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LEADERSHIP AT ITS FINEST
Henry Arthur Callis
Callis became a practicing physician, Howard University Professor of Medicine and esteemed contributor to medical journals. Often regarded as the “philosopher of the founders,” and a moving force in the Fraternity’s development, he was the only one of the “Cornell Seven” to become General President. Upon his death in 1974, at age 87, the Fraternity entered a time without any living Jewels. His medical documents were donated to Howard’s Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.
Charles Henry Chapman
Chapman was Professor of Agriculture at what is now Florida A&M University. He was the first Jewel to enter Omega Chapter in 1934 and the funeral was held at the university. Chapman was a founder of FAMU’s Beta Nu Chapter. During the organization stages of Alpha Chapter, he was the first chairman of the Committees on Initiation and Organization.
Eugene Kinckle Jones
Jones became the first Executive Secretary of the National Urban League. His 20-year tenure with the Urban League thus far has exceeded those of all his successors in office. A versatile leader, he organized the first three Fraternity chapters that branched out from Cornell—Beta at Howard, Gamma at Virginia Union and the original Delta at the University of Toronto in Canada. Jones also has the distinction of being one of the first initiates as well as an original founder. His status as a founder was not finally established until 1952 therefore being identified as being the "seventh jewel". He died in 1954.
George Biddle Kelley
Kelley became the first African American engineer registered in the state of New York. Not only was he the strongest proponent of the Fraternity idea among the organization’s founders, the civil engineering student also became Alpha Chapter’s first President. Kelley resided in Troy, New York and was active with Beta Pi Lambda Chapter in Albany. He died in 1963.
Nathaniel Allison Murray
Murray pursued graduate work after completing his undergraduate studies at Howard. He later returned home to Washington, D.C., where he taught in public schools. Much of his career was spent at Armstrong Vocational High School in the District of Columbia. He entered the Omega Chapter in 1959.
Robert Harold Ogle
Ogle entered the career secretarial field and had the unique privilege of serving as a professional staff member to the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations. He proposed the Fraternity’s colors and was Alpha Chapter’s first secretary. He died in 1936.
Vertner Woodson Tandy
Tandy became the state of New York’s first registered architect, with offices on Broadway in New York City. The designer of the Fraternity pin holds the distinction of being the first African American to pass the military commissioning examination and was commissioned First Lieutenant in the 15th Infantry of the New York State National Guard. He was Alpha Chapter’s first treasurer and took the initiative to incorporate the Fraternity. Among the buildings designed by the highly talented architect is Saint Phillips Episcopal Church in New York City. He died in 1949, at age 64.
