Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for Black college students, was organized at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, in 1906. The prejudices of the time, even at a relatively liberal institution such as Cornell, placed an extra burden on minority students. The first unit of this national fraternity, organized by college men of African descent, was called "Alpha Chapter."

The seven visionary founders at Cornell, Henry Arthur Callis, Charles Henry Chapman, Eugene Kinckle Jones, George Biddle Kelley, Nathaniel Allison Murray, Robert Harold Ogle and Vertner Woodson Tandy, labored in years of severe economic struggle and racial conflict in the United States. Despite their difficulties of organization in this untried field of student life, the early fraternity pioneers succeeded in laying a firm foundation and remained steadfast in their goals.

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