Transcript for:
Founding and Impact of Phi Beta Sigma

in my souling in my soul lord feel it in my [Music] soul Sigma God [Music] Soul Sigma God Soul say Sigma God so January 1914 a month filled with Monumental events that would change the course of world history woodro Wilson was beginning the second year of his first term in office as president of the United States the Ford Motor Company revolutionized the industrial World by introducing assembly line production the first scheduled passenger airline flight took off from St Petersburg Florida and on January 9th 1914 at Howard University in Washington DC three Visionary students founded A brotherhood whose fervent Mission would be the pursuit of Scholastic excellence and service to the the community F Beta Sigma fraternity Incorporated was chartered January 9th 1914 with the modotto of culture for service and service for Humanity the three founders of f Beta Sigma fraternity Incorporated a Langston Taylor Leonard F Morris and Charles I brown were all outstanding students at Howard University Abram Langston Taylor was described as a poised and distinguished hard worker it was Taylor who in the summer of 1910 formed the idea to establish a fraternity he was soon to enroll into Howard University and once there he began to set his vision into action by November of 1913 a committee consisting of Taylor Leonard F Morris and Charles I brown was meeting at the 12th Street YMCA in Washington DC the three laid the foundation of what was to become F Beta Sigma fraternity Incorporated it was a Langston Taylor who coined the phrase culture for service and service for Humanity and he is considered the principal founder of f Beta Sigma he served F Beta Sigma fraternity for 12 years as National president National secretary and field secretary and as president of the distinguished service chapter although Taylor chose business as a career in his later life he developed a passion for historical research and preservation Taylor was instrumental in preserving F beta sigma's Rich history by providing numerous forms of notes minutes and oral history of the fraternity founder Taylor passed away in August of 1953 he is buried at the highest peak at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Maryland a Langston Taylor is considered the greatest name in F Beta Sigma Leonard F moris was valedictorian of his integrated High School in Boston Massachusetts he graduated from Howard University in 1915 becoming the first person at the University to graduate with two Bachelor degrees and three years of study Morris also earned a bachelor of divinity degree from Wilberforce University and a master's degree from Northwestern University he earned Doctorate Degrees in metaphysics and psychology from Indiana's College of metaphysics Morris was a student of the Greek language and he named his new fraternity F Beta Sigma he also wrote F beta sigma's first Constitution and was the first president of the alpha chapter two of founder Morris's five children became members of f Beta Sigma as well as a grandson Leonard F moris was the last living founder of f Beta Sigma and he passed on in May of 1961 Charles I brown was very cordial and very popular with the student body and administration at Howard University he is credited with choosing the nine charter members of f Beta Sigma fraternity he graduated from Howard University in June of 1914 he went on to found the Delta chapter of f Beta Sigma at Kansas State University on April 9th 1917 not much is known of Charles I Brown after 1931 some believe that he moved overseas or that he was a casualty of War as there a govern government documents that are believed to be his in the spring of 1949 founder Leonard F Morris wrote We Live in Daily hope that we shall one day learn the fate of our beloved brother from the first days of his Inception F Beta Sigma fraternity Incorporated has been an organization that views itself as an essential part of the general Community not an exclusive Social Club skin tones hair texture or family affluence and society influence would not matter each potential member would be evaluated on his own merits and desire to serve his [Music] community members would also be strongly encouraged to share Knowledge and Skills learn at institutions of Higher Learning with the community this deep conviction is mirrored in the fraternity's model culture for service and service for Humanity these strong beliefs and displays of inclusion and Community involvement have drawn hundreds of thousands of young men to F Beta Sigma fraternity throughout the past 100 years many of them became world-class men of Distinction giving five Beta Sigma one of the most impressive member rosters of all African-American Greek letter organizations s among the members of f Beta Sigma are [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] in addition to many individual Stellar achievements F Beta Sigma fraternity has been a trailblazing entity in itself it was the first among black Greek letter organizations to establish alumni chapters youth mentoring clubs and to establish Collegiate chapters outside of the United States and F Beta Sigma is the only fraternity to hold a constitutional bond with a predominantly African-American sorority Zeta beta which was founded on January 16th 1920 also at Howard University looking back over the past 100 years it seems fitting that the colors chosen to represent F Beta Sigma are royal blue and white because history has proven that the sky is the only limit for the men of f Beta Sigma fraternity Incorporated Sigma [Music] God s God soul W wo yeah yeah I feel it in