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Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity: A Centennial Celebration
Early Publications and Documents, 1910-1956
The First General Convention of the General Organization was held in 1908 at Howard University (Beta Chapter) in Washington, DC and included three of the four existing chapters. This convention was significant because it officially transferred governing power from Alpha Chapter to the General Organization of the fraternity. A General Organization constitution was adapted and General Officers were elected, making Moses Alvin Morrison of Beta Chapter the fraternity’s first General President. From then on, all chapters would follow the lead of the General Organization and would meet as a whole body at the General Convention. The General Convention not only served as a way for all chapters to interact with each other, but it was also the place where major laws, mandates, and ideals of the fraternity were discussed and established.
As chapters were created and membership grew, so did attendance at the General Conventions. The Sixteenth Annual Convention, held in Columbus, Ohio, reported that the fraternity had forty-seven chapters and the authorization to establish four more, and further pledged to support the passage of anti-lynching legislation. As it progressed, the General Convention’s messages became more political, addressing issues confronting African Americans. The theme of Alpha Phi Alpha’s Fiftieth Anniversary Convention’s was “Building on the Past-To Face the Challenges of the Future.” Held in Buffalo and Ithaca, New York, it included remarks from Governor W. Averill Harriman of New York. The keynote speaker, fraternity member Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke on “The Birth of a New Age.”
Letter from Founder George Biddle Kelley to Aubrey Robinson, Cornell Class of 1920, and Alpha Chapter Member, December 12, 1919 [view image]
Unable to make it to Chicago for the Alpha Phi Alpha Convention, Kelley writes: “As rates are so extremely high and everything else is in the clouds, I will have to forego the great happiness of being to the Convention. I intend to write while this convention is in session so please send me the address of the Chicago Chapter. I hope by all means that Alpha can send a delegate—and I will gladly donate $5.00 toward that end if it is possible for you to send one.”
Fifteenth Annual Convention Minutes, held at the Seat of Epsilon Lambda Chapter, St. Louis, December 27-31, 1922 [view PDF]
Sixteenth Annual Convention Minutes, held at the Seat of Kappa Chapter, Columbus, OH, December 27-31, 1923 [view PDF]
George B. Kelly, Nathaniel A. Murray, and Henry A. Callis, Photograph published in The Sphinx. Vol. XIII, no. 1. Ed. Oscar C. Brown. February, 1927 [view] Three of the founders are pictured in 1926 at the Nineteenth Annual Convention of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, held in Richmond, Virginia.Fiftieth Anniversary Convention Banquet Program. Buffalo, New York. August 11, 1956. [view PDF]
Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., initiated in 1952 into Sigma Chapter (Boston University) of Alpha Phi Alpha, was the guest speaker at the fiftieth anniversary convention banquet.