Title
Honoring the Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity on the occasion of its 110th Anniversary.
Body
WHEREAS, The Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity was founded in Philadelphia in May, 1904; and
WHEREAS, Sigma Pi Phi, a Fraternity of college graduates, was born at the dawn of the twentieth century because intellectual and social interaction for men of color in their professional endeavors was closed or limited by virtue of race; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Henry McKee Minton, a pharmacist and later a physician recognized and foresaw that there was a need for African American men of distinction to interact with one another, learn from each other's experiences and thereby better serve their individual communities; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Minton was a pharmacist at Philadelphia's first black hospital, Douglas Hospital and later after receiving his medical degree was a co-founder of Mercy Hospital the second black hospital in Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, These institutions were beacons of hope that attracted black professionals to Philadelphia for generations; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Minton convened the first Boulé meeting of Sigma Pi Phi together with Algernon B. Jackson (1878-1942), Chief Surgeon at Mercy Hospital; Eugene T. Hinson (1873-1960), a graduate of the Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania who joined the staff of Douglas Hospital; Richard J. Warrick (1880-1957), a dentist and also a founder of Mercy Hospital; Eugene C. Howard (1846-1912), the first Negro to graduate from Harvard Medical School who practiced medicine in Philadelphia and Robert J. Abele (1875-1929), a graduate of Hahnemann Medical College who was a founder of Mercy Hospital - all men that lived in a segregated world who provided dedicated healthcare to the African American Community in Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, Sigma Pi Phi has been a source of strength, intellectual activism and social commitment for Philadelphians of distinction in a variety of professions including by way of example, Raymond Pace Ale...
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