Cooper, Oscar James

Impact on the world

Co-founded Omega Psi Phi Fraternity at Howard University in 1911 alongside fellow undergraduates Edgar Love and Frank Coleman, serving as the new organization's first Grand Keeper of Records, or National Secretary, before going on to a five-decade medical career in Philadelphia.

Life & background

Born in Washington, D.C. in 1888 and educated at the city's M Street High School, Cooper entered Howard University in 1909, earning his bachelor's degree in 1913 the same year as his close friends and eventual fraternity co-founders Edgar Love and Frank Coleman; the three approached biology professor Ernest Everett Just that year about founding a fraternity on campus, leading to Omega Psi Phi's establishment that November, with Cooper serving as its first national secretary. He went on to earn his Doctor of Medicine degree from Howard's medical school in 1917, later building a medical practice in Philadelphia that he sustained for more than 50 years, becoming, according to his fraternity's own historical accounts, deeply committed throughout his career to direct medical service to his community. He remained active in Omega Psi Phi's leadership and historical memory for the rest of his life, attending the organization's fiftieth anniversary celebration in 1961, and died in 1972 at age 84, becoming, by fraternity record, the second-to-last of the four founders to pass.

Sources

1. Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. official history; Tau Pi Chapter founders page; Epsilon Mu Mu chapter history