CHAPTER
HISTORY

November 3, 1914 was Tuesday and Election Day in Philadelphia, and the day Rho Chapter was chartered at the Medico-Chirurgical College and Hospital at 1723 Cherry St.

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Its chief founder and first President was Dr. Kirksey L. Curd, D.V.M., who was initiated into Alpha Chapter at Cornell University in 1910 and the University’s first African American veterinary graduate.

The other distinguished founders of Rho were Dr. DeHaven Hinkson, Dr. Emile L. Raven, Dr. Harry LeRoy Pelham and Dr. Taylor. Charter members were Dr. William Beverly Carter, Dr. Leonidas Crogman,

Dr. William N. Gardner, Dr. Walter F. Jerrick, Dr. Charles A. Lewis, Dr. M. Russell Nelson,

Dr. Theo T. Nichols, Dr. Theodore R. Penny and Dr. Wesley C. Redd. All of the founders and charter members were acquainted as students attending the Medico-Chirurgical College or Lincoln University.

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Rho Chapter was home to several nationally noteworthy Brothers including Dr. O. Wilson Winters and Dr. Walter F. Jerrick, the fraternity’s first two life members; George Lyle (10th Rho Chapter President), the husband of Ethel Hedgeman Lyle, a founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated; and Raymond Pace Alexander, the husband of Dr. Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander, the first National President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.