Sigma Pi Phi records

Sigma Pi Phi, also referred to the Boulé, was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 15, 1904 by Edwin Howard, Algernon Jackson, Henry McKee Minton, and Richard Warrick. It was the first Greek-letter fraternity to be founded by African American men, and, unlike undergraduate fraternal organizations, membership is limited to African American men who have already achieved some degree of success within their chosen profession.

From this first group of men, known as the Alpha Boulé because they were the inaugural chapter of the organization, Sigma Pi Phi quickly began to grow into a national organization, establishing chapters in Chicago in 1907 and Baltimore in 1908—the Beta and Gamma Boulé’s respectively. Representatives from the member boulés met in Philadelphia in 1908 to form the Grand Boulé, providing centralized leadership for the growing organization. Sigma Pi Phi continued to grow quickly throughout the teens and twenties, and published the first edition of Boulé Journal in 1912 in order to facilitate communication to Boulé members.

The early members of Sigma Pi Phi were inspired by models of Greek democracy and the influence of Ancient Greek democratic principles remains evident in the terminology and leadership structure of the organization. Boulé members refer to themselves as Archons and the highest leadership position in the organization is the Grand Sire Archon. The organization’s other leadership positions also have Greek-inspired titles including the Grand Grammateus (Secretary), Grand Thesauristes (Treasurer). Until 1968 the Grand Sire Archon was chosen by lot, rather than elected, to demonstrate the members’ belief that any individual worthy of entrance into the organization would be capable of leading it.

During the 1970s the organization began to more explicitly engage in social action, with a social action committee tasked with managing social justice programs. In 1980 the Sigma Pi Phi, later Boulé, Foundation was established with the explicit intent to fund social action programs.