Henry Arthur Callis

{{Infobox person

| name = Henry Arthur Callis

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1887|01|14}}

| birth_place = {{nowrap|Rochester, New York, U.S.}}

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1974|11|12|1887|01|14|mf=yes}}

| death_place = {{nowrap|Washington, D.C., U.S.}}

| resting_place =

| alma_mater = Cornell University
Rush Medical College

| other_names =

| nationality = American

| known_for = Co-founder of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at Cornell University

| spouse = Alice Dunbar Nelson(m. 1910, div.)
Myra Colson Callis(m. 1927)

}}

Henry Arthur Callis (January 14, 1887 – November 12, 1974){{Cite web|date=2013-11-14|title=Jewel Henry Arthur Callis|url=https://www.alphaeast.com/history-of-alpha-phi-alpha/jewel-henry-arthur-callis/|access-date=2020-10-26|website=Eastern Region of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity|language=en-US}} was a physician and one of the seven founders (commonly referred to as The Seven Jewels) of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at Cornell University in 1906. Callis co-authored the fraternity name with George Kelley 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 and Alpha Nu Lambda (1928) in Tuskegee, AL.

Biography

Callis was born in Rochester, New York, and attended Cornell University{{cite web

|url=http://www.alpha-phi-alpha.com/page.php?id=138

|title=Henry Arthur Callis

|publisher=Cornell University

|accessdate=February 6, 2014

|url-status=dead

|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214175746/http://www.alpha-phi-alpha.com/Page.php?id=138

|archivedate=February 14, 2009

}} and Rush Medical College.{{cite web|url= http://www.odlchapter.com/wordpress/?page_id=357|title= Jewel Henry Arthur Callis|publisher= Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc – Omicron Delta Lambda Chapter|accessdate= February 6, 2014|url-status= dead|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20140223113218/http://www.odlchapter.com/wordpress/?page_id=357|archivedate= February 23, 2014}} He became a physician and worked as a medical consultant at the Veterans' Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama.{{cite web|url= http://www.yale.edu/alpha/jewel_page.htm|title= Alpha Legacy: The Founding Seven Jewels|publisher= Yale|accessdate= February 6, 2014|url-status= dead|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20140222175102/http://www.yale.edu/alpha/jewel_page.htm|archivedate= February 22, 2014}} He was professor of medicine at Howard University and a frequent contributor to medical journals.{{cite book|last=Parks|first=Gregory S. Parks|title=Black Greek-letter Organizations in the Twenty-First Century: Our Fight Has|year=2008|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=9780813138725|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C_GbXyQwDcUC&dq=henry+arthur+callis+Professor+of+Medicine+at+%5B%5BHoward+University&pg=PT45}}

The Eta Tau Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha created Alpha Phi Alpha Homes Inc. to address housing for low-income families, individuals and senior citizens in Akron, Ohio.{{cite web|url=http://www.alphahomes.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=45&Itemid=53|title= Alpha Phi Alpha Homes|publisher= Alpha Phi Alpha Homes, Inc|accessdate= February 6, 2014}} In 1971, Alpha Homes received an $11.5 million grant from HUD to begin groundbreaking on Channelwood Village with the Henry Arthur Callis Tower as its centerpiece.{{cite book|title=Fraternity Achievement|year=1973|publisher=Jet|page=73|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZbEDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Alpha+Homes++%2411.5+million+grant+Channelwood+Village&pg=PA73}}

Callis died on November 12, 1974, in Washington, D.C. 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.{{cite book|last=Dunbar-Nelson|first=Alice Moore|title=The Works of Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Volume 2|year=1988|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=lviii|isbn=978-0-19-505251-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ejCKQvIWxSYC&dq=henry+arthur+callis+Alice+Dunbar+Nelson&pg=PR58}}{{cite book|last=Nelson|first=Emmanuel Sampath|title=African American Autobiographers: A Sourcebook|year=2002|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|page=120|isbn=9780313314094|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vrk2z0XqY_8C&dq=henry+arthur+callis+Alice+Dunbar+Nelson&pg=PA120}} His third wife was social worker, employment specialist Myra Colson Callis; they married in 1927, and she survived him.{{Cite journal |date=December 5, 1974 |title=Founder of Alphas, Medic Association Dies at 87; Leaves Body to Science |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DlsDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA18&dq=Myra%20Colson%20Callis&pg=PA18#v=onepage&q=Myra%20Colson%20Callis&f=false |journal=Jet |pages=18}} He had two daughters, Jane and Helen.

Henry Arthur Callis

Biography

Personal life

References

Further reading