Sigma Pi Phi

Sigma Pi Phi (ΣΠΦ) is the first successful and oldest Black Greek-lettered organization. Sigma Pi Phi was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 1904. The fraternity quickly established chapters (referred to as "member boulés"[upper-alpha 1]) in Chicago, Illinois and then Baltimore, Maryland.[1] The founders included two doctors, a dentist and a pharmacist.[2] When Sigma Pi Phi was founded, black professionals were not offered participation in the professional and cultural associations organized by the white community.[3] Sigma Pi Phi has over 5,000 members and 139 chapters throughout the United States, England and The Bahamas.[4]

Sigma Pi Phi
ΣΠΦ
Founded1904 (1904)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
TypeSocial
ScopeInternational
Motto
ColorsPantone 3015 (BLUE)
Chapters139
NicknameBoulé, "a council of noblemen"
HeadquartersAtlanta, Georgia
USA
Websitehttp://www.sigmapiphi.org
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Founders
  • Henry M. Minton, PhG
  • Eugene T. Hinson, MD
  • Robert J. Abele, MD
  • Algernon B. Jackson, MD
  • Edwin C.J.T. Howard, MD
  • Richard J. Warrick, Jr., DDS
  • Eugene T. Hinson, MD
  • Robert J. Abele, MD

[5]

Membership

Membership in Sigma Pi Phi is highly exclusive, numbering only about 5,000.[6] The organization is known as "the Boulé," which means "a council of noblemen".[7] Founded as an organization for professionals, Sigma Pi Phi never established college chapters, and eliminated undergraduate membership during its infant stages.[8] However, Sigma Pi Phi has historically had a congenial relationship with college Black Greek-letter organizations, as many members of Sigma Pi Phi are members of both. Sigma Pi Phi founder Henry McKee Minton and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are both members of Alpha Phi Alpha, while Arthur Ashe is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi. Vernon Jordan and L. Douglas Wilder are members of Omega Psi Phi. James Weldon Johnson is a member of Phi Beta Sigma, as is civil rights leader and member of Congress John Lewis (D-GA). University of Massachusetts-Boston Chancellor, Dr. J. Keith Motley, and Hibernia Southcoast Capital CEO (Retired), Joseph Williams are members of Iota Phi Theta. Members of Sigma Pi Phi have provided leadership and service during the Great Depression, World War I, World War II, the Great Recession, and addressed social issues such as urban housing, and other economic, cultural, and political issues affecting people of African descent.

Notable members

Members of Sigma Pi Phi include[9] W. E. B. Du Bois, Civil Rights Leader and one of the founders of the NAACP, Rev. Martin Luther King, Civil right leader, Robert J. Abele, founder and brother of Julian Abele who served as the lead architect of Duke University, Former NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, former United Nations Ambassador Ralph Bunche, former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson, former Virginia Governor L. Douglas Wilder, American Express President Kenneth Chenault, Bobby Scott, C. O. Simpkins, Sr., Ken Blackwell, United States Attorney General Eric Holder,[10] Ron Brown, Vernon Jordan, Arthur Ashe, Mel Watt,[11] and John Baxter Taylor, Jr., the first African-American to win an Olympic Gold Medal.[12] Numerous other American leaders are among the men who have adopted the fraternity’s purpose of "creating a forum wherein they could pursue social and intellectual activities in the company of peers."[3] Sigma Pi Phi is open to members of all races, as can be demonstrated by its well-known white member Jack Greenberg, who succeeded Thurgood Marshall as the leader of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc..[13]

In media

Lawrence Otis Graham reports on the organization and his membership in it in the 1999 book Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class.[14]

See also
  • American Black Upper Class

Notes
  1. The word boulé, derived from ancient Greek βουλή, originally referred to a council of nobles advising a king. It is also used by the African-American sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha.

References
  1. "History". Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity — Beta Lambda. Archived from the original on 2012-07-22. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  2. "University of the Sciences: A Science and Healthcare College | Philadelphia, PA | University of the Sciences". Usip.edu. 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  4. Olechowski, Carol (April 25, 2002). "Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity Supports Scholarships for UAlbany Students" (Press release). University at Albany, SUNY.
  5. https://www.sigmapiphi.org/home/history-of-the-boule.php
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-11-28. Retrieved 2008-01-02.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-06-17. Retrieved 2016-01-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. fullahead.org. "Boulé Delegation Returns to Capitol Hill for Third Trip and Meets With Lawmakers and With Two Members of Obama's Cabinet - Sigma Pi Phi". www.sigmapiphi.org.
  11. Watt, Mel (February 28, 2006). "Honoring Black History Month". Congressional Record. Retrieved 2006-10-08. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. "Archives - Philly.com". articles.philly.com.
  13. "1904–2004: the Boule at 100: Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity holds centennial celebration". Ebony. September 2004. Archived from the original on November 23, 2004. Retrieved September 11, 2006.
  14. Lawrence Otis Graham (January 6, 1999). Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class (First ed.). Harper. ISBN 0060183527.
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