Eric Christopher Webb, DDiv., CPLC
Director of Communications
/Editor of The Sphinx
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
ewebb@apa1906.net
Cell: 443-635-5911
WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., HBCU Digital Library Trust, and Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library Announce Landmark Partnership and $125,000 Investment to Preserve Fraternity’s Enduring Legacy
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. proudly announces a transformative partnership with the the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library, the fraternity’s new archival custodian, and the HBCU Digital Library Trust to preserve the Fraternity’s archives.
The Fraternity’s $125,000 investment and partnership leveragethe unparalleled resources and archival expertise of the HBCU Digital Library Trust to digitize our public records, as well as the Fraternity’s commitment to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) through investment in the AUC Woodruff Library Digitization Hub.
“As the first intercollegiate Fraternity founded by African American men, our history and legacy does not only belong to Alpha, but provides context to the history of all other Divine Nine organizations that followed as well as to the fight for African American progress in America,” said Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. General President Brother Lucien J. Metellus, Jr. “This urgent initiative ensures that the Fraternity’s priceless archives are protected, elevated, and accessible for generations.”
Through this collaboration, the Fraternity’s public records will be broadly accessible via the HBCU Digital Library Alliance Digital Collection, allowing the public to witness Alpha Phi Alpha’s impact on social change, activism, and other issues within the communities it serves.
“This partnership with the AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library and the HBCU Digital Library Trust ensures that the story of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. is not only preserved, but made accessible to the world,” said HBCU Digital Library Trust Advisory Committee Chairman Brother Dr. Jerome Offord Jr. “By opening these primary sources to scholars, students, and the public, we are safeguarding the history of Black leadership, resilience, civic engagement, and advocacy while deepening our understanding of the African American experience from the dawn of the twentieth century to today.”
Reflecting on the significance of the partnership, Dr. Kimberley Bugg, CEO and Library Director of the AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library said “This partnership with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and the AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library reflects our enduring commitment to preserving and amplifying Black history and culture. By serving as the archival repository for the Fraternity’s historic records, we are safeguarding more than a century of the intellectual, civic, and leadership legacy of Black men since 1906, ensuring these stories are preserved, studied, and shared with future generations around the world.”
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About Alpha Phi Alpha
The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African American men, was founded on December 4, 1906, at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY and is headquartered in Baltimore, MD. The Fraternity has long stood at the forefront of the African American community’s fight for civil rights through Alpha men such as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; late former Congressman Adam Clayton Powell; late former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; legendary activist, actor and performer, Paul Robeson, former Ambassador Andrew Young; late former Senator Edward Brooke; scholar, Cornel West; Senator Raphael Warnock; Congressman Steven Horsford, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus; General CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; six other members of the U.S. Congress, numerous state, and local lawmakers across the United States, as well as President of Liberia, His Excellency Joseph Boakai, Sr. The fraternity, through its more than 720 college and alumni chapters and general-organization members, serves communities in the United States, and other parts of North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
About HBCU Digital Library Trust
The HBCU Digital Library Trust is a partnership designed to digitally preserve and expand global access to the unique archival collections of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, sustaining institutional, cultural, and community memory, and ensuring that their stories are discovered, maintained, remembered, told, and celebrated.
About the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library
Established in 1982, AUC Woodruff Library serves three historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) – Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College. It also houses the Archives Research Center, renowned for its extensive collection of materials related to the African American experience. This includes the Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection, the Alpha Rho Alumni Association of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Collection, which is one of the largest chapter repositories in the fraternity, as well as other prominent collections such as the Joseph Echols Lowery and Evelyn Gibson Lowery Collection.