CHARTER MEMBERS
Dr. Thomas Abraham Boger
Thomas Abraham Boger was born in Aurora, Illinois on June 9, 1885. Boger received his primary education in Aurora, before attending the University of Illinois and then studying medicine at Rush Medical College.
When Theta was chartered, Boger was elected as the first secretary of the chapter, and then would go on to be elected as it’s second president. Boger’s brother, Henry Hall Boger, would also join Theta in the Fall of 1910 or the Spring of 1911.
After he finished his studies, Charter Brother Boger relocated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he was a staff physician in a private medical practice.
He was married and had one son, Thomas, Jr., who was born in 1919.
In 1924, Boger would join 21 other men and become a charter member of Xi Lambda Chapter of Chicago.
Sometime prior to 1930, Boger would move back to Aurora and establish his own dental practice. Boger would reside in Aurora until he entered Omega Chapter in January of 1967 at the age of 82.
Dr. Alexander Cecil Browne
Alexander Cecil Browne was born in Savannah, Georgia in October of 1880. His father, Abraham Browne, was a Georgia native, as was his mother.
Brown attended Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee and graduated in 1906, then came to Chicago to attend the University of Illinois medical school graduating with a D.D.S. in June of 1910.
Shortly thereafter, Browne enlisted in the U.S. Army in the Dental Reserve Corps with the rank of Captain and recommended for a commission in August of 1917. He would later join the famous 92nd Division at Camp Fulton, Kansas, also known as the Buffalo Soldier regiment.
Browne would later serve at Camp Upton in New York and would be transferred to the 320th Labor Battalion at Is-sur-Tille, France in 1918. Following his tour in France, he would resign his commission in 1920.
In 1915, Charter Brother Browne was listed in the influential “Who’s Who is the Colored Race” by Frank Lincoln Mather.
Following his time in the Army, he would settle in Chicago where he would establish a dental practice on 35th and State Street. During his time in Chicago, he became an active member of Xi Lambda chapter, where he would serve as Treasurer.
Dr. Arvelle Richard Cole
Richard Arvelle Cole was born Feb 23, 1881, in St. Louis. He graduated from Sumner High School in 1900, and in 1910 was a resident of Chicago where he worked as a clerk. He attended Rush Medical School.
He married Jessie Thompson on Jan 7, 1911, and was granted a pharmacists apprentice license by the state of Illinois in 1912.
In 1925, he was a member of Epsilon Lambda in St. Louis.
He and his wife would go on to have 2 children, a son and a daughter.
Charter Brother Cole entered Omega Chapter on May 16, 1963.
Dr. Samuel LeCount Cook
Charter Brother Cook was born in Washington D.C. on October 20, 1887. His father, Samuel Sr., was a physician and native of Washington, D.C. Samuel, Sr. passed away when Cook was three years old. Then Cook and his mother, Florella Robinson, a native of South Carolina, moved to Norfolk, Va. The Cooks were one of the more affluent families of Washington, D.C.,
He attended Howard University as an undergraduate student and later would attend University of Illinois medical school, graduating in 1913. While a medical student Cook was roommates with Theta Charter Brother Thomas Boger.
Following his matriculation at Rush, Cook began his internship at Provident Hospital and then completed it at Freedman’s Hospital in Washington, D.C.
Shortly after relocating to the D.C. area, , Charter Brother Cook got married, however his wife passed away sometime prior to 1920. Later, he would remarry a schoolteacher named Louise Sewell in the early 1920’s.
He then went on to become a member of the medical faculty at Howard University and was the clinical assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology. In his 38 years of practice, he performed more than 5,000 major operations, most of them at Freedman’s Hospital.
Charter Brother Cook entered Omega Chapter on June 12, 1952.
Dr. Gordan Henry Jackson
Gordan Henry Jackson was born in the Cleveland, Ohio area in 1886. His parents, George H. and Virginia were natives of Ohio as well. George was an attorney with his own law practice who also was a wealthy industrialist, considered one of the prominent black families in the country.
Sometime prior to 1906, Jackson’s parents relocated to the Chicago area. Here they invested in several business, with Jackson’s mother’s family having heavily invested in the coal business.
Charter Brother Jackson would attend Rush Medical School where he graduated in 1912 or 1913.
When Theta was chartered, Charter Brother Jackson served as the first president of Theta from 1910 to 1912.
Charter Brother Jackson worked as a physician at Provident Hospital under Bro. Dr. George C. Hall.
In November of 1923, he married Mae (Bryant) Walker, adopted granddaughter of Madame C.J. Walker in what was deemed by contemporaries as a “lavish, million-dollar wedding” and “the wedding of the century.” After the wedding, Charter Brother Jackson and his wife resided in Chicago.
The marriage only lasted a short time and after his divorce, Charter Brother Jackson continued with his thriving medical practice.
Charter Brother Jackson entered Omega chapter in the 1950’s..
Dr. Henry Howard Towles
Henry Howard Towles was born in Texarkana, Texas on October 27, 1883. His father was an immigrant from Haiti and his mother was a native of Texas.
Towles received his medical training in Chicago, and following graduation from the University of Illinois in June of 1913, moved back to his home of Texarkana, where he established his own medical practice. He would meet and marry his first wife Louise, before relocating to Los Angeles, California.
While in Los Angeles, he met Bro. Dr. Benjamin A. Jordan, where the two of them would establish a respected medical practice.
Towles would go on to become a charter member of Beta Psi Lambda, the oldest alumni chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha in the Los Angeles area. He also became known as a respected philanthropist in the Los Angeles community.
Charter Brother Towles entered Omega Chapter in November of 1965 while a resident of Los Angeles at the age of 82.