The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity House belongs to the local chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. The national fraternity was started in 1906. The first Detroit chapter was started in 1919. By the year 1939, the Detroit chapter bought the Alpha House. It is located at 293 Eliot Street. Through the years, the Alpha’s have helped the Black community with voter registration. They also started many supplementary high school and college educational programs. Famous national members have included the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Adam Clayton Powell, W.E.B. Dubois, Paul Robson, and Duke Ellington. Local members have included Ralph Bunche, United Nations mediator and Nobel Peace Prize recipient; Dr. Haley Bell, founder of radio station WCHB and WJZZ; Henry Haygood, builder and developer; Rev. Jim Holley, minister of Little Michigan Rock Baptist Church; and Francis Kornegay, Executive Director Emeritis of the Detroit Urban League. There is another African-American fraternity house nearby. The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity House is located on East Ferry near John R Street. Its undergraduate chapter, Nu Sigma, was established at Wayne State University in 1938. Additionally, a large home on West Grand Boulevard, across the street from the Motown Museum, was once a part of Berry Gordy’s Motown Records Enterprises. It is now the home of Gamma Phi Delta Sorority Headquarters. |
