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THE
SPHINX
May, 1947 BETA KAPPA
DR. H. H. STILSON Orbit April 3rd Hot Springs, Arkansas
DR. F R E D E R I C K P. L Y T E S OBIT MARCH 3RD ". . . . All that tread The globe are b u t a handful to t h e tribes That slumber in its bosom." This p e r t i n e n t thought from "Thanatopsis" struck h o m e this Spring to Pi L a m b d a C h a p t e r which yielded two demits to Omega, increasingly the largest chapter of Alpha P h i Alpha. B r e a t h e s there an Alpha who, at some time, not with fear and trembling but assuredly in quiet and serious meditation, has not pondered t h e common lot of mortal beings as Death stalks the terrestrial ball? As one brother after another m a k e s his exit from the stage, ever t h e r e rings more blatantly the cogent r e m i n d e r of constant regeneration and t h e necessity of filling in the r a n k s . Dr. DeKoven French, Dr. Edgar Askew, famous Dr. Douglas Stubbs, Attorney B e r t McDonald—these brothers had m a d e their own niches which none other could fill, but they left, each of them, a void w h e r e i n newcomers, building on their accomplishments, might, as Servants of All. grasp and aspire to new heights, out-topping t h e masters. So be it in the course of h u m a n progress. So was it with B r o t h e r Frederick Paschal Lytes and B r o t h e r H u b e r t H. Stilson. Dr. Lytes passed from t h e scene on March 3 after forty-one years of dental p r a c tice. As a young M e h a r r y g r a d u a t e in the year of Alpha P h i Alpha's birth he ret u r n e d to his native P i n e Bluff and began his life w o r k t h e r e w h e r e h e had held forth ever since. He took great p r i d e in his race, and w h i l e he w a s a frequent visitor in churches of various connections, it was in his own A. M. E. connection that he was an unusually active layman. Locally a n d at Quadrennials, at an earlier period, he was a familiar figure as a vocalist. B u t his salient trait, I think, was his wide-open h e a r t and hands, for like Timon of Athens, his door was always open and his table lavish His contribution of five h u n d r e d dollars to the M e h a r r y E n d o w m e n t F u n d was typical of his sense of civic and racial responsibility. A m e m b e r of P i Boule of Sigma P i P h i and other organizations, he liked to refer to the p i c t u r e of the N e w Orleans Convention of Alpha Phi Alpha which adorned the wall of his office with the words "That certainly was a fine bunch of fellows!" He leaves a widow, Mrs. A n n a p ' Lytes, a n a t i v e Baltimorean. Dr. H. H. Stilson d e p a r t e d this life at his h o m e in Hot Springs, April 13 1947 He had not enjoyed complete health for several years, and even though he suffered great physical agony, he was constantly r e t u r n i n g to his practice as he was the only m e m b e r of our racial group practicing dentistry in that city. It was less than a year and a half ago t h a t he sought re-activation as an Alpha brother—to be exact, it was at our J a n u a r y meeting in 1946 that he came in the rain and cold to Pine Bluff from Hot Springs in the company of t h e eminent surgeon Dr. J o h n Eve, n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g his e x t r e m e frailty. What a touching scene it was when he tol dof his y e a r n i n g for the fellowship of his brothers in Alpha of the visits paid him by b r o t h e r s w h e n he was in t h e throes of agony. But most touching of all was the gesture when, after settling his financial obligations to the fraternity h e a t t e m p t e d an unassessed contribution for furthering t h e work of the chapter amid sympathetic shouts of "No, no!" A g r a d u a t e of Morehouse and Meharry, B r o t h e r Stilson practiced for at least a q u a r t e r of a century in the Spa City. Mrs. Myrtle B. Stilson, Indianapolis-born who so diligently and faithfully attended and solaced h e r h u s b a n d in his d a r k e s t hours, survives. To these fraters, from Alpha P h i Alpha, "Hail and F a r e w e l l ! "
CHAPTER
Langston University GREETINGS: Early in December Beta Kappa gave its fall rush party for the freshmen class and new students. Graduate Brothers Inman Breaux, President G. L. Harrison, G. C. Hamilton, Hobart S. Jarrett. and B. Boyd greeted the new group with short talks. The Second Semester Beta Kappa gave its second rush party for prospective pledgees. At the present the following pledgees nKike up the roster of the Sphinx Club: Oliver Ainsworth. Tally Mozee. Wallace Johnson. Percy B. Hytch. Herbert Kemp, Wilbur Stevenson. Aloza Hancock, Clarence Fisher. William Watson. Johnnie Abraro, Zebedie Curry. Otis Autry. La France Shawnee. Hubert Carroll. During the fall invitation the following brothers crossed the burning sands into Alpha Land: Henry Battle, Erastus Coleman. James Isaac, Zorrain Coy, Thomas Marshall. Clarence Wiley. Cleon Waters. Earl Ned. Tommy Jackson. Leo Whitlow and Theodore Shackleford. Alfred Harrell has filled the office of President of the Student Council in the absence of the president Wilbur O. Mack. Brother Harrell recently represented Langston University at a National Student Council Conference held at Texas University in Austin. Texas. Brother Aaron E. Murphy, a dramatic student, portrayed a leading role in a one act play recently taken from one of Edgar Allen's Poe's mystery stories "The Tell Tale Heart." Brother Amos Stevenson is wonderfully representing the student body of Langston with work carried on in the Christian Youth Council. Brother James Roy Johnson, President of the Student Christian Association is doing a marvelous piece of work as its leader. During the Christmas holidays he attended the National Christian Assembly Conference. which waa held at the University of Illinois. He recently returned to the campus from
Brother John 0. Kelley From page 37 School, St. Charles, Mo., and developed his team to position of state championship for two years. He became principal of the Vernon School, in Quindaro. Kansas After leaving t h e field of education. B r o t h e r Kelley began doing general contracting. He was employed at the J a c k son County P a r e n t a l H o m e as assistant to the s u p e r i n t e n d e n t at the time of his death. His services h e r e w e r e fruitful in view of his contacts with people in m a n y walks of life. B r o t h e r Kelley was engaged to m a r r y Miss Dorothy E. Lillard, p o p u l a r Kansas City, Mo., school teacher, this J u n e . Miss Lillard is the sister of B r o t h e r J. R. Lillard, k n o w n t h r o u g h o u t A l p h a d o m w h o r e t u r n e d only recently from nearly t h r e e years of Red Cross service overseas. B r o t h e r Kelley is survived by his mother, Mrs. Ida C. Kelley, of Columbia, Mo.; two sisters, Mrs. E. Hampton, director of Eastside Settlement Project, Los Angeles, Calif.; and Mrs. Robert L. Washington, postal clerk, Kansas City, Mo.; two brothers, Preston Kelley, chemist of Chicago; and J a m e s Kelley, of Kelley-Moore F i r m , Los Angeles, and m a n y distant relatives. F u n e r a l services w e r e held from the chapel of E. Sterling Bell F u n e r a l H o m e with Beta L a m b d a C h a p t e r in charge, April 13th, and the remains w e r e sent to Columbia for services at Logwood P r o v i dence Baptist C h u r c h .