisie, and On Race Relations; Fisk University Professor; recipient of 1940 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for the most significant work in the field of race relations; Guggenheim Fellowship Award recipient
Research entomologist; developer of the "male annihilation" method of insect control adopted by over 20 countries; original Montford Point Marine and 2017 recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal
Climate change scientist; 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for Science recipient; first African American President of the American Meteorological Society; awarded 2010 National Medal of Science by President Barack Obama; presidential advisor to Presidents Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and both Bushes; professor of climatology at the University of Oregon
Willard W. Garvey Distinguished Professor of Business History at Wichita State University; acclaimed for extensive and systematic research on African American consumerism; lecturer and author of books on the economic history of African Americans including Black Business in the Black Metropolis, Desegregating the Dollar, and Business in Black and White
The
Rhodes Scholarship is the world's oldest and arguably most prestigious international fellowship. The scholarships have been awarded to applicants annually since 1902 by the Rhodes Trust in Oxford based on academic qualities, as well as those of character.
Songwriter, composer; former lead singer of
The Impressions; 1991 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; 1993 NAACP Image Award Hall of Fame inductee
Jazz composer, lyricist, bandleader, and singer of the
Harlem Renaissance; lyricist of Shuffle Along, which became the first hit musical on
Broadway written by and about African-Americans
First African American director to win an Oscar Academy Award for Best Picture (Moonlight); Director of 2019 Golden Globe Award-winning movie If Beale Street Could Talk
Producer and director of films, including The Gospel, Pandora's Box, Stomp the Yard, Trois, and Roots (2016 remake); first African American to produce the Academy Awards Oscar presentations ceremony (2022)
First African American Justice of
US Supreme Court; attorney in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of
Topeka; first Director-Counsel of the
NAACP Legal Defense Fund; 1946
Spingarn Medal and 1993 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient; authored the Constitution for the newly independent African nation of Kenya
Representative from Illinois; first African-American chairman of a regular House Committee (Committee on Expenditures in Executive Department); Dawson Technical Institute at Kennedy-King College (Chicago) is named in his honor
Representative from
California; co-founder of the
Congressional Black Caucus;
Mayor of Oakland; led the fight in the US against South African apartheid; namesake of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland
Representative from Illinois; co-founder of the
Congressional Black Caucus; 1932 and 1936 Olympian; Ralph H. Metcalfe Federal Building (Chicago) is named in his honor
First Black Representative from New York (Harlem); Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee; first African American Chairman of a major committee in the U.S. House of Representatives; early civil rights and racial equality legislation advocate; long-time pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church
Representative from New York; co-founder of the
Congressional Black Caucus; the first Black person to chair the
Committee on Ways and Means; New York State Assembly Representative; Marine combat veteran awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals
U.S. Federal District Court Judge; Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands; First All-American football player in University of California history and California state champion in wrestling and boxing; Chartering member of Alpha Epsilon chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Assistant Attorney General of the state of Alabama who researched and wrote opinions which led
GovernorGeorge Wallace to pardon Clarence Norris, the last known surviving defendant in the international cause célèbre case of the
Scottsboro Boys; 29th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha
Chief architect of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's strategy for racial equality in dismantling the
Jim Crow laws; first Black editor of the Harvard Law Review; 1950 Spingarn Medal recipient
President of the Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc., which oversees the fundraising, design, and construction of the
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial; 31st General President of Alpha Phi Alpha
Attorney in Lucy v. Adams, which prevented the
University of Alabama from denying admission to applicants solely on account of race or color; civil rights activist; namesake of the Arthur Davis Shores Law Center and A. D. Shores Park in Birmingham, Alabama
First African-American to serve as Washington State Supreme Court Justice 1998-2002; first African-American to serve as King County Superior Court judge and Seattle Municipal Court judge; served as a special assistant to United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (1960-64) to investigate corruption related to Teamster Union pension funds; brought an indictment in Chicago against Teamster Union President James Hoffa; appointed by President Clinton in 1999 to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
Chief auditor for the Republic of Liberia, European correspondent for the Associated Negro Press in Paris, a government adviser on export-import banking issues for Liberia
Editor of the Sphinx; editor in chief of the Memphis World; co-founder and editor in chief of the Tri-State Defender; southern vice president of Alpha Phi Alpha during the
Montgomery bus boycott
ABC Network News Senior Justice Correspondent; 2012 National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Journalist of the Year Award winner; two-time Emmy Award winner (2001 and 2009); winner of the George Foster Peabody and Alfred I DuPont Awards
First African American
admiral,
United States Navy; first African American to command a US fleet; the Arleigh Burke-class warship USS Gravely (DDG 107) was named in his honor and commissioned on November 20, 2010
Montford Point Marine; awarded Congressional Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama; former executive director and general secretary of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; Alpha Award of Merit recipient
Colonel, United States Air Force; original Tuskegee Airman and 30-year career officer in the USAF; holds an Air Force record 409 fighter combat missions flown in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam; awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Air Medal, and Army Commendation Medals; awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President George W. Bush in 2007; inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2011; promoted to brigadier general in 2019
Author of Black Theology & Black Power; considered the "father of Black Liberation Theology"; Distinguished Professor of Theology at
Union Theological Seminary
Pastor, theologian, author, lecturer, civil rights activist, aide to Martin Luther King jr.; author of Preach!: The Power and Purpose Behind our Praise
Pioneer in the medical sciences of gastroscopy and endoscopy; inventor of the Berry endoscope; President of the National Medical Association 1965-1966; author of I wouldn't take Nothin' for My Journey: Two Centuries of an Afro-American Minister's Family
Prominent child psychiatrist; founder of the Comer School Development Program at the Yale University Child Study Center; associate dean at the
Yale University School of Medicine
Chemist who contributed to the science of
food preservation; author of 59
United Statespatents; a number of his inventions were also patented in foreign countries
First African American to hold both an MD and a Ph.D.; groundbreaking research scientist exploring differences in disease expressions by race; expert on blood typing and race-based medical diagnosis and treatment
Inventor who originated a respiratory protective hood (similar to modern
gas masks) and a
hair-straightening preparation; patented a type of
traffic light signal
Orthodontist; for many years, he was acknowledged as one of the best hands-on clinical orthodontics instructors in the world; a dental facility in
Barbados is named after him
North Carolina NAACP State President, 2018 MacArthur Foundation Genius award recipient, architect of the Moral Mondays Movement, author of The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays
Co-founder of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; second Executive Director of the National Urban League; Member of President
Franklin D Roosevelt's
Black Cabinet
First Executive Director of the National Urban League; Member of President
Franklin D Roosevelt's
Black Cabinet; 2nd Executive Director of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH); 1980 Spingarn Medal recipient; 15th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha
Co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); delivered the benediction at the
inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009; 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient
Gold medal winner at the IAAF World Cup, Summer Universiade, and Liberty Bell Classic; was not able to compete in the 1980 Olympics due to the US boycott on Russia, but held the world record that year in 100m
1948 Olympian and first African American to play with the
USA Olympic Basketball Team; first African American consensus All American college basketball player; NBA player; first African American to play in the NBA All-Star game; Basketball Hall of Fame
NBA player; Basketball Hall of Fame; two-time NBA Champion; seven-time NBA All-Star, 4x All NBA First Team; two-time All NBA Second Team; seven-time All-Defensive First Team; NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
NBA player and coach; second most wins all-time in NBA history; 1994 NBA Coach of the Year;
1996 Olympian;
Basketball Coach; Basketball Hall of Fame; twice inducted into the Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach, the first and only African American so honored
NFL player; first African American to be drafted by the Cleveland Browns and a member of the 1950 NFL championship team; University of Toledo Hall of Fame
NFL player; first African American All-American football player at Michigan State University; first MSU player to have jersey retired; first African American to serve on the MSU coaching staff; member of College Football Hall of Fame
NFL player,
Pro Football Hall of Fame; eight-time Pro Bowl selection; three-time First Team All-Pro selection; two-time Second Team All-Pro selection; four-time First Team All NFC; two-time Second Team All NFC; NFL 1990's All-Decade Team
NFL player; 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame; 5-time Super Bowl Champion (San Francisco 49ers 1988 & 1989; Dallas Cowboys 1992, 1993, & 1995); five-time
Pro Bowl player
NFL player; two-time college football All-American; College Football Hall of Fame; actor and singer; social activist; 1945
Spingarn Medal recipient;
Stalin Peace Prize laureate
Head of the
Grambling State University football program for 56 years; the winningest coach in college football history; first coach to record 400 wins; 408 total career wins
NFL player; one of the first two
African-Americans to play in the NFL's modern (post-World War II) era; actor; nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor
NFL player; 2007 College Football Hall of Fame Inductee; 1986 NFL Man of the Year; 1987 Sports Illustrated Co-Sportsman of the Year; former Cincinnati City Councilman
University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Fame; second African American to letter in varsity football at Michigan; three-time track and field All-American and eight-time Big Ten champion; famous for being excluded from the 1934 Michigan vs. Georgia Tech football game due to being African American
Structural engineer and bridge builder; designed the Canadian approach to the Ambassador Bridge linking the U.S. and Canada; designed and built the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, the first vehicular subway tunnel (under the Detroit River) between two nations
First African American to hold an executive position at the White House as Administrative Officer for Special Projects under President Dwight Eisenhower; NAACP field secretary; CBS TV writer; author of Black Man in the White House, Way Down South Up North, Forty Years a Guinea Pig, and A Black Man's View From the Top
Architect; designed buildings for
Howard University,
Hampton University and Langston Terrace Dwellings in Washington, D.C.; architect of Tuskegee, Alabama Army Airfield; first and only African American to design a US airbase
^Smoot, Charles (2018). "The Story of House of Alpha". The Jewel of the Midwest: A History of Alpha Phi Alpha in Illinois. Mount Pleasant, SC: Artisian House.
ISBN978-0-9755660-6-0.
^
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