Love, Edgar Amos
1891-1974 · Contribution: 1911-1974
Co-founded Omega Psi Phi Fraternity in 1911, the first international Black fraternity founded on a historically Black college campus; became its first Grand Basileus (National President) and later a Methodist bishop
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Impact on the world
Co-founded Omega Psi Phi Fraternity with fellow Howard University undergraduates Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman on November 17, 1911, becoming the organization's first Grand Basileus, or National President; the fraternity they founded became the first international Black fraternal organization established on the campus of a historically Black college, building its identity around the cardinal principles of manhood, scholarship, perseverance, and uplift, and counting among its later members Charles Drew, Jesse Jackson, Bill Cosby, and Michael Jordan.
Life & background
Born in Harrisonburg, Virginia in 1891, Love graduated from the Academy of Morgan College in 1909 before entering Howard University, where he earned his bachelor's degree cum laude in 1913 and, together with close friends Oscar Cooper and Frank Coleman, a trio nicknamed the 'Three Musketeers' on campus, approached biology professor Ernest Everett Just about founding a new fraternity; Howard's administration initially opposed the idea, fearing the political risk a secret organization of young Black men might pose, but Just helped mediate the dispute, and Omega Psi Phi was formally established that December. Love served as the new fraternity's first Grand Basileus for three terms, then went on to earn a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Howard in 1916 and a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from Boston University in 1918, building a career as a Methodist minister that eventually led to his consecration as a bishop. He reportedly dated, and remained lifelong friends with, Edith Young, one of the founders of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, a connection credited with helping establish the close historical relationship between the two Howard-founded organizations; he lived to see Omega's fiftieth anniversary celebration in 1961 and remained the fraternity's last surviving founder until his death in 1974 at age 83.
Sources
- Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. official history; Iota Chapter Ques; Epsilon Mu Mu chapter history; Tau Pi Chapter founders page
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