Dear Brothers:
I hope each of you had the kind of holiday you had hoped for including some rest, relaxation, good food and fellowship.
8th General President-
William A. Pollard,
"Visionary planner during the War years"
"At the Ninth General Convention in 1916, Pollard was elected General
President in Richmond, Virginia. It was during his administration
that World War One was declared between the United States and Germany.
Many brothers were called into active service. General President Pollard
and the brothers of Beta Chapter at Howard University met and established
an Officers Training Camp and convinced the government of the advisability
of training "Negro" troops. The establishment of the Training Camp
at Fort Des Moines, Iowa resulted from this action."
9th General President
Daniel Fowler
The first General President to enter Omega Chapter "Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1892, Brother Daniel David Fowler attended
East High School where he graduated as Valedictorian of his class. He entered
Case School of Applied Science and graduated with a degree of Bachelor
of Science in Metallurgy in 1914. It was during his senior years at Case
that Brother Fowler became imbued with the idea of establishing a chapter
of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. He pursued it with great vigor and saw
the Pi Chapter organized, where he was elected its first President. He
was featured in the annual graduation issue of the "Crisis" Magazine in
July of 1914."
10th General President-
Lucius L. McGee
Namesake of the First Chapter Awards given called the
McGee Cup
"In 1918, at the convention in Cleveland, Lucius McGee was elected
General First Vice President. He assisted General President
Daniel Fowler with overcoming the loss of fraternity membership and interest
during the World War 1 years. He personally installed Upsilon Chapter
at Kansas University in 1917 and Chi Chapter at Meharry Medical College
in 1919. At the General Convention in Chicago in 1920, Vice President McGee
told the fraternity that college men were trying by combined effort to
change its perception…"
"And what does the Negro buy? He buys food and clothing, automobiles
and radios, furniture and house articles, cosmetics and tobacco, cigars
and cigarettes, and we suspect wines and beer and liquor...."
Jewel Eugene Kinckle Jones
>From "Opportunity", Feb. 1935
Skip's Note-Jewel Jones back in the 1930s recognized the power of African-American spending. He cited that the Negro purchasing power was being ignored by advertising agencies. As a result advertising in "Negro" periodicals magazines suffer and manufacturers of goods and products lose millions of dollars in sales if as he said "a little more realistic intelligence were applied to consideration." Jewel Jones estimated that in normal times the annual purchasing power of the Negro amounts to two billion dollars. Brothers once again, when you get to know the Jewels you too will recognize how profound and visionary they were in the thinking.
"We plan to show this generation, that the day of the hat-in-hand, yes
sir boss Negro has come to a close..."
10th General President, Lucius L. McGee, 1920
SKIP'S QUOTE OF TODAY (BORROWED)
"No one man can rise above the condition of the masses of his
people. Understand that. So I am privileged and honored by the situation
that I'm in, no question." "Here's the NBA, full of Blacks,
great opportunities, they made beautiful strides. But what's the sense
of that...when I go back to my neighborhood and see the same thing? I'm
the only one who came out of my neighborhood. Everybody ended up dead,
in jail, on drugs, selling drugs. So I'm supposed to be honored and happy
or whatever by my success. Yes, I am. But I can't deny the fact of what
has happened to us over years and years and years and we're still at the
bottom of the totem pole."
Larry Johnson/ Forward, New York Knicks/NBA Finals Pregame Interview
June 24, 1999
(We can replace NBA with APHIA, and still create the same reasoning. Jewel Murray's plea of "Service before Self" cries out to us today!)
A FEW FACTS
ON THE SPHINX CLUBS
The primary purpose of the Sphinx is to bring under observation
those who aspire to membership in Alpha Phi Alpha with a view to be pledged.
If, after careful observation, a member of the Sphinx Club, is deemed worthy
of membership in the fraternity, he may be pledged."
1938 Constitution
FROM THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWSPAPER, Nov. 30, 1922
"Two of Lincoln's Debaters"
Lincoln University will be represented by....Thurgood Marshall, a member of the Lincoln University team that debated Pennsylvania State College last year."
44 YEARS AGO AT THE 41ST GENERAL CONVENTION IN 1955:
-Jewel Murray gave the fraternal address. He was introduced by
the 12th
General President Raymond W. Cannon.
Past General President S.S. Booker gave the Convention Address. He
was introduced by the Second General President Roscoe C. Giles
-Plans were made for the recording of the Alpha Music Album of original
Alpha tunes and the Alpha hymn. At the convention, recording made by Alpha
Rho at Morehouse were played.
- The date of December 4 was officially adopted as the National Founder's
Day
-Discussion was made that special cards were to be secured for members
of the Sphinx Pledge Club.
-Permanent Pass Cards be issued to the Jewels.
Skip's Note- Our history is so rich!!
LETTERS FROM THE BROTHERS:
Read the latest on the M.L.King Memorial Project
Hey Bro. Mason,
Here's a link to a very interesting article in today's Washington Post
on the major setback suffered yesterday for the proposed Martin Luther
King, Jr., Memorial in DC I'm sure readers will find the article of
interest, albeit disappointing.
Panel Rejects Mall Site for King Memorial
By Linda Wheeler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 2, 1999; Page B1
The National Capital Planning Commission yesterday rejected a Tidal Basin site proposed for the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial and tabled for further study a decision on placing cellular telephone towers in Rock Creek Park.
But the panel, in a seven-hour meeting, approved the final design for the National Museum of the American Indian, which will be built at Third Street and Independence Avenue SW.
The 8 to 4 vote against placing the King memorial near the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial was a major setback for the Washington D.C. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Project Foundation, which already had received site approval from the Commission on Fine Arts.
Foundation officials said the vote will delay groundbreaking by at least a year and will force the foundation to begin the site selection and approval process all over again.
"We are extremely and deeply disappointed," memorial project manager John Carter said. "We went through the process, we did everything. We had looked at all the sites . . . and this is still the best site."
The foundation had mounted carefully orchestrated presentations to the Planning and the Fine Arts commissions and had participated in a task force made up of representatives from both commissions that had concluded the Tidal Basin site was the best for the King memorial. The foundation cannot go ahead with a design competition or raise funds until it has a site.
The King memorial site has been controversial. Initially, the foundation selected a site at the east end of Constitution Gardens, near the planned World War II Memorial, and received approval from the Planning Commission but was turned down by the Fine Arts Commission. The foundation then reconsidered two other sites that had been dismissed earlier and embraced the one on the Tidal Basin.
The Fine Arts Commission enthusiastically supported that choice last month. At that hearing, Planning Commission Executive Director Reginald Griffith testified that the staff of his commission would endorse the same site in an assessment to the board at yesterday's meeting. Griffith's testimony was taken as a sign that both boards would be in accord.
However, the Planning Commission members did not follow the staff recommendations. Commission member Margaret G. Vanderhye, a presidential appointee, spoke of her admiration for King and the work of the foundation, but said she opposed the site because it was on a flood plain and because of philosophical reasons.
"Philosophically, this site just doesn't work for me," she said. "This is not just a memorial to a great leader but a memorial to the people he led. . . . Whatever we do for a memorial, it should be a living entity, as is the Washington Monument."
Arrington Dixon, a mayoral appointee to the Planning Commission, said he objected to the adjoining polo field, the roadway through the site and the noise of airplanes overhead.
"There are too many things here that make me feel like this is the back of the bus," he said.
Griffith urged board members to look "not at what is there but what could be there. We recommended this site not because it was the back of the bus . . . but because we believed this could be designed in a way that is worthy of Dr. King."
Commission Chairman Harvey B. Gantt, a presidential appointee, was the last to speak, saying he would vote for the site not because he thought it was the best one but because the process of reaching the decision was fair.
"We want to move forward and not delay for a year or two, or maybe we will never do it," he said. "I didn't get the site I wanted, but I can't say this won't be a great site."
John Parsons, associate regional director of the National Park Service's National Capital Region, who voted in favor of the site, said the Park Service and the foundation would look again at alternative sites at each end of Constitution Gardens.
The commission voted to table, for a second time, a decision on placing cellular telephone towers in Rock Creek Park. The vote came after three hours of testimony.
Most of the 50 witnesses opposed the project, initiated by Bell Atlantic Mobile. Opponents pointed to concerns about migratory birds, the natural scenery and the possibility of many more towers to follow.
Those who spoke in support said the towers would not be obtrusive, are needed for public safety and pose no threat to the birds.
Commission Vice Chairman Patricia Elwood, a mayoral appointee, called for an outside study to help the commission make an informed decision.
Melissa Wojciak, who represented Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) on the commission, objected to the tabling motion and urged members to support the towers. She warned that "others will go around you and the towers will be built. I will guarantee Congress would do that."
The commission voted 8 to 4, with one abstention, to table a decision.
© 1999 The Washington Post Company