George Biddle Kelley became the first African American engineer registered in the state of New York. Not only was he the strongest proponent of the Fraternity idea among the organization s founders, the civil engineering student also became Alpha Chapter s first President. In addition, he served on committees that worked out the handshake and ritual. He served as the first president of Alpha Chapter and chairman of the first Ritual Committee. He is credited for the name of the Fraternity. Kelley was popular with the Brotherhood. He resided in Troy, New York and was active with Beta Pi Lambda Chapter in Albany. He died in 1963.
“Alpha needs Quality not Quantity” — George Biddle Kelley, 1924 (18th General Convention)
In the small town of Troy, New York,
on July 28, 1884, George Biddle Kelley was born to Richard and Mathilda Decker Kelley. Kelly’s father was a veteran of a Civil War regiment from Massachusetts. His father migrated from Virginia as a fugitive slave during the Civil War, and his mother came from a long line of distinguished Hudson River citizens who were established in Newburgh, New York. His grandfather, the late Rev. W.H. Decker, was one of the most cultured and capable preachers and pastors of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in the 19th century. Jewel Kelley’s uncle and godfather, Rev. E. George Biddle of Boston, Massachusetts lived for more than 100 years, and studied at Rayford where he graduated from the Divinity School. He was, at the time of his death, the last surviving member of the Boston Regiment of the Grand Army of the Republic. These ancestors of Jewel Kelley were pioneers in organized religion and education and were personal friends of Harriet Tubman and other freedom seekers who lived in the North and the Northwestern part of New York state.
Kelley credited his father’s spirit and influence for given him vision in establishing the fraternity.
“I saw in my vision my ancestors who had been in slavery, my father who had escaped from that despicable system and had gone back south as a soldier in the Union Army to help in subduing of those who held him in bondage. He seemed to encourage me in my determination to help unite our group in a unit. I firmly believe that it strengthened me in the desire to press my point for a fraternity.” (1954)
Kelley attended the Troy Military Academy, a military preparatory school. He studied at the Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute before entering the College of Civil Engineering at Cornell University in 1905, where he graduated in 1908. Kelley was described as sometimes conservative, unyielding and adamant. His disposition and emotional response to many situations revealed the uncompromising nature of his personality.
When this band of men began to meet and acquaint themselves with each other, they found their camaraderie delightful. During the days of C.C. Poindexter, Kelley was appointed treasurer of the literary group. He would later create the first ritual along with Jewel Robert Harold Ogle. Together, they planned the first initiation banquet on Tuesday, October 30, 1906 at Odd Fellows Hall. At the banquet, Jewel Kelley was Toastmaster and spoke on the subject “Why Organize?” At the second banquet, he spoke on “Reminiscences.”
The members of the literary society were very active in the community of Ithaca, participating in programs at the nearby African Methodist Epsicopal Zion Church. Kelly often delighted audiences with the works of W.E.B. DuBois and Paul Laurence Dunbar, and shared his recitations with the brothers.
Torn between the literary component and the fraternal idea, Jewel Kelley suggested during one of the literary programs on November 13th, through a motion, that a committee of a design for a pin be established. Alas decision was ultimately to come regarding the fraternity versus the literary club, and on December 4, 1906, George Biddle Kelley, who chaired the meeting, carried the motion when it was made to become a fraternity. Brother Kelley was elected as the first President of Alpha Chapter. As the group began to take shape into the fraternity, Jewel Kelley lent his time to the Committee on Initiation along with Jewels Charles Henry Chapman, Vertner Woodson Tandy and Henry Arthur Callis.
During the year of 1907-1908, a resolution was adopted towards incorporation. The initial Trustees elected consisted of Jewels Jones, Tandy, Callis and initiates Gordon Jones and Lemuel Graves. Jewel Callis however, rose to resign from the board citing that he thought Kelley should be on the board, “because our first President…by his untiring efforts and loyalty helped to establish Alpha Phi Alpha to its present standard.” Brother Jones resigned in favor of Callis and both Callis and Kelley were on the Board of Directors.
At the third Annual Convention in Philadelphia in December 1910, Jewel Kelley was one of several alumni members present including Jewel Henry Arthur Callis, Moses A. Morrison and George Lyle. Jewel Kelley gave the Annual Address and congratulated the organization for its growth and the scope of work through the new chapters which had been formed. He reminded them to be “intensed” in their efforts.
“Jewel Kelley was instrumental in the development of the Alumni Committee for the Fraternity in 1912. In 1915, he urged the alumni in an open letter to be “loyal to the fraternity.” Kelley said “The success of the fraternity is as much to us as to the undergraduate members. Yes, it is more to us, as we are in a large measure responsible for the advancement it has made now.”
December 1926, during the Nineteenth Annual Convention at the St. Luke Auditorium in Richmond, Virginia, Jewel Kelley joined founders Murray and Callis as the guest founders for the convention with all of them making remarks during the annual founder’s address.
General President Raymond Cannon had created a special Historical Committee to assist Brother Wesley with the compilation of the fraternity’s history. Jewel Kelley was very reluctant about serving on the Historical Committee. In a letter to Brother Dr. Charles Harris Wesley on September 25, 1927, he replied:
“At first I was inclined not to get in this history making of the fraternity. So many years have passed since we were founded that all facts are hard to verify and the mentioning of incidents often lead to controversies among those of the founders who are living. After reading your letter, I am convinced that you would be able to pick out what facts you wanted. I am therefore writing to assure you that I will be glad to give whatever support I can…Prior to going on vacation, I visited the office of the Secretary of State at Albany and made some notes on the original incorporation of Alpha Chapter. I am enclosing this abstract for your benefit.”
Five of the seven founders were reunited in Cincinnati for the Silver Jubilee Convention in 1931. At the Twenty-seventh General Convention in New York in 1939, Jewel Kelley, along with Jewels Tandy, Murray and Callis were recognized. Until his death in 1962, Jewel Kelley hardly ever missed a convention. He was a convention fixture and was very sensitive to each Jewel being afforded the opportunity to be the “guest founder.” In a letter to Brother Burt Mayberry, Jewel Kelley expressed his dismay. General President Wesley, though not contacted by Jewel Kelley, found out about his concern. He felt snubbed at not having been invited to the convention in 1940. Jewel Kelley had been the guest founder at the 1931 Silver Anniversary Convention where all of the founders were invited. Both Jewels Kelley and Ogle were invited to the Special Convention in Chicago in 1934. General President Wesley reminded Kelley that there were no politics involved in the selections of guest “Jewels.” In a reference to Jewel Murray’s appearance at the convention, Wesley remarked, “I have neither preference or opposition to either one of you. I hope that you believe that I am sincere.” Wesley offered an apology for any “discourtesy” which may have been shown to him. Jewel Kelley responded to General President Charles Wesley in a letter on January 22, 1941, and said:
“Your statement that my letter to Bro. Mayberry was used for political purposes does not surprise me as much as a similar statement would have done if made several years ago. The organization has become so honeycombed with politics that one group may do anything to defeat the purpose of the other… It has never been in the past nor will it be in the future my desire to ask for any favors from the Fraternity because I am a Founder. It is my belief that many members of Alpha Phi Alpha wish to honor those who organized their Fraternity.”
It was apparent that Jewel Kelley was passionate about the organization that he helped to establish. In a speech to the Eastern Regional convention in Washington in 1932, Jewel Kelley gave the Founder’s address. In the address he stated:
“I think we often lose many good men who might be excellent members of the fraternity because of cliques and some of the methods used in many of the chapters. I was told once a man was rejected because of his color. To me that is deplorable. We never founded Alpha Phi Alpha to be a light skinned fraternity or one in which fellows could trace their ancestry back for years and years. We chose Alpha Phi Alpha for men, regardless of family, for what they themselves are doing, what they can do for the future of the Fraternity. The depression has caused the fraternity to lose many men because they do not have the money to keep their obligations.”
A few years later, a second founder entered Omega Chapter, Jewel Robert Harold Ogle. Jewel Kelley wrote on December 12,1936:
“I can hardly realize that Bro. Ogle is not with us. It will be a long time before I will be able to conclude that Bob will not meet again with us, or that I will not be able to write to him as I did now and then. The Fraternity has truly lost a worthy Founder and one whose chief thought was for its progress.”
Jewel Kelley was the guest founder at the Thirty- third General Convention in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1947. After an introduction by Past General President Henry Lake Dickason, Kelley prefaced his remarks with comments on the preamble of the organization. He also concurred that the Founder’s address be discontinued and that a Founder’s Memorial Address be given by an undergraduate.
Though Alpha consumed much of his life, Jewel Kelley did have a job. He worked as an engineer in the private industry and was employed as an engineer for the New York Engineering Department. He provided much work on the construction of the Barge Canal during the 1920′s, before transferring to the Department of Taxation and Finance as an Auditor in 1920, where he remained until 1952. He conducted a tax consulting practice.
In September of 1934, Jewel Kelley married the former Harriet Gross of Jersey City, New Jersey. She was a graduate of the Dickinson High School and the Traphagen School of Fashion in New York. A fashion designer, she also studied at New York University and the Oswego Normal College.
Two years later in 1936, Jewel Kelley was once again invited to give the Founder’s Address at the Silver Convention in December of 1935 in Nashville, Tennessee. He pondered if the ideas and purposes for which he and the others helped to establish the fraternity were still present:
After 29 years, I find that the undergraduates have a very small part in the affairs of the fraternity and are so outnumbered by the Alumni and graduate brothers that they are looked upon with tolerance if they venture to raise their voice and protest against the passage of certain laws which they later have to accept. We are so surrounded by brothers of deep legal learning, and oratorical ability that the timid undergraduate sits back with the idea of the early American Revolutionist that he is a victim of taxation without representation. It is not just that as a founder, I should urge and insist that the undergraduate members of the fraternity should be given more of an opportunity of shaping the policies and governing the Fraternity which was founded by undergraduates primarily for them.”
Jewel Kelley, though born and steeped in the traditions of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, converted and was ordained an Elder at the Liberty Presbyterian Church. He was also a 32nd degree member of the Prince Hall Masonic organization and active with the local chapter of the NAACP. As the director in the Central YMCA and member of the Boys Work committee of the “Y”, Jewel Kelley served as Vice Chairman of the Troy Council of the New York State Anti-Discrimination Commission.
Jewel Kelley would often remind the brotherhood of a story about the support of his brothers in time of need. He recalled a time when after graduation from Cornell, he moved to Little Falls, New York and had arranged a date to attend a matinee one Saturday afternoon with a young lady of the city. The matinee was located in Utica. By the time the day drew near, he realized that his funds were short due to a delay in the State payroll. Two days before the date, he wired a letter to one of the Jewels still enrolled at Cornell and the next day his money was sent. Jewel Kelley stated “that was the feeling that prevailed among the “Jewels.”
At the Twenty-ninth General Convention in Louisville, Kentucky in 1941, Jewel Kelley would have the fight of his life, when there was a move by several brothers to add an instrument associated with African natives to the fraternity’s shield. Past General President Raymond Cannon who witnessed the event recounted the event in a speech to the brotherhood:
“Our shield should never, be changed nor altered in any way. Yet had it not been for the urgent protest of “Jewel George Biddle Kelley…our shield might have been despoiled by the insertion of an instrument of communications in use by natives of Africa as proposed. Well meaning brothers, but brothers wholly unfamiliar with some of the fundamental of Alpha Phi Alpha, propose many things in our convention foreign to this Fraternity. It is the duty of our Jewels and all former officers to prevent these things from finding a place in our fraternity.”
In an editorial in the 1948 edition of The Sphinx, Jewel Kelley remarked again about undergraduate relationships:
“The undergraduate should be allowed a still greater participation in the management of the fraternity as it relates to them….All programs as to fraternity activities in local communities should be, as far as possible, through the direction of undergraduate brothers.”
Jewel Kelley passionately asked the brotherhood to forego their fun and frivolity:
“If all the chapters of Alpha Phi Alpha would forego the giving of a formal for just one year and donate the unusual assessment in an Alpha fund we could build or buy a National Headquarters as large or larger than any for which the organization is hoping.”
In those same remarks, he also stressed that the work should be equally divided between regional officers in both undergraduate and graduate brothers.
The fiftieth anniversary of the fraternity afforded Jewel Kelley one of his finest moments as he and Jewels Callis and Murray were the guests of honor. Kelley spoke at Cornell at the anniversary luncheon and said:
“I said to a man who stood at the gate of the year, ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown,’ and he replied, ‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than a light and safer than a known way.’ Such a thought must have been in the mind of each founder fifty years ago. Half a century is such a long span for the life of an organization such as ours that one cannot but thank the Almighty who has shaped its existence. We have nurtured our little plant from its beginning with brotherly love and the water of human kindness. We have not come to our present growth through the efforts only of the Founders and our changing General Officers. We have grown because the various Brothers from the dates of their initiation have nurtured the plant…I cannot close without giving thanks and credit to the colored of Ithaca who so kindly aided us in our years at Cornell and encouraged us in the formation of our Fraternity. Together, with Mother Singleton, they were large in number. As a Founder who cherishes his part in the formation of the Fraternity, I thank all the Brothers and their families who come in such large numbers to our 5Oth Birthday.”
The next six years following the anniversary convention saw Jewel Kelley’s health decline and his convention attendance shortened. On May 5, 1962 at the age of 82, Jewel George Biddle Kelley died at Leonard Hospital in Troy, New York, but not before summoning people to his bedside who had administered to him while in the hospital. He said to them “thank you for all you have done for me” then turned over and died.
The funeral service was conducted at Liberty Presbyterian Church on Thursday, May 10. The Eulogy was delivered by Brother Rev. J. Clinton Hoggard. Telegrams were received from throughout the nation including Governor Nelson A. Rockerfeller, U.S. Senator Jacob Javits and numerous others. General President William Hale represented the Fraternity and delivered the following comment:
“The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmaments showeth his handiwork. Part of the handiwork is man to whom God bequests his earth and the fullness thereof. He places man here for brief while to enjoy the fruits of his beneficence and while enjoying them to gain for himself immortality in the only way possible-by joining with others in helping make the dream of the good life a reality for everyone by helping establish the Kingdom of God solidly in the hearts of men. Such is the record of George B. Kelley.”
Jewel Kelley was interred at the Oakwood Cemetery in Troy, New York. His grave was removed from the Oakwood and transferred to the graveside of his parents at the New Mt. Ida Cemetery, also in Troy. in 1980. A marker was rededicated by the local graduate chapter, Beta Pi Lambda and the Omicron Upsilon Chapter at Renasselaer Polytechnic Institute.
“Before I close, I wish to urge upon all the Brothers the necessity for a broader bond of brotherhood in the communities where you reside. After allegiance to your God, family and country, let nothing shake your love for the Fraternity and its ideas. Let every brother be truly a BROTHER, PROMOTE HIS INTEREST AS IF IT WERE YOURS and show to the world that ALPHA PHI ALPHA stands for more than mere words.” —Jewel George Biddle Kelley, December 1935.