THE SPHINX, OCTOBER, 1924 RHO
11
CHAPTER,
Philadelphia, Pa. ^BROTHERS IN A L P H A P H I
ALPHA,
Greetings: We regret our failure to greet the newly elected General officers in the last issue of T H E S P H I N X But with no diminution of sincerity and fervor we hail the new leaders of this (great organization. In order to disprove the possible thought that our silence denoted inactivity I shall briefly recount Rho activities. , Brother Dr. Spotuas Burwcll was one of the leaders of the pilgr.mage to John Brown's grave at Lake Placid, May !>. Along with Brother Dr. Eugene Alien they made the long journey and assisted in the memorial services that were very impressive. Brother Dr. I. M. Lawrence has branched out into the world of applied finance. H e is now the vice 'president of the Cosmopolitan State Bank located at Philadelphia. This instituti n one of a series of banks controlled by Brothers E. C. Brown and Andrew F. Stevens, marks a new epoch in Negro finance. Brother E. H. Vaughn is cashier of the bank. On May 11 Brother Dr. W. B. Carter, State Deputy of the F. and A. Masons, held open house and cellar to Rho Chapter. Quite a caravan of automobiles loaded to the running boards with both Psi and Rho brothers made the trip and were well repaid for the journev. The characteristic Rho banquet was served. A spirited meeting was he!d until a late hour.s/The feature of the evening was the response in financial help that came from the brothers to assist the unfortunate student at Meharry who is in the grip of Southern injustice. Brother Dr. Rudolph N. Gordon and Brother Arthur Faussett, were the respective chairmen of the Rho and Psi Chapters for the very successful "Go to High School, Go to College" meeting at the Dunbar Theater on Sunday, May 11, follow.ng a week of educational meetings. While there is grief am:ng the bachelors of Rho Chapter, yet the benedicts are gleeful at the admission to their cvcr-sweiling ranks of Brother Dr. M. Norvel Pannell. Miss Laurice Earle, a popular society miss of Chester, Pa., was the dainty little bride. VVc are happy to report the presence of Brothers Forrester B. Washington and Prince Edwood in Philadelphia. They are retained by Governor Pinchot and Dr. Ellen Potter of the Welfare Department of the State of Pennsylvania to make a survey of conditions among the Negroes of the state. Both brothers arc eminently qualified for the work assigned them. We expect them to affiliate with Rho Chapter and give us some of the influence and fraternal wisdom that have made Gamma-Lamda Chapter at Detroit such a potent factor in civic usefulness. At the May election all the officers of Rho Chapter were unanimously retained, re-elected and reinstalled in three minutes. The Burwcll steam roller was in perfect working order. Again pledging our allegiance to Alpha Phi Alpha. to her ideals and principles, to the perpetuation of her existence oh the plane originally intended for her, wc mest cordially extend greetings to all the brothers and to their loved ones. Fraternally yours. O. W I L S O N
WINTERS,
Chapter
Editor.
Dr. Monroe Hinson Tunnell. Who's who in Alpha Phi Alpha has no name contributed to its roster more deserving of special mention than Monroe Hinson Tunnell.
Dr. Tunnell was born at Frank ford, Sussex County. Delaware, April 17, 1880. His parents, James A. Tunnell and Volinda K. Tunnell, foresaw the importance of this new addition to the Alpha Phi Alpha firmament for they soon moved to Pennsylvania to secure better educational and civic advantages. Young Monroe went eventually through the Bryn Mawr Grammar School, the Lower Merion High School and sought admission in the proud and historic Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia. Tempest tossed as he was by race prejudice, great expense, clinical discrimination and unconcealed hostility of certain college authorities, yet the storms were weathered and young Tunnell graduated with high honor, winning the greatest prize and the most coveted honor at Jefferson Medical College, namely, the B. E. Montgomery Gold Medal for excellence in Gynecology. Without rancor and with no idea of bestirring racial animosity, 1 must mention that at the presentation of the Gold Medal to Dr. Tunnell in 1912 the faculty member designated to make the presentation was so astounded at the spectacle of a Negro boy whining the highest Jeffersonian trophy that he merely reached out his baud and said, "Here." Then to cap the climax of prejudice one of the runners-up for the prize offered Dr. Tunnell $'J00 for the medal, p itnting out at the time that the name of Monroe Hinson Tunnell was not yet inscribed thereon. Such wire the vicissitudes that marked his medical career at JeffCrsi n. let Dr. Tunnell has climbed on and on to reach his "piace in the sun" of civic, political, fraternal and medical circles. He is a Trustee of Bryn Mawr A . M . H. Church at Bryn Mawr. Pa. He is a Director of Cheyney State Normal School of Pennsylvania, a member of Rho Chapter. Alpha Phi Alpha. Past Master, James W. Kill Lodge. No. !I7. F. and A. M., King Hiram Chapter, No. 2, H. R. A. M., St. George Commandery, No. :>, M. K. T., De Molay Consistory, No. 1, S. P. R. S., Pyramid Temple. No. 1, A. E. O., Noble of the Mystic Shrine, Essex Reed Lodge, No. 236, I. B. P. O. E. W. While in Lower Merion High School he was secretary of the Athletic Association, interscholastic chain-