Eugene Kinckle Jones

Who was Eugene Kinckle Jones?

Eugene Kinckle Jones was one the seven founders of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at Cornell University in 1906. Jones became Alpha chapter’s second President and co-authored the Fraternity name with Henry Callis.

Jones organized the first three Fraternity chapters that branched out from Cornell: Beta at Howard University, Gamma at Virginia Union University and the original Delta chapter at the University of Toronto in Canada.

Jones was a member of the first Committees on Constitution and Organization and helped write the Fraternity ritual. Jones also has the distinction of being one of the first initiates as well as an original founder. Jones' status as a founder was not finally established until 1952.

In 1918, Jones became the first Executive Secretary of the National Urban League. The League, under his direction significantly expanded its multifaceted campaign to crack the barriers to black employment, spurred first by the boom years of the 1920s, and then, by the desperate years of the Great Depression. He implemented boycotts against firms that refused to employ blacks, pressured schools to expand vocational opportunities for young people, constantly prodded Washington officials to include blacks in New Deal recovery programs, and a drive to get blacks into previously segregated labor unions.