Henry A. Callis

Henry Arthur Callis (b. January 14 1887, - d. November 12, 1974) was one of the seven founders (commonly referred to as The Seven Jewels) of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity at Cornell University in 1906. Callis co-authored the Fraternity name with Eugene Jones and became the only Jewel to become General President of the fraternity.

He became a physician and worked as a medical consultant at the Veterans Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama, Professor of Medicine at Howard University and a frequent contributor to medical journals.

Alpha Phi Alpha's Eta Tau Lambda chapter created Alpha Phi Alpha Homes Inc. to address housing for low-income families, individuals and senior citizens in Akron, Ohio. In 1971, Alpha Homes received an $11.5 million grant from HUD to begin groundbreaking on Channelwood Village with the Henry Arthur Callis Tower as it centerpiece.

Callis' death in 1974 was a milestone for the fraternity as Callis became the last Jewel to enter its Omega Chapter&mdash;distinguished to contain the names of deceased fraternity members, and the Alpha Phi Alpha entered a period when it had no living "Jewels". The Callis Papers, personal and family papers of Henry Callis includes awards, certificates, clippings, correspondence, a diary, notebooks, photographs, programs, and scrapbooks relating to Callis and his family were donated to Howard University's Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.

Books on Callis

 * Henry Arthur Callis, Life and Legacy by Charles H. Wesley (1977)