ABOUT
MU LAMBDA

GENERAL PRESIDENTS FROM ΜU LAMBDA

 

Jewel Henry Arthur Callis (6th), Howard H. Long (7th), Charles H. Wesley (14th), Rayford W. Logan (15th), Bedford V. Lawson Jr. (16th)

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HISTORY OF MU LAMBDA CHARTER MEMBERS

 

Bro. Arthur Curtis

Dr. Arthur Curtis, MD., a former Surgeon who later became a professor of surgery at Howard University Medical School. At one point in time, he served as the Surgeon-in-Chief of Freedmen's Hospital (which is now the site of Howard’s School of Communication).

 

Bro. Merrill H Curtis

Dr. Merrill H. Curtis, MD., a physician based in Washington, DC with a private practice. A second-generation Alpha man and Doctor, following the legacy of his father, and also Mu Lambda Charter member Brother Arthur Curtis.

 

Bro. Victor R. Daly

Writer and Author. Was a decorated officer and war hero in World War I. Cornell graduate and an initiate of Alpha Chapter, He wrote one of the first (if not THE first) novels by black soldiers based, and inspired on World War I. He was the first Secretary of Mu Lambda, holding the position for a number of years while the chapter was establishing itself. He was also a founding member of the American Bridge Association (ABA)

 

Bro. Eugene L. C. Davidson

Harvard University Undergrad Graduate. Howard Law Graduate. War Veteran. Davidson went into the business of investments and real estate. Brother Eugene was the Owner of Davidson Investments (based in DC and New York) as well as the House of Davidson Real Estate.

 

Bro. Arnold Donnawa

Dr. Arnold Donnawa, DDS was born in Trinidad, Donowa earned his D.D.S. from Howard University and did further work at the Royal College of Dental Surgeons in Toronto and at the renowned Forsyth Clinic in Boston, affiliated with Harvard Medical School, where he also served as chief of x-ray. Dr. Donnawa eventually went on to become the first Dean of Howard University’s College of Dentistry.

 

Bro. Walter Garvin

Dr. Walter Garvin, DDS is a Native of Jacksonville, FL. Howard Undergrad and Howard Dental school Graduate. Garvin practiced in Baltimore specializing in bridgework before relocating his practice to Washington, DC. He was also a charter member of Delta Lambda in Baltimore.

 

Bro. William L. Hansberry

William Leo Hansberry was a historian and anthropologist. Harvard graduate, But while he was an undergrad he helped come up with the African Civilization Course and base for the Afro-American Studies program at Howard University. In 1922, He was credited as being the first academician to introduce a course on African history in a university setting in the United States. He was also a Past President of Mu Lambda.

 

Bro. Charles H. Houston

Brother Charles Hamilton Houston, Esq. was a civil Rights Attorney, mentor to Thurgood Marshall, and Former Dean of the Howard University School of Law (which now holds his namesake as the main building on the Law Campus). He was the NAACP’s Litigation Director who played a significant role in dismantling the Jim Crow laws, which earned him the title "The Man Who Killed Jim Crow".

 

***Bro. Edward Howard

***Bro. Joseph R. Jones

 

Bro. R. Frank Jones

The Seventh President of Mu Lambda Chapter, Dr. Richard Francis Jones, MD., was the first African American to be certified in Urology and the first African American to receive board certification in a surgical specialty. He went on to join the faculty at Howard University College of Medicine. In his memory, the American Urological Association has the “R. Frank Jones Urological Society”. An organization dedicated in his honor and to the advancement of Minorities in the Urological field of medicine.

 

***Bro. John E. Lowery

 

Bro. Clarence H. Mills

Dr. Clarence Harvey Mills, Sr. Ph.D. was a professor with a specialty on multiple languages at Howard University. He eventually moved on to Wilberforce University where he became Head of the Department of Foreign Languages. A World War I veteran, Brother Mills stayed very active in Alpha. Eventually served on the staff of the Sphinx and through the Chi Lambda Chapter after moving to Ohio in 1937.

Jewel Nathaniel Allison Murray

A Founder of our dear Fraternity. An educator in the Washington, DC Area public school system. Much of his career was spent at Armstrong Vocational High School in the District of Columbia. He was a member of Alpha Chapter’s first committee on the organization of the new fraternal group, as well as the Committee on the Grip.

 

 

Bro. Norman L. McGhee

Norman L. McGhee, Esq., who also served as general secretary for the National Fraternity, Not only took part in making Mu Lambda Chapter but is also credited for making Zeta Lambda in Norfolk, Virginia. Brother McGhee was the first African-American, Licensed stock dealer in the Midwest and founded the first black-owned brokerage firm in the nation. A Double Alum from Howard University received his Undergraduate and Law Degree from the University in 1922. He eventually went on to become very involved in many civic organizations focused on uplifting the black community and even sat on the Board of Trustees of Wilberforce University.

 

Jewel Robert Harold Ogle

Also a Founder of Alpha Phi Alpha. 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 was an African American pioneer in his Capitol Hill position. He also proposed the Fraternity’s colors and was Alpha Chapter’s first secretary.

 

Bro. Louis H. Russell

Brother Russell also helped charter the Delta Lambda chapter in Baltimore, Maryland. A Veteran, after the war he went on to receive his undergraduate degree from Cornell University. Afterward, he earned his Master’s Degree from Howard University and then went on to join the faculty at Howard as an Instructor.

 

Bro. James N. Saunders

James “Jimmy” N. Saunders was the Second President of Mu Lambda Chapter. Served in 1925 and for a short time retook the presidency in 1930 during Brother Charles H. Wesley’s absence. After receiving his Master’s Degree from Howard University he became an educator in principal. Serving at Cardoza, in DC, and Shelton B Granger in, Lousiana. He then served as Executive Director of Cleveland Urban League and Director of Youth Development of the United States Children’s Bureau. He then was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1966.

 

Bro. Emory B. Smith

The Reverend Emory B. Smith Served as the Director in the Department of Public Information of Howard University. A graduate from Hampton University and Howard University he went on to also graduate from Yale University’s School of Divinity. Brother Smith also was the first editor and chief (and even for the moment the business manager) of the “The Howard Alumnus” (now known as the “Howard Magazine“), the alumni publication of Howard U. and was President of Howard University Alumni Association. Brother Smith was the former (and only) War Secretary to the Fraternity (a former position during World War I). The duties included, in part, keeping “the fraternity in touch with brothers in the Army,” keeping those serving “in touch with fraternity affairs,” and reporting “all war news of fraternity interest to the Editor of The Sphinx.”

 

Bro. Harold C. Stratton

Dr. Harold Counsellor Stratton, MD., was The First president of Mu Lambda Chapter. Served from 1923 to 1924. He retained both his undergraduate and Medical Degrees from Howard University. During this time he sat on Howard University Alumni Association as a Vice President. After completing his residency in Washington, DC he went on to become a Family Practitioner in the Dayton, Ohio Area.

 

Bro. J.H.N. Waring

James H. N. Waring, Jr. was a second-generation educator and Harvard University graduate. He was a professor of German at Howard University before following in his father's footsteps to be Principle, of the Downington Industrial and Agricultural School located in Downingtown, Pennsylvania (now the site of the Chester County campus of the Delaware County Community College.)

 

Bro. Charles H. Wesley

Historian. Past President of Wilberforce University, and Central State University. Past Dean of the Liberal Arts and the Graduate School at Howard University. He was the 4th African-American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University. And was a Past General President of Alpha Phi Alpha as well as the Author of our History Book. He was also a former Chapter President of Mu Lambda.

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(*** no formal description found) 
 

 

Notable ΜΛ Men

 

Bro. Bobby W. Austin – Vice President for University Relations and Communications at the University of the District of Columbia; Author; Chairman of the Planning Committee on the Status of African American Men

Bro. Marion S. Barry, Jr. – Former Mayor of Washington, DC and first Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

Bro. Walter M. Booker – Past Eastern Region Vice President (1951-54); Former Chairman, Howard University Department of Pharmacology; Howard University Medical School Professor.

Bro. Herman R. Branson – Noted biophysicist, co-inventor of the Alpha helix, and past president of Central State and Lincoln Universities.

Bro. M. Christopher Brown – President of Alcorn State

Bro. Horace G. Dawson, Jr. – Former Ambassador to Botswana and Director of the Ralph Bunche International Affairs Center, Howard University. Chairman of the Alpha Phi Alpha World Policy Council.

Bro. Charles T. Duncan – First General Counsel of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, First African American President of the District of Columbia Bar Association, first chair of the DC Judicial Selection Commission, and former Dean, Howard University School of Law.

Bro. Joseph H. B. Evans – Former Field Director for the Committee on Fair Employment Practices and Former Associate Executive Secretary of the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services. Served as General Secretary of Alpha Phi Alpha for 22 years.Bro. Howard Jenkins – First African American Appointed to the National Labor Relations Board; served for 20 years under five Presidents.

Bro. Elgy Johnson – Notable Mathematician

Bro. R. O’Hara Lanier – Former Ambassador to Liberia First President of Texas Southern University

Bro. Bedford V. Lawson – Civil Rights Attorney and Past General President of Alpha Phi Alpha

Bro. Rayford W. Logan – Civil Rights/Pan African Activist and Scholar and Past General President of Alpha Phi Alpha

Bro. Howard L. Long – Former Assistant Superintendent of the DC Public Schools and Past General President of Alpha Phi Alpha

Bro. Leroy Lowery III – Past Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation; Past Interim Vice President of the Eastern Region of Alpha Phi Alpha

Bro. Gregory S. Parks –  Lawyer and Author 

Bro. Vincent Orange – Former Washington, DC City Council Member, Ward 5

Bro. Henry Ponder – Past General President; Past President, Talladega College, Benedict College, and Fisk University; Past President and CEO of NAFEO

Bro. Hilyard R. Robinson – Noted architect who designed buildings at Howard and Hampton Universities, as well as Langston Terrace in DC. Chairman, Department of Architecture at Howard University, 1925-31.