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EPSILON GAMMA LAMBDA CHAPTER HISTORY 

The Epsilon Gamma Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated was chartered on May 6, 1949 as the 214th House of Alpha. At the 35th General Convention that commenced on December 28, 1949, in Atlanta, Georgia, then General Secretary, Brother Bennie D. Brown declared that Epsilon Gamma Lambda was one of 77 Chapters established in 1949, according to “The History of Alpha Phi Alpha.” Additionally, at this Convention, the Election Commission reported Brother Edward W. Brooke, III as being elected as Eastern Regional Vice President. At the May 1949 Eastern Region Convention in Washington, D.C., the presiding officer was Eastern Regional Vice President Edward Brooke, who already set the course  that would be seen throughout his political tenure. The Convention’s theme was, “Human Rights for All is Our Job Too.”

2009 Founders’ Day and Epsilon Gamma Lambda Chapter 60th Anniversary Celebration
Seated are members with greater than 40 years of service to Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc

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Charter Members 
Hon. Royal L. Bolling, Massachusetts State Senator

Hon. Edward W. Brooke, J.D., United States Senator

Reynold Coster

Jimmie Gibbs

Bob Levinson

Frank Morris, Esq.

Robert Phillips, M.D.

In December 1962 at the 56th Anniversary Convention in Columbus, Ohio, it was announced that Brother Frank M. Morris, Jr. was elected as Eastern Region Vice President. He served until 1964. In a May 1963 Sphinx magazine article, Brother Morris was quoted as saying, “We are mindful that no movement of men can succeed without a purpose and the leadership to guide it. We in the East have a purpose and many leaders and men to contribute to a plan for progress.” He was active in the Election of President John F. Kennedy.

 

August 16–22 1963, Epsilon Gamma Lambda and Sigma Chapter hosted the 57th Anniversary Convention in Boston, Massachusetts.  On August 20, all Brothers marched in Boston from the convention hall to the Crispús Attucks Monument and to the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial in front of the Massachusetts State House.

 

In 1963, Bro. John C. Bynoe was EGL chapter president and co-chair of the Boston Convention Committee. He owned and operated the Professional and Business Men’s Club (P&B) on Mass Ave in Boston between 1969 and 1989, site of numerous EGL chapter meetings.

 

In 2004 President George W. Bush awarded Charter Member, Hon. Edward Brooke, III, J.D., the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. On October 28, 2009, President Barack Obama conferred the Congressional Gold Medal on Brother Brooke, as "a man who's spent his life breaking barriers and bridging divides across this country."

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The Epsilon Gamma Lambda Chapter (The Boston Alphas) seated in Boston, MA with over 150 educated and influential members in the area, continue to break barriers and bridge divides. The fraternity has long stood at the forefront of the African American community’s fight for civil rights through Alpha men such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock, Adam Clayton Powell, Thurgood Marshall, Paul Robeson, The Honorable Andrew Young,  and Dr. Cornel West. The fraternity, through its more than 720 college and alumni chapters and general-organization members, serves communities in the United States, Canada, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean.

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©2024 by Epsilon Gamma Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

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