A Moment in Alpha History: The Origin of Life Membership

In 1924, during the 17th General Convention held in New York City at Eta Chapter, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. took a step toward financial stability. A special committee composed of Brothers James A. Dunn, Daniel W. Bowles, Victor R. Daly, Norman L. McGhee, Myles A. Paige, William H. Benson, and Joseph Garland Woods was established to consider endowing the Fraternity through a Life Insurance Endowment Plan. This forward thinking proposal was submitted and adopted. Two years later, during the 19th General Convention in Richmond, Virginia, a resolution was passed to put this plan into effect beginning January 1, 1927. The endowment aimed to create a sustainable fund to both support Alpha’s educational initiatives and further the interests of the Fraternity.

In The Sphinx, February 1927, listed the plans provisions:

That all graduate members of the Fraternity be urged to take out a 10-year endowment insurance policy in the sum of one hundred dollars, naming the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity as the beneficiary.
That undergraduates, upon becoming graduates, be urged to take out the policies.
That the amount of the policies be $100 and the date of maturity be either 10 or 20 years.
That active graduate members be required to take out policy upon initiation.
That any member carrying the policy will be exempted from grand tax, and upon maturity will be granted life membership.
That if the member permits policy to lapse prior to time loan value is available, such premium payments be considered as forfeited, and the member be considered unfinancial from date of taking out the policy.
That the plan be placed in the hands of an Endowment Commission of three members.
That the General Convention set aside a sum for endowment each year, the amount to be sufficient to pay the premiums of $12,000 of endowment policies to mature in 10 years. The insurance to be placed on the lives of the founders—all or some of them.

The arrangement with the insurance company provide:

That all rights and privileges under the policies will vest in the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.
At maturity of the endowments, full value of the contracts will be paid by the insurance company to the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. In case of terminations by death or surrender before maturity, the proceeds will likewise be paid to the Fraternity.
There will be no medical examinations required on the policies provided the amounts are not in excess of $250.
The policies will be solicited by the insurance company in cooperation with the Endowment Commission, and all renewals will be aggressively collected by the machinery of the insurance company.

A MOMENT IN ALPHA HISTORY: THE ORIGIN OF LIFE MEMBERSHIP

But the Endowment Policy met all objections to these forms of investment; it possesses, indeed, unique advantages offered by no other method of accumulation. It gives the members something to save for on a wholly democratic basis. Moreover, once made, deposits cannot easily be withdrawn and wasted at the dictate of whim or politics. As an investment, it is ideal. There is no speculation; there can be no loss. It is absolutely safe. But the Endowment Policy is more than an unexcelled method of saving and a high-grade investment; it is also life insurance. For, the moment the first installment is paid, in the event of the member’s death, the Fraternity is guaranteed the immediate payment of the face amount of the policy. The Life Insurance Endowment plan is an ideal combination of systematic saving, profitable investment and life protection.

To the individual members it offers an opportunity to become a paid-up life member in 10 or 20 years, and at the same time assures a definite contribution to a much-needed endowment fund.

This vision would be embodied by Brother Dr. Oliver Wilson Winters. Initiated into Rho Chapter on April 16, 1920, Brother Winters studied dentistry at Howard University, Temple University, and the University of Pennsylvania. A 32nd Degree Mason, Presbyterian Elder, and founder of the Odonto Chi Dental Society, Brother Winters was deeply committed to service and scholarship. He was a member of the National and American Dental Associations and the American Institute of Parliamentarians, and he served as Convention Parliamentarian for nearly twenty plus years beginning in 1936. For over three decades, he authored the Fraternity Fun column in The Sphinx magazine. True to the Fraternity’s mission, Brother Winters took out a life insurance endowment policy in the name of Alpha Phi Alpha and faithfully paid the annual premiums. After ten years, the policy matured and yielded a check issued directly to the Fraternity. As Brother Dr. Charles H. Wesley would later note, this act was a distinct indication of the deep affection which Brother Winters maintained for the Fraternity and a tangible expression of his faith and desire to see it placed upon more permanent foundations.

At the 31st General Convention in New Orleans in 1937, General President Dr. Wesley recognized Brother Winters extraordinary contribution by declaring him Life Member No. 1. Brother Winters later reflected on that honor during the 61st General Convention in Miami (1975), writing, “I remember a proud, bewildered (Billy) Winters being called Life Member #1.” Soon after, Brother Dr. Walter Fitzgerald Jerrick, a charter member of Rho Chapter and a prominent Philadelphia physician, became Life Member No. 2. Affectionately known as the “Gold Dust Twins,” Brothers Winters and Jerrick officially launched the Life Membership movement in Alpha Phi Alpha.

A MOMENT IN ALPHA HISTORY: THE ORIGIN OF LIFE MEMBERSHIP

The campaign to promote Life Membership gained formal momentum in 1972 under the leadership of Brother John D. Buckner, who served as the National Life Membership Chairman. During the 69th General Convention in Miami Beach, Florida, a resolution led by 24th General President Dr. Walter Washington reaffirmed Brother Winters’ legacy, preserving him in the records of Alpha history as Life Member No. 1.

Thus, Life Membership was not born from vanity, but from vision. Life Membership in Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. is not merely paying a fee to wear this distinguished pin. It is a sincere and enduring commitment. When viewed through the eyes of Brothers Winters and Jerrick, Life Membership is not about status; it is about stewardship. It is an investment in longevity, the ideals, and the future of our beloved House of Alpha. It is the act of ensuring that the ideals of manly deeds, scholarship, and love for all mankind are preserved and invested for generations to come. Life Membership is your declaration that you are not just in Alpha, you are Alpha for Life.

Alpha Phi Alpha is not a club; it is a brotherhood in which every member should feel the spirit and recognize the sense of comradeship at all times. Without this, Alpha Phi Alpha will mean nothing to you, and it will mean nothing to me. – 11th General President Dr. Simeon Saunders Booker, Sr. (Gamma, 1907)

This is your moment in Alpha History.

Fraternally,

Brother Sean C. Hall,
Historian

References:
The Sphinx Magazine, December 1925, Vol. XI, No. 5
The Sphinx Magazine, February 1927, Vol. XIII, No. 1
The Sphinx Magazine, May 1976