History of the Boulé
Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity: An Overview
Such was the case in the city of Philadelphia, with a population of black citizens in 1900 of approximately 63,000. Here, in his home city of Philadelphia, Henry McKee Minton and a small group of his colleagues founded Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, the nation’s first black Greek-letter Fraternity.
Minton was acutely aware of the rather isolated professional and social world in which Philadelphia’s small but slowly escalating number of black professionals existed. He had no doubt witnessed the camaraderie and support members of fraternities enjoyed during his years as a student at Phillips Exeter Academy and at the University of Pennsylvania, although invitations for membership in them were not an option for black Americans. As well, he was aware of the support members received within selected non-professional secret societies and fraternal groups within the black community of Philadelphia. Thus, he reasoned that a special fraternity could effectively serve as the means through which desirable professional and social support for black professionals would be provided and maintained. Minton shared his vision of such a fraternity with a small group of his colleagues consisting of Algernon B. Jackson, MD, Edwin C. J. T. Howard, MD; and Richard J. Warrick, Jr., DDS.
Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity is also known as the Boulé, which in Ancient Greece was a council of chiefs. The meaning of the words Sigma Pi Phi, the titles given to its members and their wives, its officers and the names of its local units are derived from Greek history and tradition as well.
Although no longer “secret,” today it can be described as a fraternity that exists with little fanfare and one that actively seeks to improve the lives of the citizens in the communities in which the members are associated through its social action and public policy programs and initiatives.