08/27/2026
On April 12, 1947, seventeen men chartered Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, Gamma Phi Lambda Chapter in Berkeley, California. 🤙🏾
The East Bay they were building in had changed quickly. Wartime shipyard work drew thousands of Black families west from Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas, and redlining and restrictive covenants were waiting for them when they arrived. Alpha had been on the Pacific coast since 1921, but the eastern side of the Bay had no alumni chapter of its own.
The chartering was authorized at the General Convention in Columbus, Ohio. Western Vice President Brother A. Maceo Smith of Dallas deputized Brother Dewey D. Davidson of Los Angeles to conduct the ceremonies. The Sphinx carried the announcement in its May 1947 edition, reporting that the light of Alpha was burning brighter on the West Coast.
The charter roster held physicians, dentists, pharmacists, and attorneys. Seventy-nine years later this chapter still serves Berkeley, Oakland, and Alameda.
First of All, Servants of All, We Shall Transcend All. 🖤💛
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