Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African American Men, was founded on December 4, 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York by seven college men who recognized the need for a strong bond of brotherhood among African descendants in this country. The visionary founders, known as the “Jewels” of the fraternity, are Henry Arthur Callis, Charles He
nry Chapman, Eugene Kinckle Jones, George Biddle Kelley, Nathaniel Allison Murray, Robert Harold Ogle, and Vertner Woodson Tandy. The fraternity initially served as a study and support group for minority students who faced racial prejudice, both educationally and socially, at Cornell. The Jewel founders and 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. The Epsilon Mu Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, located in the city of Pensacola, Florida, was chartered on January 1, 1951. Through various national and local community programs, the chapter holds true to the fraternities aims of manly deeds, scholarship and love for all mankind.
