Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established by and for blacks, was founded on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, NY on Tuesday, December 4, 1906 by seven college men who recognized the need for a strong bond of Brotherhood among people of African descent. The visionary founders known as “Jewels” are: Henry Arthur Callis, Charles Henry Chapman, Eugene Kinkle Jones, George Biddle Kelly, Nathaniel Allison Murray, Robert Harold Ogle, and Vertner Woodson Tandy.
The Fraternity initially served as a social study and support group for minority students who faced racial prejudice at Cornell. The Jewels along with the 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. Since its inception, the Fraternity has grown steadily in influence as the Fraternity has integrated its racial membership and initiated over 150,000 men into its 700-plus undergraduate, and graduate chapters of Alpha that are located in the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa, the West Indies and the Caribbean.