OUR FORGOTTEN FOUNDERS (Continued) Gordon Holmes Jones was approved for membership in the Alpha Phi Alpha Society at its meeting on October 23, 1906 (19). He was initiated at the Masonic Hall with Jewel Jones and Graves on October 30, 1906 (21). His autograph appears first on the Banquet program, the only one followed by the Greek letters "APA". He also is among the six Brothers shown in the photograph of the members of Alpha Chapter in 1907 (26). At the Second Initiatory Banquet he spoke on "Benefits" (33). As a newly initiated member he served on the second Committee on Pins with Jewel Jones and Graves. He may actually have served as the committee chairman as the following excerpt from the minutes of May 7, 1907 suggests: "Brother Gordon Jones reported that he had received no reply from the catalogue firm with which he had been in correspondence". The meeting may actually have been held in his room since the minutes of the previous meeting on April 23, 1907 state: "The place of meeting next Tuesday will be held at (sic) Brother Gordon Jones". When the Chapter reconvened in the fall on October 5,1907, he was nominated but not elected secretary in a room he apparently shared with Jewel Brother Vertner Woodson Tandy. Brother Jones actively supported the effort to incorporate the organization. His motion that each Brother be taxed $2.50 to cover the expenses of this effort was approved (513). When the trustees were nominated, he was among the nominees. However, he voluntarily withdrew in favor of Jewel Brother Henry Arthur Callis after Brother Calks had withdrawn in favor of alumnus Jewel Brother George Biddle Kelly because he regarded Calks as "better fitted to help shape the policy of Alpha Phi Alpha". This magnanimous act speaks to his dedication to the Fraternity. A roster of the Alpha Chapter alumni fists his address as 8 West 132 Street, New York City (H.A.C. 55). Later he was among the signatories to a petition for the establishment of an Alumni Chapter in New York City dated November 19, 1912 (81) 4. Lemuel Eugene Graves entered Cornell from Raleigh, North Carolina. He was proposed for membership by Brother Kelly after the adoption of the report of the Committee on New Members, which include only the names of James Morton, E.K. Jones and Gordon Jones. However the minutes of the October 23, 1906 meeting state: "Mr. Graves was unanimously selected (506)". One of the first three initiates on October 23, 1906, he agreed to give a selection at a "church entertainment" which the society had voted to participate in (507). He was then appointed to a committee of five to draw up a constitution and by-laws for the new organization in January 1907 (31, 508). The minutes indicate that he was an active participant in Chapter meetings for the remainder of the academic year, making and seconding motions. For example, on January 15,1907 he moved that Robert Ogle become secretary, pro tern (508). On February 15, 1907, Brother Graves moved that an Easter week entertainment "be subject to and in the hands of the general student body (509)". He
IN A UGURAL EDITION
was involved in the search for a design of a Fraternity pin (508), served with Brother Callis on the first shingle committee, and with him again on another committee seeking a charter for the Fraternity (508, 35). Brother Graves continued his active participation in Chapter matters during the next two years. At the Second Initiatory Banquet he spoke on the subject "What Does College Mean (33)"? When the Fraternity was incorporated on January 29, 1908, he was selected as a member of the Board of Trustees (39) • Prior to that on January 25,1908, he and Brother Tandy were appointed "to draw up a regular form of initiation (35)". In 1909 Brother Graves served as secretary of the Chapter. During the same year Vice President Callis appointed him and Brother Roscoe C. Giles to set up Eta Chapter at Columbia University (H.A.C. 43). Brother Graves continued his association with the Fraternity for at least the next decade. The roster of Alpha Chapter alumni in 1916 list his residence as "A&M College Tallahassee (Florida A&M University)" where Jewel Chapman was on the faculty. His signature appears on the Initiatory Banquet program of Delta Lambda Chapter in Atlanta on July 15, 19195. Under the heading "Brothers" his name is listed first followed by the letter "d"-Atlanta Alpha (Chapter) Dentist (117)". This is the final reference to Brother Graves in our history. The Fraternity owes these three Brothers a debt of gratitude. Although they are not accorded the status of Jewel, they were in point of fact among the Founders of Alpha Phi Alpha and deserve our homage whenever we pay tribute to those who established our Brotherhood.
Endnotes Numbers in parenthesis are page references to two works by Charles H. Wesley: The History of Alpha Phi Alpha. 16* printing, 1996 or if proceeded by the letters "H.A.C." Henry Arthur Callis. Life & Legacy. first edition, second printing, 1997. b r o t h e r s Callis, Chapman, Kelly, Morton, Murray, Ogle and Tandy ^Brothers Lemuel Graves, Eugene K. Jones, and Gordon Jones ^For detailed discussion of this action see pages 331, 332 and 334 of The History of Alpha Phi Alpha and also the writer's essay A Historical Moment: The Seventh lewel. The SphinxÂŽ. Volume 79, Number 1, Spring 1994, page 13. ^Efforts to learn what became of Brother Jones have not proved fruitful or to substantiate a rumor that he entered politics in New York City. His son, Gordon H. Jones Jr., was enrolled at Virginia State during the same period as the writer in the 1930s. 5This was changed to Eta Lambda effective May 20, 1920.