February, 1937
THE
SPHINX
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ALPHA PHI ALPHA HIS FIRST LOVE "More Than A Founder, He Was A Builder; More Than A Jewel, He Was A Brother" —Emory Smith ALPHA PHI ALPHA TRULY HIS FIRST LOVE. Almost thirty years to the hour, after the birth of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Brother Jewel Robert Ogle, °ne of the founders of the Greek Letter Society, died at Washington's Freedmen's Hospital, December 3, 1936, of a n appendicitis operation, at the age of 50. At his. funeral, held at Lincoln Temple Congregational Church four days after his death, friends, relatives and fraternity brothers heard many accounts of his life. Brother Charles Wesley read a moving account of his "fe. They caught something of the intimate side of Bob °gle from Brother Jewels George Kelly, Dr. Arthur Callis, and Nathaniel Murray, all of whom knew him in the early college days in Cornell University back in 1906. They heard Brother Emory Smith say in a warm eulogy: 'Had he been like many of us he may have found satisfaction and contentment in the accidental distinction of being one of the founders of Alpha Phi Alpha. As a Jewel he may have made us feel a sense of awe in his presence. Bu t more than a founder, he was a builder. More than a Jewel, he was a brother." _ His was an active rather than an honorary affiliation Wl th the fraternity. Alpha Phi Alpha was truly his first °ve. No task for the welfare of Mu Lambda was beneath ™s dignity, and no sacrifice within his means was too great." 'His alert mind found happy expression in forens'.c combat, and his only sense of superiority was in a farf 0Ve -the-average parliamentary procedure. And on that nowledge both the chapter and the general organization earned to rely. Always affable in his manner he was effiCle m in the performance of his duty." Bob Ogle loved his friends and was well worthy of eir confidence. He put loyalty to their trust above his ° W n Personal interests. He had the happy faculty of • e e t m S with triumph and disaster and treating both these niposters just the same. He was modest in victory and j a u n t e d in defeat." t r W h a t e v e r may have been his politics, socially he was i n t f . d e m o c r a t i c - His friendship was not restricted to the telli g e n c i a _ H e t o o k d e l i g h t i n association with those °se academic advantages had not been as great as his. s devoted as he was to Mu Lambda, his fraternal horizon Oi" d e d beyond the fellowship of men of letters." Others who aided in proving the deep spiritual feel of j e S e r v ice in speech and song were: Brother Secretary °«eph H. B. Evans, Brother Robert W. Brooks, pastor U L l n c ° l n Temple; Brother Emmett J. Scott, of Howard niversity; William Hueston, Elk Commissioner of Edu^ " o n ; Magistrate Edward Henry, of Philadelphia; the ^ev. Newman J. Flipper Derricotte, Miss Hallie Queen, *• Isaac Cupid, Mrs. Joseph Walker and Brother Prentice T v ! l a S ' W h o r e D r e s e n t e d B e t a Chapter. .he picture was completed with a pillow of roses on lc h was woven in small yellow chrysanthemums the 0rd "Alpha Phi Alpha," sent by Mu Lambda chapter, . , a l a u r e l wreath with white lilies, sent by the general or eanization.
Born in Washington, April 3, 1886, the son of Mrs. Ellen and the late Jeremiah Ogle, Robert Ogle took part in the founding of the Fraternity which sprouted from the Social Study Club at Cornell University. It was in his disheveled combination study and bedroom in the home of Mrs. Archie Singleton at 11 East State Street, in Ithaca, New York, that the mother chapter of the Fraternity took shape. Later the chapter rented a first floor store-front room in Mrs. Singleton's home, where meetings were held. Typical of the thoroughness with which Brother Ogle tackled any problem was his investigation of a news item appearing in the Chicago Defender in December, 1905. As Brother President Charles Wesley tells us in his book on the history of the Fraternity, Brother Ogle had returned to Washington for the Christmas holidays. He saw the news item which told of the establishment of Pi Gamma Omicron Fraternity at Ohio State University. He wrote the registrar for information, receiving the reply that there was no such Fraternity. According to Brother Jewel Arthur Callis, the truth of the matter was that the Fraternity had been started at Ohio State but had disintegrated. It was not until December, 1906, that the Social Study Club finally voted to become a Fraternity. A banquet followed the initiation of Lemuel Graves, Gordon Jones and Eugene Kinckle Jones, the first three men initiated into the Fraternity. Brother Jewel Callis recalled that Bob Ogle spoke at that banquet on "Welcome, Brother." Returning to Washington, Brother Ogle made the motion to establish Beta Chapter at Howard University in December, 1907, the first chapter outside Ithaca, and the second chapter of the Fraternity to be organized. Brother Ogle's first wife, Helen Moore Ogle, died in Richmond, Va., leaving two children, Mrs. Helen Atkins, of Washington, D. C, and Mrs. Mary Wilson, of Richmond, Va. His second wife, now living in Washington, was the former Marea Scott. Famed as a parliamentarian, who could pursue his point with a fine sense of proportion and an unusual memory, Brother Ogle got his training in this line from his work as secretary of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, under the chairmanship of the late Senator Francis E. Warren, of Wyoming. In this position he developed a keen knowledge of fiscal affairs of the Federal Government, and a habit of careful research which won him praise for his later work of clerk to two Washington Municipal Court Judges, Brother Jas. A. Cobb, and the present judge, Armond W. Scott, whom he served for a short period. At memorial services held at the chapter house in Washington, December 10, 1936, Brother Howard H. Long characterized Brother Ogle as a man of strong likes and dislikes, who made these qualities lend themselves to the best traditions of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.