MYSTERY OF THE HOUSE SOLVED In 1923, Brother Sydney P. Brown was a young Atlanta attorney with, as he put it, "more time than law practice." This unwelcome "time-off" nevertheless provided him the opportunity to think about his six years as a fraternity man. His fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, was only seventeen years old; yet it held sway at the best colleges Yale and Talladega, Berkeley and Howard, Northwestern and Lincoln, Columbia and Wilberforce - and had about ten alumni groups in place across the country. Already, this organization had been an integral part of Brother Brown's life. A physician in Mississippi, and an Alpha Man, had led him to the Howard Preparatory School in 1912. Upon entering college, Sydney too would join the ranks of Alphadom. This unique status, that of "Brother", he credited with easing his transition back to college after World War I and his sudden move to the Midwest to attend the Northwestern School of Law. Out of law school, he moved to Indianapolis, then Atlanta — on both occasions to join Alpha Brothers in business ventures. Brother Brown's experiences during this period formed the basis for his perception of Alpha Phi Alpha. The result of Brother Brown's leisure time musings was the well-known poem, The House of Alpha. In our Winter 1982 issue, we presented for your consideration the "Mystery of the House" - a short feature on two distinct versions of the work. Both had appeared, from time to time, in major fraternity publications and we had no copy of the 1923 Sphinx cited by the author, so we asked for your help in determining which was the original poem. Thanks to Brother Anthony Crutchfield of Gamma Lambda Chapter (Detroit, MI) we now have an answer. And, as you'll see, the original differs from both of the versions we had earlier considered. It is nonetheless a pleasure to proclaim this mystery "solved" and to present, solely for your edification and certainly without the pledgeship pressure to memorize it, the "original" House of Alpha. The Sphinx / Summer 1983
L E G A C Y
®Jje tyawz of Alptja S * ^ ^ O O D W I L L IS T H E M O N A R C H IN T H I S H O U S E . 0 ML 0 M E N U N A C Q U A I N T E D S T E P INTO T H E S E • 1 1 1 PRECINTS, SHAKE HANDS, EXCHANGE 0 T 0 G R E E T I N G S , A N D G O F O R T H INTO T H E P»ccc*i? W O R L D F R I E N D S . C O R D I A L I T Y IS H E R E THE FAMILIAR LANGUAGE OF ALL TENANTS. 1 AM T H E E M I N E N T E X P R E S S I O N O F C O M R A D E S H I P . CHARACTER AND TEMPERAMENT CHANGE UNDER MY D O M I N A T I N G P O W E R . LIVES O N C E T O U C H E D BY M E B E C O M E T U N E D A N D ARE T H E R E A F T E R AMIA B L E , KINDLY, F R A T E R N A L . I INSPIRE T H E MUSICIAN TO PLAY NOBLE SENTIM E N T S , A N D ASSIST T H E C H E M I S T T O C O N V E R T U N G E N E R O U S P E R S O N A L I T I E S I N T O INDIVIDUALS O F G R E A T E R W O R T H . I DESTROY ALL IGNOBLE I M P U L S E S . I C O N S T A N T L Y INVOKE T H E P R I N C I P L E S W H I C H MAKE FOR C O M M O N B R O T H E R H O O D ; T H E E C H O R E S O U N D S IN A L L C O M M U N I T I E S A N D P R I N C E L Y MEN ARE T H E R E B Y R E C O G N I Z E D . EDUC A T I O N , H E A L T H , MUSIC, L A U G H T E R - A L L T H E S E A R E S P E C I E S O F I N T E R E S T G I V E N FOR S E L F INVESTED C A P I T A L . T I R E D M O M E N T S FIND M E A D E L I G H T F U L R E T R E A T ; HOURS OF SORROW, A SHRINE OF SYMPATHY AND U N D E R S T A N D I N G . AT ALL T I M E S , I AM F A I T H F U L T O T H E ROYAL C R E E D OF C O M P A N I O N S H I P . T O A FEW, I AM T H E CASTLE O F D R E A M S - A M B I T I O U S , S U C C E S S F U L , H O P E F U L D R E A M S . T O MANY, I AM T H E P O E T I C P A L A C E , W H E R E H U M A N F E E L I N G IS RHYMED TO CELESTIAL MOTIVES. TO THE GREAT M A J O R I T Y , I AM T H E TREASURY O F G O O D FELLOWSHIP. IN F A C T , I AM T H E C O L L E G E O F F R I E N D S I P : T H E UNIVERSITY O F B R O T H E R L Y LOVE: T H E S C H O O L FOR T H E BETTER M A K I N G O F T H E MAN — I AN ALPHA PHI ALPHA
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