Henry Arthur Callis (January 14, 1887 – November 12, 1974) was a physician and one of the seven founders (''commonly referred to as The Seven Jewels'') of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
in 1906. Callis co-authored the fraternity name with
George Kelley George Kelley may refer to:
* George V. Kelley (1843–1905), American officer in Civil War Union Army
*George Davy Kelley (1848–1911), English trades unionist
*George Kelley (American football) (before 1880–after 1901), American college coach
...
and became the only Jewel to become General President of the fraternity (1915). Callis assisted in the organization of several chapters, including Xi Lambda Chapter (1924) in Chicago.
Biography
Callis was born in
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
and attended
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
and
Rush Medical College
Rush Medical College is the medical school of Rush University, located in the Illinois Medical District, about 3 km (2 miles) west of the Loop in Chicago. Offering a full-time Doctor of Medicine program, the school was chartered in 1837, and ...
. He became a physician and worked as a medical consultant at the Veterans' Hospital in
Tuskegee, Alabama
Tuskegee () is a city in Macon County, Alabama, United States. It was founded and laid out in 1833 by General Thomas Simpson Woodward, a Creek War veteran under Andrew Jackson, and made the county seat that year. It was incorporated in 1843. ...
. He was Professor of Medicine at
Howard University
Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...
and a frequent contributor to medical journals.
The Eta Tau Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha created Alpha Phi Alpha Homes Inc. to address housing for
low-income
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little
Akron, Ohio
Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...
. In 1971, Alpha Homes received an $11.5 million grant from
HUD
Hud or HUD may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Hud'' (1963 film), a 1963 film starring Paul Newman
* ''Hud'' (1986 film), a 1986 Norwegian film
* ''HUD'' (TV program), or ''Heads Up Daily'', a Canadian e-sports television program
Places
* Hud, Fa ...
to begin groundbreaking on Channelwood Village with the Henry Arthur Callis Tower as its centerpiece.
Callis died on November 12, 1974 in
Washington, D.C.
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
His death was a milestone for the fraternity as Callis became the last Jewel to enter its Omega Chapter—distinguished to contain the names of deceased fraternity members, and the Alpha Phi Alpha entered a period when it had no living "Jewels". ''The Callis Papers'' - personal and family papers of Henry Callis including awards, certificates, clippings, correspondence, a diary, notebooks, photographs, programs and scrapbooks relating to Callis and his family - were donated to Howard University's Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.
Personal life
Callis was the second husband of poet Alice Dunbar; their marriage ended in divorce.
References
Further reading
* Charles H. Wesley ''Henry Arthur Callis, Life and Legacy'' (1977)
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