A Moment in Alpha History: Brother Dr. Charles Harris Wesley, 14th General President and Historian

Cervantes once said that historians “ought to be precise, faithful, and unprejudiced; and neither interest nor fear, hatred nor affection, should make them swerve from the way of the truth.” The Historian is the “keeper of all accounts” from past to present. The Historian serves as the connection to what once was to what is. One intrinsic quality about serving in the role of historian is the thirst to learn what is right and present it in a way of truth and accuracy. Thus, history is “a continuous, systematic narrative of past events as relating to a particular people, country, period, person, etc., usually written as a chronological account.” So, in this moment of Alpha history, I present our history archivist, Brother Dr. Charles Harris Wesley. During the early years of our fraternity, there was no written account of Alpha Phi Alpha, Fraternity in print before 1929. Though the accounts of what took place were in the minds of our Jewels, were met on disagreeable terms as to what took place, and the past was getting dim. The history was there, but no one had stepped up to record the earlier years until Brother Dr. Charles Harris Wesley, one of the most eminent philosophers and historians of the 20th century, was sought after and tasked by General President Raymond Cannon, to show the world the history of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the 1st Black Intercollegiate Greek Letter Fraternity. This account of our history was, if not, one of his greatest works, serving as the documented precursor for other fraternities and sororities, and becoming the principal foundation and reference guide to educating future brothers. It is key to note that Brother Wesley succeeded in writing the history “where even a group of the Jewels were unsuccessful,” due to the conflicting accounts based on memory, and the services of a professional historian was needed. Though he resisted this approach to write the history, he eventually conceded as put it in his own words “I’ll do it-I’ll do it for the love of Alpha.” General President Cannon stated, “These were golden words which should be remembered by every member of this fraternity.”

Brother Dr. Charles Wesley was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the only child of Charles and MatildaWesley. Attending local schools he went on to attend from Fisk University, graduating in 1911 with a B.A. degree, where he studied botany under Professor C.C. Poindexter, whom he later noted as the “precursor of Alpha Phi Alpha.” He was a member of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Brother Wesley was an initiate of Zeta Chapter at Yale University on March 29th, 1913, where he graduated with a M.A in Economics. He later moved to Washington, DC after graduation from Yale connecting to the Beta Chapter and later a founding member of the Mu Lambda Chapter (chartered October 1, 1923, in Washington D.C) with Jewels Murray and Ogle, and other brothers in the area. Later, he earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1925, and was the fourth awarded by Harvard to an African American. Brother Dr. Wesley became an ordained minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). He also had an academic career as a professor of history and wrote a total of more than 15 books on African American history and political science. Brother Dr. Wesley served on the Howard University faculty from 1913 to 1942 as the Dean of the Liberal Arts and the Graduate School at Howard University. He won a Guggenheim Fellowship that enabled him to travel in 1931 to London, England, where on March 31 he was present with Harold Moody at the founding of the League of Colored Peoples that was inspired in part by the NAACP, of which he was a member. He extensively wrote about the history and development of black fraternal organizations and made a point of writing about the group life of blacks instead of blacks as objects of government policy. He was deeply concerned that the pages of history should objectively reflect the contributions of blacks to American civilization. His doctoral dissertation, “Negro Labor in the United States 1850 to 1925” was the first comprehensive study of American blacks as laborers instead of slaves. The New York Times called it a “valuable contribution to the economic history of the United States.”

He went on to serve as President of Wilberforce University in Ohio, between 1942 and 1946. In 1947 he became the first President of newly formed Central State College, Ohio. He remained in that position until his retirement in 1965. He served as the national historian and the 14th General President from 1932-1940, the longest serving General President of the fraternity. Brother Dr. Wesley led Alpha Phi Alpha in notable areas of civil rights, equal opportunity, and education, and characterized one as the most effective in the history of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity as “an indelible mark stamped on the fraternity.” His contributions, dignity, accessibility propelled him as a role model and Alpha pride for many young and older brothers. Brother Dr. Wesley was active in several fraternal organizations, both during and after college. He was an archon of Sigma Pi Phi (the Boule-wrote the history book), Prince Hall Mason (wrote a book titled, Prince Hall: A Life and Legacy), Sovereign Grand Inspector General (33rd Degree) of the United Supreme Council (Southern Jurisdiction, Prince Hall), a member of the Odd Fellows, Elks, and many other fraternal organizations. Brother Dr. Wesley became the Director of Research and Publications for the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. He was Executive Director from 1965 to 1972, later becoming Executive Director Emeritus. In 1976, he became Director of the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum in Philadelphia. He was also a life member of the American Historical Association.

As the process of documenting Alpha Phi Alpha’s history began to take shape, Brother Dr. Wesley encountered harsh criticisms and much debate from the Jewels of what was to be presented. But Brother Dr. Wesley never wavered, and his accounts were accurately depicted. He presented the first edition of the History of Alpha Phi Alpha at the 22nd General Convention in 1929. It was reported that 1500 copies were printed; 1400 were cloth bound; 100 were leather bound covering the years of 1905-1928. He updated the history yearly until 1972. It was said that he made “one of the finest contributions to Negro history and to Alpha Phi Alpha ever credited to any individual Brother when he wrote the History of Alpha Phi Alpha. The significance of his unselfish and scholarly work will grow with the years.” Indeed, it has grown. Brother Dr. Charles Harris Wesley, your undebatable place in Alpha History will never go unnoticed. Without you there would be no history and “for the love of Alpha.” He died on August 16, 1987, in Washington, D.C. He is buried at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, Suitland, Maryland. Thank you, Brother Dr. Charles Harris Wesley.

This is your moment in Alpha History.