Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C., on January 9, 1914, by three young African-American male students with nine other Howard students as charter members. The fraternity's founders, A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I. Brown, wanted to organize a Greek letter fraternity that would exemplify the ideals of Brotherhood, Scholarship and Service while taking an inclusive perspective to serve the community as opposed to having an exclusive purpose.  The fraternity exceeded the prevailing models of Black Greek-Letter fraternal organizations by being the first to establish alumni chapters, youth mentoring clubs, a federal credit union,  chapters in Africa and a collegiate chapter outside of the United States. It is the only fraternity to hold a constitutional bond with a historically African-American sorority, Zeta Phi Beta (ΖΦΒ), which was founded on January 16, 1920, at Howard University in Washington, D.C., through the efforts of members of Phi Beta Sigma.

The fraternity expanded over a broad geographical area in a short amount of time when its second, third, and fourth chapters were chartered at Wiley College in Texas and Morgan State College in Maryland in 1916, and Kansas State University in 1917. Today, the fraternity serves through a membership of more than 200,000 men in over 700 chapters in the United States, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. Although Phi Beta Sigma is considered a predominantly African-American fraternity, its membership includes college-educated men of African, Caucasian, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian descent.  According to its Constitution, academically eligible male students of any race, religion, or national origin may join while enrolled at a college or university through collegiate chapters, or professional men may join through an alumni chapter if a college degree has been attained, along with a certain minimum number of earned credit hours.

Phi Beta Sigma is a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) and a former member of the  North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC). The current International President is Chris V. Rey, J. D., and the fraternity's headquarters are located at 145 Kennedy Street, NW, Washington, D.C.

History

Founding (1910–1916)

In the summer of 1910, after a conversation with a recent Howard University graduate in Memphis, Tennessee, A. Langston Taylor thought to establish a fraternity. Soon after, he started as a student at Howard University in Washington, D.C. In October 1913, Taylor and Leonard F. Morse had their initial conversation about starting a fraternity. They included Charles I. Brown as the third member of the founding group. By November 1913, they established a committee to develop what was to become Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. Soon after the first committee meeting, Taylor, Morse, and Brown chose nine associates to join in creating the fraternity. Those men were the first charter members of the organization.

On January 9, 1914, the permanent organization of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity was established in the Bowen Room of the 12th Street Y.M.C.A Building in Washington, D.C. On April 15, 1914, the Board of Deans at Howard University officially recognized Phi Beta Sigma and the following week The University Reporter, Howard University's student newspaper, publicized it.

During the first two years, the fraternity organized and maintained a Sunday school program, led by A.H. Brown; and opened a public library and art gallery, which became the foundations of the Benjamin Banneker Research Society and the Washington Art Club, respectively. Abraham M. Walker, a fraternity member, was elected associate editor of the Howard University Journal. The following year, Walker and founder A. Langston Taylor, were elected Editor-in-Chief and circulation manager, respectively. Other fraternity members also advanced to leadership positions at Howard: W.F. Vincent, William H. Foster, John Berry, Earl Lawson, among others, were presidents of the Debating Society, the college YMCA, the Political Science Club, and the Athletic Association, respectively. On the athletic field, captain John Camper and J. House Franklin were standout football players for Howard University.

In the spring of 1915, the fraternity worked to emphasize its intellectual reach. It inducted such African-American scholars as Dr. Edward P. Davis, Dr. Thomas W. Turner, T.M. Gregory, and Dr. Alain Leroy Locke. On March 5, 1915, Herbert L. Stevens was initiated, as the first Graduate member of Phi Beta Sigma.

A year after the establishment of Phi Beta Sigma, it began expansion to other campuses. On November 13, 1915, Beta chapter was chartered at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas by graduate member Herbert Stevens. Beta chapter became the first chapter of any African-American Greek-lettered organization to be chartered south of Richmond, Virginia. As Phi Beta Sigma continued its expansion in the Eastern and Southern United States, other national fraternities were beginning to take notice.

On December 28, 1916, Phi Beta Sigma hosted the fraternity's first conclave in Washington, D.C. Some 200 members attended, representing three collegiate chapters, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma (established at Morgan State College in Baltimore). The 1916 conclave authorized production of an official fraternity publication, and member W.F. Vincent was elected as the National Editor.

World War I and the Sigma call to arms (1917–1919)
Phi Beta Sigma responded to a "call to arms" in 1917 as the United States entered the First World War. Alpha chapter had about seventy members in uniform. During the war, many members entered the service or war work. Many fraternity chapters were depleted, and the National Office ceased to function. As a result of deaths and other dislocations resulting from the war, the General Board was forced to re-organize. Fraternity President I. L. Scruggs asked founder and National Treasurer A. Langston Taylor to contact members as soon as they re-appeared in civilian clothes. Taylor helped revive the fraternity by appealing to members in the US, as numerous Sigma men were serving on the European battle front.

Incorporation and the founding of Zeta Phi Beta (1920–1933)
By February 1920, Phi Beta Sigma had expanded to ten active chapters. During the December 1919 Conclave, Phi Beta Sigma's first conclave after the war, A. Langston Taylor was given approval from the General Board to assist in the organization of what was to become Phi Beta Sigma's sister sorority.

Creation of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated

In the spring of 1919, Sigma member Charles Robert Samuel Taylor, a student at Howard University, discussed with fellow student Arizona Cleaver his idea for a sister organization to be established.  Cleaver presented this idea to fourteen other Howard women. With the help of Charles Taylor and  A. Langston Taylor, they began work to found the new sorority.

With administration permission, Zeta Phi Beta sorority held its first official meeting on January 16, 1920. The founders and charter members of the Sorority were Arizona Cleaver (Stemons), Viola Tyler (Goings), Myrtle Tyler (Faithful), Pearl Anna Neal, and Fannie Pettie (Watts). The five founders chose the name Zeta Phi Beta. The similar names of both Sigma and Zeta are intentional in nature, as the women adopted the Greek letters 'Phi' and 'Beta' to "seal and signify the relationship between the two organizations".

The newly established Zeta Phi Beta sorority, Inc. was given a formal introduction at the Whitelaw Hotel by their Sigma counterparts, Charles R. and A. Langston Taylor. As National Executive Secretary of Phi Beta Sigma, Charles Taylor wrote to all Sigma chapters requesting they establish Zeta chapters at their respective institutions. With the efforts of Taylor, Zeta added several chapters in areas as far west as Kansas City State College; as far south as Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia; and as far north as New York City.

Phi Beta Sigma's contributions to the Harlem Renaissance

The 1920s also witnessed the birth of the Harlem Renaissance - a flowering of African-American cultural and intellectual life that began to be absorbed into mainstream American culture. Phi Beta Sigma fraternity brother Alain LeRoy Locke is unofficially credited as the "Father of the Harlem Renaissance." His philosophy served as a strong motivating force in keeping the energy and passion of the Movement at the forefront. In addition to Locke, Sigma brothers James Weldon Johnson and A. Philip Randolph were participants in this creative emergence, led primarily by the African-American community based in the neighborhood of Harlem in New York City.

On January 31, 1920, Phi Beta Sigma was incorporated in the district of Washington, D.C., and became known as Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated.

In November 1921, the first volume of the Phi Beta Sigma Journal was published. The journal was the official organ of the fraternity; Eugene T. Alexander was named its first editor. The following month, the fraternity held its 1921 Conclave at Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia. This conference saw the first-ever inter-fraternity conference between Phi Beta Sigma and Omega Psi Phi. This would lead to the first inter-fraternity council meeting between the two organizations the following spring in Washington, D.C.

In 1922, Founder Taylor called for the assembly of the Black Greek-lettered organizations of Howard University to discuss the formation of a governing council. Although the efforts of Taylor failed on that particular day, they would sow the seeds for what was to become the National Pan-Hellenic Council eight years later.

In March 1924, the name of the fraternity's official publication, The Phi Beta Sigma Journal, was changed to The Crescent Magazine. The magazine's name change was suggested by members of the Mu chapter at Lincoln University to reference the symbolic meaning of the crescent to the fraternity. At the 1924 conclave, a special exhibit introduced the concept of the "Bigger and Better Negro Business". This would lead to the establishment of Bigger and Better Business as a national program at the 1925 conclave. At the 1928 Conclave, held in Louisville, Kentucky, the tradition of branding the skin with a hot iron, as a part of the initiation process was officially sanctioned by the fraternity.

Sigma and the Great Depression
At the 1929 Conclave held in New York City, Dr. Carter G. Woodson was invited as a guest speaker and saw the creation of the Distinguished Service chapter. The fall of 1929 saw the crash of the nation's stock markets. Like many other organizations during this period, Phi Beta Sigma faced financial difficulties. With brothers faced with financial worries, some members were forced to leave their respective institutions due to lack of funds to continue their educations; several chapters became inactive. The fraternity saw its income drastically shrink to the point of nearly disappearing completely. As a result of the bank closures, the remaining funds of the fraternity were frozen.

As the nation came to terms with the Great Depression, Phi Beta Sigma and its members continued to implement programs to support the black community. In February 1930, the General Board met in New York City and appointed then vice president of the Eastern Region, Dr. T. H. Wright, as head of the new Bigger and Better Business program. The first objective of Phi Beta Sigma's new program was to call upon colleges to provide business courses for its students. The fraternity went forward with its plans to implement the bigger and better business program and aid as many financially strapped chapters as possible through scholarships for brothers.

Later that year, at the 1930 Conclave held in Tuskegee, Alabama, northern region vice president C. L. Roberts suggested that instead of a yearly meeting, the annual conclaves should be held once every two years. It was also at this conclave that brother George Washington Carver delivered an impassioned and emotional speech to the brothers in attendance.

Social action and international expansion (1934–1949)

Fraternity brother A. Philip Randolph, who organized the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, played a role in the amendments to the Railway Labor Act in 1934. As a result, railway porters were granted rights under federal law. This victory and the continuing work of Randolph and the BSCP led to the Pullman Company contract with the union, which included over $2 million in pay increases for employees, a shorter workweek, and overtime pay. 1934 also marked the birth of Social Action as a national program and the return of founder A. Langston Taylor to the forefront of Sigma. Brother Emmett May was elected as the first director of the social action initiative.

The 1935 Atlanta Conclave saw yet another meeting between Sigma and Omega Psi Phi fraternities. Omega founders Edgar Amos Love and Oscar James Cooper brought greetings to the brothers in attendance of the conference on behalf of the members of Omega Psi Phi. The following year, the general board approved the fraternity's affiliation with the already established National Pan-Hellenic Council. in continuation of Sigma's Social Action initiative, brothers of Sigma were actively involved the Chicago meeting of the National Negro Congress.

As Phi Beta Sigma prepared for the Silver (25th) Anniversary, a special search was made for lost founder Charles I. Brown. The search would yield no results as to the fate or location of Founder Brown. The 1939 conclave marking the 25th anniversary of the fraternity was held on the campus of Howard University.

At the 1941 Conclave in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the fraternity became a permanent member of the National Negro Business League. At the same conclave Brother A. Philip Randolph announced a proposed march on Washington, D.C., to protest racial discrimination in defense work and the armed forces. This proposed march would lead then president of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt to create the Committee on Fair Employment Practice and issue Executive Order 8802 which barred discrimination in governmental and defense industry hiring.

Due to the outbreak of the Second World War no Conclaves were held, although some brothers in various regions were able to assemble independently of the General Board.
At the fraternity's first spring conclave in 1944, the fraternity voted to support the United Negro College Fund. 1949 would mark the reunion of two of the founders of Sigma: A. Langston Taylor and Leonard F. Morse.

The 1940s and 1950s would show the continued expansion of Phi Beta Sigma. In 1949, the fraternity became an international organization with the chartering of the Beta Upsilon Sigma graduate chapter and the Gamma Nu Sigma graduate chapter in Monrovia, Liberia. The fraternity would extend its international chapters into Geneva, Switzerland, with the chartering of the Gamma Nu Sigma graduate chapter in 1955.

Sigma and the Civil Rights Movement (1950–1969)

As the struggle for the civil rights of African Americans renewed in the 1950s, Sigma men held positions of leadership among various civil rights groups, organized protests, and proposed the March on Washington of 1963. In Atlanta, A. Philip Randolph helped with the establishment of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957. Randolph and fraternity brother John Lewis would later be involved with the 1963 March on Washington, Randolph as a key organizer and Lewis as a speaker representing the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

In 1961, Phi Beta Sigma brother James Forman joined and became the executive secretary of the then newly formed Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. From 1961 to 1965 Forman, a decade older and more experienced than most of the other members of SNCC, became responsible for providing organizational support to the young, loosely affiliated activists by paying bills, radically expanding the institutional staff, and planning the logistics for programs. Under the leadership of Forman and others, SNCC became an important political player at the height of the Civil Rights Movement.

During the Selma to Montgomery marches, Brothers Hosea Williams and John Lewis led a 54-mile protest march from Selma to the capital of Alabama: Montgomery. Lewis became known nationally for his prominent role in the marches and became a Congressman as a Democrat from Georgia. During police attacks on the peaceful demonstration Lewis was beaten mercilessly, leaving head wounds that are still visible today.

Phi Beta Sigma brothers Huey P. Newton & Bobby Seale established the revolutionary left-wing Black Panther Party. Originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, their goal was the protection of African-American neighborhoods from police brutality in the interest of African-American justice. As one of the many advocates of The Black Power Movement, the Black Panthers were considered part of one of the most significant social, political, and cultural movements in U.S. history. "The Movement['s] provocative rhetoric, militant posture, and cultural and political flourishes permanently altered the contours of American Identity."

History (1970–2000)
In 1970, brother Melvin Evans was elected the first governor of the United States Virgin Islands. In 1979, Phi Beta Sigma celebrated its 65th anniversary Conclave in Washington, D.C. In 1983, Sigma brother Harold Washington became the first African-American mayor of the city of Chicago, Illinois. In 1986, the Fraternity opened the Phi Beta Sigma Federal Credit Union which is open to members of the Fraternity, members of the sister sorority, Zeta Phi Beta, their families, and their respective Regions and chapters. With the establishment of the credit union, Phi Beta Sigma became the first NPHC organization to offer such an entity to its members.

In 1989, the Fraternity celebrated its Diamond Jubilee in Washington, D.C. Also in that year, brother Edison O. Jackson became the president of Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York. In 1990, two Sigma brothers made significant firsts in their respective fields as Brothers Charles E. Freeman and Morris Overstreet were elected the first district judge of the Illinois Supreme Court and first African-American elected by popular vote to a statewide office in the state of Texas respectively. In 1995, the fraternity was the only NPHC organization involved with the planning and support of the Million Man March as brother Benjamin Chavis Muhammad served as national coordinator of the March.

Twenty-first century

In 2001, Sigma brother Rod Paige became the first African-American Secretary of Education. At the 2003 conclave, in Memphis, Tennessee, the fraternity added Projects S.W.W.A.C & S.A.T.A.P as national programs in attempts to combat cancer and teenage pregnancy. In addition to those projects, the fraternity added Project Vote and the Phi Beta Sigma Capital Hill Summit under the social action umbrella. At the 2007 conclave in Charlotte, North Carolina the fraternity introduced the Sigma Wellness initiatives as the latest national programs.
The 2009 Conclave in New Orleans saw former President William Jefferson Clinton accept honorary member invitation to Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity."

The Fraternity noticed abuse of its trademark by the clothing designer Ralph Lauren in early January 2020. That designer incorporated the Fraternity's name along with other symbolism on the fabric of pants offered for sale on its website. The Fraternity objected and explained in a cease-and-desist letter that such usage was in violation of trademark and was not developed as Fraternity-approved sportswear.  Black Enterprise magazine profiled this controversy in a January 2020 article.

Purpose of the fraternity
The founders deeply wished to create an organization that viewed itself as "a part of" the general community rather than "apart from" the general community. They believed that each potential member should be judged by his own merits rather than his family background or affluence... without regard of skin tone or texture of hair. They wished and wanted their fraternity to exist as part of even a greater brotherhood which would be devoted to the "inclusive we" rather than the "exclusive we."  The fraternity's defiance of stereotypes that have plagued other organizations indeed goes back to the founders themselves with their careful and deliberate building of the fraternity by promoting a membership with diverse backgrounds.

From its inception, the Founders also conceived Phi Beta Sigma as a mechanism to deliver services to the general community. Rather than gaining skills to be utilized exclusively for themselves and their immediate families, the founders of Phi Beta Sigma held a deep conviction that they should return their newly acquired skills to the communities from which they had come. This deep conviction was mirrored in the Fraternity's motto, "Culture For Service and Service For Humanity."

Today, Phi Beta Sigma has blossomed into an international organization of leaders.  The fraternity has experienced unprecedented growth and continues to be a leader among issues of social justice as well as proponent of the interests of minority communities, the needy, the oppressed, and the youth.  No longer a single entity, the Fraternity has now established the Phi Beta Sigma Educational Foundation, the Phi Beta Sigma Housing Foundation, the Phi Beta Sigma Federal Credit Union, a notable youth auxiliary program, "The Sigma Beta Club," and the Phi Beta Sigma Charitable Outreach Foundation.

Membership
Phi Beta Sigma's Constitution states that race, religion, and national origin are not criteria for membership. Membership is predominantly African-American in composition, with members in over 700 collegiate and alumni chapters in the United States, District of Columbia, Germany, Switzerland, The Bahamas, Virgin Islands, South Korea, Japan and countries in Africa. Since its founding in 1914, more than 200,000+ men have joined the membership of Phi Beta Sigma.

A chapter name ending in "Sigma" denotes a graduate chapter. No chapter of Phi Beta Sigma is designated Omega, the last letter of the Greek alphabet, and  deceased brothers are referred to as having joined The Omega chapter.

Pledging and hazing culture

Through the years, members of Phi Beta Sigma have been involved in incidents related to hazing, although now denounced by the fraternity, incidents have been discovered of pledges being subjected to activities which in some case have resulted in serious injury and even death. Prior to 1990, the Crescent Club was the official pledge club of Phi Beta Sigma and potential candidates interested in becoming a member of the fraternity would join the pledge club before being fully initiated. In response to the increasing number of lawsuits stemming from allegations and incidents related to hazing, Phi Beta Sigma and other members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council jointly agreed to disband pledging as a form of admission. In an attempt to eliminate Hazing from these organizations, each revised its orientation procedures and developed the Membership Intake Process.

In 2012, then Phi Beta Sigma International President Jimmy Hammock, along with the National Action Network, led by Sigma member Al Sharpton, launched a coalition whose aim was to combat hazing culture not just within the black Greek Lettered Organizations, but also the broader community at large. The coalition, also pledged their support of federal anti-hazing legislation that was being spearheaded by United States House of Representatives member Frederica Wilson. As part of the campaign, the fraternity developed anti-hazing training materials, held a town hall meetings, facilitated workshops and encouraged local chapters to participate in the annual National Anti-Hazing Awareness Day. Phi Beta Sigma's efforts to eliminate hazing from the fraternity continue as local chapters are now mandated to participate in anti-hazing awareness workshops.

Notable embezzlement and hazing incidents

Embezzlement
In 2011, Terry Davis, the former elected national treasurer for the fraternity was convicted for embezzling at least $50,000 from the fraternity's bank accounts.  He was sentenced to 31 months in prison and ordered to repay the fraternity $50,000 in restitution. Davis was initially charged with stealing over $200,000 but his attorney was able to lower the amount due to lack of evidence.

Hazing
In 1992, a pledge at Southern University (Baton Rouge) went blind after being intentionally hit on the head with a frying pan by a member of the fraternity.

In 1996, the fraternity was sued by a former pledge and football player at the University of Georgia for violating hazing laws.  As a pledge, he was hospitalized with bruises to his buttock and torn blood vessels due to being paddled by fraternity members.  Three members were arrested and pled guilty to hazing and battery charges.

In 1998, a pledge at Southern Illinois University was struck in the chest by several members of the fraternity which caused him to suffer from a severe asthma attack.

In 2006, seven Sigmas were arrested for beating pledges from the University of South Carolina. One known pledge was hospitalized due to the severe beatings and torment.

In 2009, Donnie Wade Jr., a student at Prairie View A&M University, died of extreme exhaustion due to illegal hazing activity while he was pledging the fraternity. His family filed a $97 million lawsuit against the fraternity and the chapter was temporarily expelled from campus for several years.

In 2012, seven members (six students and one staff member) of the fraternity were banned from the campus of Wiley College after reports surfaced of the brutal and dangerous hazing practices pledges had to go through.

In 2012, a former pledge at Virginia State University sued the fraternity for $1 million as a result of his problematic experience with the fraternity.  He was hospitalized due to constant physical abuse and forced to drop out of college due to emotional trauma that distracted him from completing his studies.

In 2014, a former Francis Marion University student won a $1.6 million lawsuit against an individual member of the fraternity and his home owners policy after allegedly suffering acute kidney injury due to being severely beaten throughout his pledge process. Nine Phi Beta Sigma members were arrested.

In 2015, the fraternity was kicked off the campus of Salisbury University until Spring 2017.  The university had received several anonymous complaints of pledges being beaten with paddles, forced to drink alcohol, and being harassed.

Notable members

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity's membership includes many notable members who are involved in the fields of arts and entertainment, business, civil rights, education, health, law, politics, science, and sports. The fraternity's membership roster includes heads of state  Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe, Kwame Nkrumah, William Tolbert, and William V.S. Tubman, the past presidents of Nigeria, the Republic of Ghana, and Liberia respectively. Also the 42nd president of the United States, Bill Clinton is an honorary member. Other notable members include scientist George Washington Carver; the first black Rhodes Scholar, Alain LeRoy Locke; Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton; organizer of the Million Man March Benjamin Chavis Muhammad; civil rights activists John Lewis, Hosea Williams and the Rev. Al Sharpton; musicians The Original Temptations; actors Blair Underwood, Ben Vereen and Terrence Howard; television personality Al Roker; and professional athletes Myron M Guyton, Jessie Small, Aaron Jones, Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, Hines Ward, Richard Sherman, and Ryan Howard.

International Presidents
Listed below are the thirty-six International Presidents since the 1914 institution of the office

 #01 Abram Langston Taylor, 1914–1916
 #02 Ivorite L. Scruggs, 1917–1919
 #03 William S. Savage, 1920–1921
 #04 Walter M. Clarke, 1921–1922
 #05 John W. Woodhous, 1923–1925
 #06 Arthur W. Mitchell, 1926–1934
 #07 Jesse W. Lewis, 1935–1936
 #08 James W. Johnson, 1937
 #09 George W. Lawrence, 1938–1940
 #10 Richard A. Billings, 1941–1944
 #11 George A. Parker, 1944–1947
 #12 Ras O. Johnson, 1948–1950
 #13 Felix J. Brown, 1951–1953
 #14 George L. Hightower, 1954–1955
 #15 George D. Flemmings; 1955–1957
 #16 Hutson L. Lovell, 1958–1959
 #17 Roswell O. Sutton, 1960-1962
 #18 Maurice A. Moore, 1963–1965

 #19 Alvin J. McNeil, 1966–1970
 #20 Parlette L. Moore, 1971–1973
 #21 John E. Westberry, 1974–1976
 #22 Richard M. Ballard Jr., 1977–1979
 #23 Charles B. Wright, 1980–1981
 #24 Demetrius Newton, 1981–1984
 #25 James T. Floyd 1984–1987
 #26 Moses C. McClendon, 1987–1989
 #27 Carter D. Womack, 1989–1993
 #28 William E. Stanley Jr., 1993–1995
 #29 Carter D. Womack, 1995–1997
 #30 Peter M. Adams, 1997-2001
 #31 Arthur R. Thomas, 2001–2005
 #32 Paul L. Griffin Jr., 2005–2009
 #33 Jimmy Hammock, 2009–2013
 #34 Jonathan A. Mason Sr., 2013–2017
 #35 Michael E. Cristal, 2017–2021
 #36 Chris V. Rey, 2021–Present

Conclave

The Conclave is the legislative power of Phi Beta Sigma. During a conclave year, delegates representing all of the active chapters from within the seven regions of the Fraternity meet in the chosen city. The Conclave-or fraternity convention- is currently held biannually and usually co-hosted by the alumni and collegiate chapters of the chosen city. During the convention, members of the General Board – the administrative body of the fraternity-are elected and appointed. The General Board may act in the interest of the Fraternity when the Conclave is not in session. In addition, seminars, social events, concerts, an international Miss Phi Beta Sigma Pageant, Stepshow, and oratorical contests are also held during the week-long conference. Throughout the years, notable individuals such as George Washington Carver, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, and NFL quarterback Charlie Batch were speakers at past Conclaves.

The Current General board is composed of The International President, First Vice-President, Second-Vice President, Treasurer, General Counsel, a Distinguished Service Chapter Representative, the regional directors, the immediate past-president, two collegiate members at large, and director of collegiate affairs. The offices of Second-Vice President and collegiate member at large are reserved positions on the general board for collegiate (undergraduate) members to hold. In addition, the Editor of The Crescent Magazine, Director of publicity, and the National Executive Director make up the members of the General Board. The latter-mentioned members are appointed to their positions and do not hold voting powers.

Distinguished Service Chapter members
Established at the 1929 Conclave, the Distinguished Service Chapter is the highest honor bestowed on a member of Phi Beta Sigma. Membership in the Distinguished Service Chapter must be recommended and approved by the awardees Chapter, Region, and by the General Board of the Fraternity prior to entry. One must meet the following criteria in order to be considered for this honor:

 Active in the Fraternity for at least ten years
 Has distinguished himself in the Fraternity and/or in his respective communities for extending exemplary service.

Brother Jesse W. Lewis was voted in as the DSC's first member (1929).

Regions

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity organizes its chapters according to their regions in the United States and abroad. The seven regions are each led by a regional director and a regional board. A comprehensive list of regions is shown below:

 Eastern (Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, the United States Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, Africa, and Europe)
 Great Lakes (Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ontario (Canada))
 Gulf Coast (Louisiana, New Mexico, and Texas)
 Southeastern (North Carolina, South Carolina and all of Tennessee east of the 86th Longitude)
 Southern (Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and the Bahamas,    )
 Southwestern (Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and all of Tennessee west of the 86th Longitude)
 Western (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Japan, South Korea and Kuwait)

The national programs

Phi Beta Sigma aims their focuses on issues that greatly impact the African-American community and the youth of the nation. The Phi Beta Sigma national programs of Bigger and Better Business, Education and Social Action are realized through the Fraternity's overarching program, Sigma Wellness, adopted in 2007.

Bigger and Better Business

As told by Dr. I. L. Scruggs (excerpts from Our Cause Speeds On):

The Bigger and Better Business serves as an umbrella for other national initiatives involving business. The program's goals include supporting minority businesses, increasing communication with sigma brothers involved with business, and instilling sound business principals and practices to members of the community. Project S.E.E.D. (Sigma Economic Empowerment Development) is the foremost Bigger and Better Business Program. The program was developed to help the membership focus on two important areas: Financial Management and Home ownership.

Education
The founders of Phi Beta Sigma were all educators in their own right. The genesis of the Education Program lies in the traditional emphasis that the fraternity places on Education. During the 1945 conclave in St. Louis, Missouri, the fraternity underwent a constitution restructuring which led to the birth of the Education as a National Program.

The National Program of Education focuses on programming and services to graduate and undergraduates in the fraternity. Programs such as scholarships, lectures, college fairs, mentoring, and tutoring enhance this program on local, regional and national levels.

Project S.E.T. (Sigma Education Time) is focused on increasing grade point averages and graduation rates of collegiates throughout the nation. The program aims to help with job readiness, choosing a career path {3–5 year outlook}, interviewing techniques, negotiating and entrepreneurship.

The Sigma Beta Club provides mentoring, guidance, educational tutorial assistance and advise to young men between ages 6 to 18. Created in 1950, it was the first youth auxiliary group of any of the National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations.

Social action

Phi Beta Sigma has from its very beginning concerned itself with improving the general well-being of minority groups. In 1934, a well-defined program of Social Action was formulated and put into action. Elmo M. Anderson, then president of Epsilon Sigma chapter (New York) formulated this program calling for the reconstruction of social order. It was a tremendous success. It fit in with the social thinking of the American public in those New Deal years.

In the winter of 1934, Sigma brothers Elmo Anderson, James W. Johnson, Emmett May and Bob Jiggets presented the Social Action proposition to the Conclave in Washington, D.C. The idea was adopted as a national program at the same conclave. Anderson is credited as "The Father of Social Action".

The fraternity's five main social action programs are Project Vote, Sigma Wellness, Sigma Presence on Capitol Hill, and projects S.W.W.A.C. and S.A.T.A.P.P.

Project S.W.W.A.C. (Sigmas Waging War Against Cancer) is a concentrated and coordinated effort to reduce the incidence of cancer in the African-American community. Through a partnership with the American Cancer Society, the goal of Project S.W.W.A.C. is to increase awareness, with a strong emphasis on early detection and prevention of prostate and colorectal cancer. Project S.A.T.A.P.P. is a collaborative venture with the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation to address the alarming rise in teenage pregnancy. The Sigma Wellness Project is focused on living healthier lifestyles through education. The goal of Project Vote is to register and educate citizens and encourage members of the community to participate in the democratic process. The Sigma Presence on Capitol Hill Program is focused on presenting Sigma members the opportunity to discuss many of the critical issues facing our communities with members of the U.S. Congress.

The Sigma Beta Club
In the early 1950s, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity developed a youth auxiliary group. Under the direction of Dr. Parlett L. Moore the Sigma Beta Club was founded. On April 23, 1954, the first club chapter was organized in Montgomery, AL. The Sigma Beta Clubs' principles of focus emphasize Culture, Athletics, Social and Educational needs.

The Phi Beta Sigma History Museum
The Sigma History Museum was a traveling exhibition created in 2001 by Sigma brothers Mark Pacich, Louis W. Lubin Jr. and Ahab El'Askeni. The museum's initial goal was to dispel the discrepancies of the Fraternity's history, by collecting as many newspaper articles, Crescent Magazines, Conclave Journals, autographs, pictures, etc., as possible. With the help of many Sigma members, in addition to families and friends of Sigmas brothers, some impressive artifacts of the history of the Fraternity were discovered. Among those artifacts, pictures of Sigma Founder A. Langston Taylor; historical pictures from the 1914, 1915, and 1916 yearbooks at Howard University; original letters; Conclave banners; and interviews with Sigma Brother Decatur Morse, son of Sigma Founder Leonard F. Morse, Samuel Proctor Massie II, son of an Alpha chapter charter member, Samuel P. Massie, Robert L. Pollard II, son of Sigma brother Col. Robert L. Pollard who joined Sigma in 1919, and Dr. Gregory Tignor, son of Sigma brother Madison Tignor who also joined Sigma in 1919. The exhibit has been displayed in many cities including; Orlando, Philadelphia, Detroit, Memphis, and Las Vegas.

On July 16, 2014, as part of the fraternity's centennial celebration, a permanent museum was opened at the Phi Beta Sigma International Headquarters in Washington D.C. As a result, Phi Beta Sigma became the first Historically Black Greek Lettered fraternity to open its own museum.

The assets of the museum have grown since the initial display in 2000. The most coveted possession yet to be acquired are the first 2 issues of the Phi Beta Sigma Journal. The museum is only 14 issues away from having every Crescent magazine ever printed.

See also

List of Phi Beta Sigma brothers
List of Phi Beta Sigma chapters
List of Phi Beta Sigma conclaves
Zeta Phi Beta
Horus
List of social fraternities and sororities

References

Further reading

External links
 Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity website

Student societies in the United States
Howard University
National Pan-Hellenic Council
Student organizations established in 1914
1914 establishments in Washington, D.C.

Phi Beta Sigma


France Mihelič (27 April 1907 – 1 August 1998) was a Slovene painter, one of the key figures in Slovene painting in the second half of the 20th century, known for his surrealist figurative paintings and prints.

Mihelič was born in Virmaše near Škofja Loka in 1907. He studied art at the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts between 1927 and 1931. He received the Prešeren Award three times, in 1949 for his paintings Kolona v snegu and Vaška ječa, in 1955 for his graphic opus and in 1965 for the set and puppets for a puppet performance of Sinja ptica (Bluebird) staged in 1964 at the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre.

He won the Levstik Award for his book illustrations four times: in 1949 for his illustrations of Prežihov Voranc's book Solzice (Lillies of the Valley), in 1951 for Fran Levstik's Najdihojca, in 1952 for France Bevk's Pestrna (Child Minder) and in 1956 for Mira Mihelič's Štirje letni časi (The Four Seasons).

In 1978 he also won the Jakopič Award for his life achievement in painting.

He was married to the writer and translator Mira Mihelič.

References

Slovenian male painters
Slovenian illustrators
1907 births
1998 deaths
Levstik Award laureates
Prešeren Award laureates
Jakopič Award laureates
People from the Municipality of Škofja Loka
Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb alumni
Slovenian surrealist artists
20th-century Slovenian painters
20th-century Slovenian male artists

France Mihelič


A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable mechanical saw, typically powered by a two-stroke engine. It is used for cutting trees, to fell snags, to cut firebreaks in wild land fires, and to harvest firewood. Special chainsaws are used for cutting concrete.

Parts
A chainsaw has several parts, including:

Engine — usually a two-stroke gasoline (petrol) internal combustion engine, usually with a cylinder volume of  or electric motor.
Drive mechanism — typically a clutch and sprocket.
Guide bar — a long bar with a round end of wear-resistant alloy steel usually  in length. An edge slot guides the cutting chain.
Cutting chain — Usually each segment in this chain (which is constructed from riveted metal sections similar to a bicycle chain, but without rollers) features small sharp blades called teeth. The bottom of each link features a small metal finger called a "drive link" which locates the chain on the bar, helps to carry lubrication oil around the bar, and engages with the engine's drive sprocket inside the body of the saw.

As chainsaw carving has become more popular, the makers of chainsaws are making special short, narrow-tipped bars for carving. These are called "quarter tipped," "nickel tipped" or "dime tipped" bars, based on the size of the round tip. After sometime the chainsaw chain gets dull.

References

Gardening tools

Chainsaw


Henrich Focke (8 October 1890 – 25 February 1979) was a German aviation pioneer from Bremen and also a co-founder of the Focke-Wulf company. He is best known as the inventor of the Fw 61, the first successful German helicopter.

Biography

Early life

Henrich Focke was born in Bremen on 8 October 1890, Focke studied at Leibniz University Hannover, where he became friends with Georg Wulf in 1911.
In 1914, he and Wulf both reported for military service and Focke was deferred due to heart problems, but was eventually drafted into an infantry regiment. After serving on the Eastern front, he was transferred to the Imperial German Army Air Service.

Focke graduated in 1920 as Dipl-Ing with distinction. His first job was with the Francke Company of Bremen as a designer of water-gas systems.

Focke-Wulf and Focke-Achgelis

In 1923, with Wulf and Dr. Werner Naumann, Focke co-founded Focke-Wulf-Flugzeugbau GmbH. In 1927 Wulf died while test flying the Focke-Wulf F 19 canard monoplane.

In 1930 Focke was offered a chair at the Danzig Institute of Technology, an honour which he declined. In 1931 the city of Bremen awarded him the title of Professor. The same year, Focke-Wulf was merged with the Albatros Flugzeugwerke company.

Focke-Wulf constructed Juan de la Cierva's C.19 and C.30 autogyros under license from 1933, and Focke was inspired by it to design the world's first practical helicopter, the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, which first flew on 26 June 1936 by Hanna Reitsch. In the Deutschlandhalle arena in 1938, it also became the first practical helicopter to be flown indoors.

In 1936 Focke was ousted from the Focke-Wulf company by shareholder pressure. Though the ostensible reason was that he was considered "politically unreliable" by the Nazi regime, there is reason to believe it was so that Focke-Wulf's manufacturing capacity could be used to produce Bf 109 aircraft. The company was taken over by AEG, but soon after this the Air Ministry, which had been impressed by the Fw 61 helicopter, suggested that Focke establish a new company dedicated to helicopter development and issued him with a requirement for an improved design capable of carrying a  payload.

Focke established the Focke-Achgelis company on 27 April 1937 in partnership with pilot Gerd Achgelis, and began development work at Delmenhorst in 1938. The new company built the experimental Fa 225 using the fuselage of a DFS 230 glider and a rotor from a Fa 223. Another project was the Fa 330 kite with rotor, capable of being deployed by a submarine at a moments notice and then used as a towed spotter. It was stored in a watertight container on the deck of the U-boat and was used during the war. A powered version of the kite would have been the Fa 336 which was in the design phase when the war ended and built in France postwar for testing.

Focke subsequently manufactured the heavy-lift transport helicopter Fa 223, and designed the Fa 224, Fa 266, Fa 269, Fa 283, Fa 284, and the Fa 336 during World War II. Only a few of the large Fa 223 Drache ("Dragon") helicopters actually were produced, but even the prototype set a new helicopter speed record of  and climb record of  in 1940. Subsequent war models were primarily used as mountain troop transport, rescue, and crashed aircraft recovery. The helicopter had provision for a nose-mounted machine gun, and could carry one or two bombs, but the Drache was never used for combat.

Towards the end of Nazi Germany Focke started design work on the Focke Rochen, also known as Schnellflugzeug.

Postwar

On 1 September 1945, Focke signed a contract with the French company SNCASE and assisted in development of their SE-3000 passenger helicopter, which was based on the Focke-Achgelis Fa 223 "Drache" and which first flew in 1948.

In 1950, he worked as a designer with the North German Automobile Company (Nordwestdeutscher Fahrzeugbau) of Wilhelmshaven.

In 1952, Focke and other members of his former design team were employed by Brazil's Centro Técnico Aeroespacial (CTA), at the time the air force's technical center, to develop a Convertiplane, the "Convertiplano", which drew heavily on Focke's wartime work on the Fa 269. Also recruited was Bussmann, a transmission specialist formerly of BMW. The Convertiplano was built using the fuselage and wings of a Supermarine Spitfire Mk 15, which was believed to be one delivered to Argentina as a sales example. Britain refused to supply the Armstrong Siddeley Double Mamba engine originally selected and the design was altered to accept a mid-mounted 2200 hp Wright engine instead as used in the Lockheed Constellation, which necessitated a redesign of the transmission due to the increase in weight and vibration. Some 40 workers and US$8 million were devoted to the project, and more than 300 takeoffs were achieved.

While working at the CTA Focke also developed the BF-1 Beija-Flor (hummingbird) two-seater light helicopter from 1954, which made its first flight at Sao Jose dos Campos on 22 January 1959.  The BF-1 was similar in design to the Cessna CH-1, with a 225 hp Continental E225 engine in the nose and the rotor mast running vertically between the front seats. An open structure tubular steel tail boom carried a pair of tail surfaces and a small tail rotor. The BF-2 was developed from this and first flew on 1 January 1959, and performed an extended flight-testing campaign until it was damaged in an accident. It is thought that further work on the Beija Flor was then abandoned.

Focke returned permanently to Germany in 1956 and began developing a three-seater helicopter named the "Kolibri" ("hummingbird") at the Borgward company in Bremen, with its first flight taking place in 1958. While working at Borgward Focke set up a wind tunnel in a disused hangar in central Bremen; this wind tunnel was rediscovered in 1997 and is today the centerpiece of a museum devoted to him.

After Borgward collapsed in 1961, Focke became a consulting engineer with Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke of Bremen and Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Luft-und Raumfahrt. Focke was awarded the Ludwig-Prandtl-Ring from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt (German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics) for "outstanding contribution in the field of aerospace engineering" in 1961. Focke died in Bremen on 25 February 1979.

In 1993, Focke was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.

See also
Focke's wind tunnel

Notes

External links
 Henrich Focke's Wind Tunnel
 Kovacs, Joseph. "Uma Breve História das Atividades do Prof. Focke no Brasil". ABCM Engenharia (Associação Brasileira de Engenharia e Ciências Mecânicas), April–September 2003, 9 (2): pp. 17–22.

1890 births
1979 deaths
Businesspeople from Bremen (city)
German aerospace engineers
German aerospace businesspeople
Ludwig-Prandtl-Ring recipients
Howard N. Potts Medal recipients
Engineers from Bremen (state)
Luftstreitkräfte personnel

Henrich Focke


William Byrd (born probably 1539 or 1540; died Stondon Massey, 4 July 1623) was an English composer.  He wrote music of all types that were popular then: keyboard music for virginals and for the organ, vocal music, especially choral music, both for the church ("sacred") as well as non-sacred ("secular").

Byrd lived in a time of great changes.  Henry VIII had broken away from the Roman Catholic church and had founded the Anglican Church.  The monarch (king or queen) was the Head of the Church of England.  During Byrd's lifetime the monarchs who reigned had different ideas about what church music should be like.  Byrd was always a Catholic.  This sometimes made life difficult for him, but he was always faithful to the monarchy, and he had a lot of tact in dealing with people.

Byrd grew up in the Renaissance period.  He lived into the 17th century which is the period known in music as the Baroque period.

His Story

Youth
We know very little about Byrd's early life.  Most books say that he was born in 1543, but a document that was found recently makes us think he was probably born late in 1539 or in 1540.  He may have come from Lincoln which is where his first job was, but he probably had some of his education in London. This is likely because we know he was a pupil of Thomas Tallis who worked in London.  Tallis was in charge of the music of the Chapel Royal which was the best choir in England, and it is likely that Byrd sang in the choir when he was a boy.  Queen Mary was on the throne at the time.  She was Catholic and she liked church music to be quite long and complicated, with Latin words.  This gave composers lots to do, and the young Byrd started composing church music at this time.

Lincoln period
Around 1563 Byrd got the job of Organist and Choir Master of Lincoln Cathedral.  This was an important job for such a young man, and he had an extra-large salary, so people must have thought he was a very good musician.  By this time Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne.  She had different ideas from Mary.  She was Protestant, and liked church music to be simpler, although she still liked the Latin service. In Lincoln Byrd was sometimes told off for playing organ music that was too long and complicated.  Byrd composed a lot of music for the cathedral.  He also married in 1568 and they had at least seven children.

Chapel Royal

In 1570 he got a job as Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in London.  He may have done both jobs for a year or two, and he certainly continued to write music for Lincoln for some years after that.  He settled in London and started to make many friends.  He was very careful to get to know lots of important people who would be able to help him in his career.

In 1575 Queen Elizabeth gave William Byrd and Thomas Tallis together a patent for music publishing.  This meant that they earned some money for every bit of music that was published, printed or sold in England.  Music publishing had only just started in England.  It was still very expensive to have music printed.  Byrd thanked the Queen by publishing some of his Latin motets and dedicating them to her.  They were called Cantiones Sacrae (Sacred Songs).  He also wrote a collection of Psalmes, Sonets and Songs (1588) and Songs of Sundrie Natures (1589).  His church music includes settings of the Service and many anthems such as the popular  Sing joyfully.

Later years

In 1593 he moved with his family to Stondon Massey in Essex.  He spent the rest of his life there.  Most of his church music from that time on was in Latin.  He wrote three settings of the Mass and two books of Gradualia which were large collections of music for the whole year.

Byrd also wrote a lot of keyboard music.  Some of it was for a collection called My Ladye Nevells Booke, some of it was for the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.

He died on July 4, 1623, and is buried in an unmarked grave in the Stondon churchyard.

His music

Byrd's music has a lot of variety, largely because of the different ideas people had various times during the period.  There were lots of political and religious arguments between groups of people.  In the early 17th century people were often sent to prison for writing Catholic music.  Byrd seems to have escaped such punishment, although he was involved in several lawsuits.  He was lucky that he was able to continue to live as a free man and compose.  Being on good terms with the Queen must have helped him.

Byrd wrote music for the Anglican church and for the Roman Catholic Church.  His  Cantiones Sacrae published in 1589 and 1591 are collections of Latin motets.  These are the very best of Byrd's works, and better than anything that was being written in Europe at that time.  He probably wrote them for private (illegal) gatherings of Catholics, so this meant that he could write in whatever style he wanted.  His music is very contrapuntal, representing the best of the English Renaissance style.

His Latin church music was forgotten after his death.  It only became popular in the early 20th century when it was rediscovered.

Byrd also wrote very beautiful music for viols as well as a lot of keyboard music.

Recordings
Byrd Cradle Song

Other websites
 Complete list of Byrd's works from stainer.co.uk (PDF)

1540 births
1623 deaths
Renaissance composers
English composers
English Roman Catholics

William Byrd


Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was a comet. It broke apart and crashed into Jupiter, in July 1994. The event was special because people could see, for the first time, how objects in the Solar System, outside Earth, collided. It caused a large amount of coverage in the media. The comet was carefully watched by astronomers worldwide. The crash gave new information about Jupiter. It also showed up its role in reducing space debris in the inner Solar System. The name came out of the discovers' last names.

Discovery of this comet

The comet was discovered by astronomers Carolyn and Eugene M. Shoemaker and David Levy on March 24, 1993. It was found in a picture taken by the  Schmidt telescope at the Palomar Observatory, in California. When it was discovered, it was orbiting Jupiter. It was the first comet seen to be orbiting a planet. Scientists think that it had been orbiting the planet for 20 - 30 years before its discovery.

Crash

Calculations showed that its unusual broken up form was due to a previous closer approach to Jupiter in July 1992. At that time, the orbit of Shoemaker-Levy 9 passed within Jupiter's Roche limit. Jupiter's tidal forces had acted to pull the comet apart. The comet was later observed as a series of pieces up to  in diameter. These fragments collided with Jupiter's southern hemisphere between July 16 and July 22, 1994. The pieces were moving at a speed of approximately 60 km/s. The impact scars were more easily seen than the Great Red Spot and they stayed for many months.

References

Comets
Impact events

Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9


The Hudson Bay is a bay that goes into East-central Canada. It is the fourth largest sea in the world with an area of 316,000 square miles (819,000 square kilometres). The northern and western shores belong to Nunavut, the southern shore is split between Manitoba and Ontario, and the eastern shore belongs to Quebec. It is connected with the Atlantic Ocean through the Hudson Strait, which is in the northeast of the bay, and with the Arctic Ocean through the Foxe Channel in the north part of the bay.

It was named for the English explorer Henry Hudson, who, in 1610 on the ship Discovery, found the bay and claimed it for England.

Other websites
Britannica Online-Hudson Bay

Seas
Bays of Canada

Hudson Bay


Large-scale Chinese immigration to Puerto Rico and the Caribbean began during the 19th century. Chinese immigrants had to face different obstacles that prohibited or restricted their entry in Puerto Rico.

When Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony, the Spanish government did encourage settlers of non-Hispanic origin. Although the Spanish government changed its policy with the passage of the Royal Decree of Graces (Real Cédula de Gracias) of 1815, the decree was intended to attract non-Hispanic Europeans who were willing to swear their allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church, not non-Christian Asians.

After Spain was forced to cede Puerto Rico to the United States in accordance to the Treaty of Paris of 1898, Chinese immigrants were confronted with the United States' passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), which forbade the entry and immigration of Chinese nationals to the United States and its territories. After 1943, when the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed and particularly in the 1950s, when hundreds of Cuban Chinese fled Cuba after Fidel Castro came to power, many more Chinese immigrants went to Puerto Rico.

There are about 1,757 people of Chinese descent in Puerto Rico, as per the 2018 U.S. Census estimates. This number could be higher, especially when taking into consideration those with partial Chinese ancestry, descending from multicultural Puerto Rican-Chinese families.

Spanish immigration restrictions

By the 19th century,  the Spanish Crown had lost most of its possessions in the Americas. Two of its remaining possessions were Puerto Rico and Cuba, which were demanding more autonomy and had pro-independence movements. The Spanish Crown issued the Royal Decree of Graces (Real Cédula de Gracias) which was originated August 10, 1815, with the intention of attracting Europeans of non-Spanish origin to the islands. The Spanish government, believing that the independence movements would lose their popularity, granted land and initially gave settlers "Letters of Domicile". The decree applied only to the people of Europe, since it was expected that the settlers would swear loyalty to the Spanish Crown and allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church.

In the early 1860s, José Julián Acosta, when commenting on Fray Íñigo Abbad y Lasierra's written history of Puerto Rico (which recorded events until the latter part of the 18th century), wrote a footnote in which he praises the local Spanish government for rejecting a proposal that would have allowed Chinese laborers to come to Puerto Rico from Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname. These restrictions were lifted in the latter part of the century.

During the latter part of the 19th century, Spain and the rest of the Americas became industrialized and were in need of manpower to fulfill their workforces. Poor and uneducated men, driven by war and starvation, made their way from China to the Americas as laborers. A large number of these unskilled workers were sold in what became known as the "coolie" trade. Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic were the last stop for many of the "coolies" before reaching their final destinations. Many of these Chinese immigrants stayed in Puerto Rico and the other two Caribbean countries.

When after the Treaty of Paris (1898), the U.S. conducted its first census of Puerto Rico, the Chinese population was large enough to require a mention in the document on how to punch the census card: "If the record related to a white person, B, standing for  (white) was punched, while N was punched for a negro, or M for Mixed, Ch for Chinese, etc."

20th century

When the United States enacted the Chinese Exclusion Act on May 6, 1882, many Chinese in the United States fled to Puerto Rico, Cuba and other Latin American nations. They established small niches and worked in restaurants and laundries. The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law which implemented the suspension of Chinese immigration. After the Spanish–American War, Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States under the conditions established by the Treaty of Paris of 1898. Chinese workers in the United States were allowed to travel to Puerto Rico. Some worked in the island's sugar industry, but most worked in re-building Puerto Rico's infrastructure and rail systems. Many of the workers in Puerto Rico decided to settle permanently in the island.

One of the reasons that the Chinese community in Puerto Rico did not flourish was because, in 1899, the War Department ordered the American officials in Puerto Rico to enforce the Chinese exclusion laws, as requested by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. They believed that Chinese agents were preparing to flood Puerto Rico with Chinese from other countries, who would eventually move on into the United States later. Although Chinese nationals were not allowed to go from Cuba to Puerto Rico, those who were in the United States were permitted to travel back and forth between the United States and Puerto Rico without restrictions. The Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed by the 1943 Magnuson Act, although large-scale Chinese immigration did not occur until the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965.

In 1959, thousands of business-minded Chinese fled Cuba, after the success of the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro. One of the results of the communist revolution was that the state took over private property and nationalized all private-owned businesses. Most of the Cuban Chinese fled overseas and, among the places where many of them settled, were Puerto Rico, Miami and New York City.

Chinese influence in Puerto Rico
Chinese Puerto Ricans are involved in operating Chinese restaurants, and others work in other sectors. Many members of Puerto Rico's Chinese minority have integrated both Puerto Rican and Chinese cultures into their daily lives. Some Chinese have intermarried with Puerto Ricans and many of today's Chinese-Puerto Ricans have Hispanic surnames and are of mixed Chinese and Puerto Rican descent, e.g., Wu-Trujillo.

Various businesses are named Los Chinos (The Chinese) and a valley in Maunabo, Puerto Rico is called Quebrada Los Chinos (The Chinese Stream).  The Padmasambhava Buddhist Center, whose followers practice Tibetan Buddhism, has a branch in Puerto Rico.

Los Chinos de Ponce (English: "The Chinese from Ponce"), formally "King's [Ice] Cream", is an ice cream store whose owners are descendants of Chinese immigrants who arrived in Puerto Rico via Cuba in the early 1960s. The ice cream parlor, which is in front of the town square, Plaza Las Delicias, opposite the historic Parque de Bombas, opened in 1964. In addition, some well known Puerto Ricans have Asian ancestry, such as actor, singer and lawyer Raulito Carbonell (Raul Carbonell Huo, who has Chinese ancestry  on his mother's side)

Illegal immigration of Chinese nationals became a problem in Puerto Rico. On November 28, 2007, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that 15 citizens of the People's Republic of China were arrested and indicted for human smuggling. According to the indictment, the defendants participated in an alien smuggling organization operating out of the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. The organization was transporting, moving, concealing, harboring and shielding aliens. They arranged the transportation and moving of Chinese nationals from the Dominican Republic into the United States.

Common Chinese surnames
The following are Chinese surnames of Chinese who have immigrated to Puerto Rico:
 Chang
 Chin
 Joa
 Lao
 Lee
 Mas
 Wong
 Woo
 Wu
 Yan
 Yon

See also

 List of Puerto Ricans
Cultural diversity in Puerto Rico
 Overseas Chinese
 Chinatowns in Latin America
 Chinatowns in the United States

References

19th-century establishments in Puerto Rico
Asian-American–Hispanic and Latino American relations
Asian Puerto Rican
Chinese Caribbean
Chinese
Immigration to Puerto Rico
Social history of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican
Chinese emigration

Chinese immigration to Puerto Rico


Robert Richardson Bowie (August 24, 1909 – November 2, 2013) was an American diplomat and scholar.

Bowie graduated from Princeton University in 1931 and received a law degree from Harvard University in 1934 and turned down offers to work as a corporate lawyer with New York's major law firms, returning to Baltimore to work in his father's law firm, Bowie and Burke.  He served in the U.S. Army (1942–1946) as a commissioned officer with the Pentagon and in occupied Germany from 1945 until 1946. In 1946 he resigned as a lieutenant-colonel. He taught at Harvard from 1946-1955.  The youngest professor of the school, he was a trusted confidant to John J. McCloy, the "unofficial chairman of the American establishment." During periods of leave from Harvard between 1950 and 1952 Bowie worked for McCloy as one of his legal advisers in West Germany.

He served as Director of Policy Planning from 1953–1957; co-founder, with Henry Kissinger, of Harvard's Center for International Affairs (1958); Counselor for the State Department from 1966-1968.  He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the American Law Institute, and the American Academy of Diplomacy. He is a recipient of the Legion of Merit and the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

He served as CIA chief National Intelligence Officer from 1977-1979.

He died at the age of 104 in November 2013.

Books
 Waging Peace: How Eisenhower Shaped an Enduring Cold War Strategy, by Robert R. Bowie and Richard H. Immerman, Oxford UP, 1998, . Endnotes
 Suez, 1956,  Oxford UP
 Shaping the Future: Foreign Policy in an Age of Transition, Columbia UP

References

External links
 Bio from the Eisenhower Memorial Commission
 Harvard Weatherhead Center for International Affairs
 100th Birthday Celebration

1909 births
2013 deaths
Princeton University alumni
International relations scholars
People of the Central Intelligence Agency
Recipients of the Legion of Merit
American centenarians
Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Directors of Policy Planning
Harvard Law School alumni
Harvard University faculty
Men centenarians
Diplomats from Baltimore
Educators from Baltimore
Bowie family

Robert R. Bowie


Electromagnetic radiation (EM radiation or EMR) is ane o the fundamental phenomena o electromagnetism, behavin as waves propagatin through space, an an aa as photon pairticles travelin through space, carryin radiant energy. In a vacuum, it propagates at a characteristic speed, the speed o licht, normally in straicht lines.  EMR is emitted an absorbed bi charged pairticles. As an electromagnetic wave, it haes baith electric an magnetic field components, which oscillate in a fixed relationship tae ane anither, perpendicular tae ilk ither an perpendicular tae the direction o energy an wave propagation.

Radiation

Electromagnetic radiation


Pierre Eugène Onfroy de Bréville (21 February 1861 – 24 September 1949) was a French composer.

Biography
Pierre de Bréville was born in Bar-le-Duc, Meuse. Following the wishes of his parents, he studied law with the goal of becoming a diplomat. However, he abandoned his plans after a few years and entered the Conservatoire de Paris. He began his musical studies with Théodore Dubois (1880–1882), later taking courses under the direction of César Franck.

He became a professor, teaching counterpoint at the Schola Cantorum in Paris (1898–1902). Following a twelve-year break, he taught classes in chamber music composition at the Conservatoire de Paris (1914–1918).

He established himself as a music critic and became well known for his reviews and commentary in Mercure de France, Le Courrier musical and La Revue blanche.  He died in Paris.

Although de Bréville was not prolific, he lavished attention to his own compositions, producing several highly original works remembered for their quality. He also completed the orchestration of César Franck's unfinished opera Ghiselle with Vincent d'Indy and Ernest Chausson.

Selected compositions
Stage
 L'anneau de Çakuntala (The Ring of Shakuntala), Incidental Music for the play Abhijñānaśākuntalam by Kālidāsa
 Le Pays des fées, Incidental Music
 La Princesse Maleine, Opera
 Les Sept Princesses (The Seven Princesses), Incidental Music
 Éros vainqueur (Eros, Conqueror), Lyric Opera in 3 acts, 4 scenes (1905); libretto by Jean Lorrain; first performance 7 March 1910, Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels (with Claire Croiza in the title role)
 Les Egyptiens, Ballet, an overture to a piece by Maurice Maeterlinck

Orchestral works
 La Nuit de décembre
 Stamboul, Symphony

Concertante
 Tête de Kenwark, Scène lyrique for cello and orchestra after a dramatic poem by Leconte de Lisle

Chamber music
 Sonata No.1 in C minor for violin and piano (1918–1919)
 Une flûte dans les vergers for flute and piano (1920)
 Pièce for oboe (or flute, or violin) and piano (1923)
 Poème dramatique for cello and piano (1924)
 Prière (D'après le Cantique de Molière) for cello and organ (or piano) (1924)
 Sonatina for oboe (or flute, or violin) and piano (1925)
 Sonata No.2 "Sonate fantaisie en forme de rondeau" for violin and piano (1927)
 Sonata in D minor for cello and piano (1930)
 Fantaisie appassionata for cello and piano (1934)
 Sonata for violin and piano (1942)
 Sonata for violin and piano (1943)
 Sonata for viola and piano (1944)
 Concert à trois for violin, cello, and piano (1945)
 Sonata for violin and piano (1947)
 Fantaisie for guitar
 Trio à cordes
 Trio d'anches

Organ
 Suite brève for organ (or harmonium) (1896)
 Prélude, méditation et prière for organ without pedals (1912)
 Deuxième suite brève en cinq parties for organ (or harmonium) (1922)

Piano
 Fantaisie: Introduction, fugue et finale (c.1900)
 Portraits de maîtres (Portraits of Masters) (1907)
     Gabriel Fauré
     Vincent d'Indy
     Ernest Chausson
     César Franck
 Impromptu et choral (1912)
 Stamboul: rhythmes et chansons d'Orient, 4 Pieces (1921)
 Prélude et fugue (1923)
 Sonate en ré bémol (Sonata in D) (1923)
 Sept esquisses (7 Sketches) (1926)
 Quatre sonates (1939)
 Fantasia appassionata

Vocal
 La forêt charmée for voice and piano (1891); words by Jean Moréas
 Epitaphe for voice and piano (1899); words taken from the tombstone of Marie Dupuis in the "Église de Senan"
 Le Furet du bois joli for voice and piano (1899); words by Jean Bénédict
 Poèmes de Jean Lorrain mis en musique (Poems of Jean Lorrain Set to Music) (1899?)
     La mort des lys
     La belle au bois
     La petite Ilse
 Quatre mélodies pour voix moyennes (Four Songs for Medium Voice) with piano accompaniment (1912)
     Une jeune fille parle; words by Jean Moréas
     Venise marine; words by Henri de Régnier
     Berceuse; words by Henri de Régnier
     Sous les arches de roses; words by Charles van Lerberghe
 Héros, je vous salue for voice and piano (1916); words by Henri de Régnier
 France for voice and piano (1917); words by Henri de Régnier
 Sainte for voice and piano (1922); words by Stéphane Mallarmé
 Bonjour mon cœur for voice and piano (1925); words by Pierre de Ronsard
 La Terre les eaux va buvant for voice and piano (1925); words by Pierre de Ronsard
 Ô mon ange gardien for voice and piano (1925); words by Francis Jammes
 Baiser for voice and piano (1926); words by Émile Cottinet
 Cantique de 1ère communion for soprano, violin and organ (or piano) (1926); words by Henry Gauthier-Villars
 La Cloche fêlée for voice and piano (1926); words by Charles Baudelaire
 12 Rondels de Charles d'Orléans for voice and piano (1930); words by Charles d'Orléans
 Bernadette
 La Petite Ilse
 Cœur ardent
 L'Heure mystique

Choral
 Hymne à Venus, Vocal duo or chorus in 2 parts in phrygian mode (c.1885); words by Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam
 Messe (Mass) for soprano, tenor, baritone, mixed chorus (STB), string quartet, harp and organ (1890s)
 Sainte Rose de Lima, Scène mystique for soprano, female chorus and orchestra (1890s); words by Félix Naquet
 Tantum ergo sacramentum veneremur cernui, Hymne au Saint Sacrement for mezzo-soprano, female chorus and organ (c.1900)
 Les Cèdres du Liban (Cedars of Lebanon) for mixed chorus a cappella
 Motets pour la messe des morts
 Salut for soloists, female chorus and organ or harmonium

Writings
 Les Fioretti du père Franck, (1935–1938), a biography of César Franck
 Une histoire du théâtre lyrique en France

References

External links

1861 births
1949 deaths
People from Bar-le-Duc
20th-century classical composers
French male classical composers
French ballet composers
French opera composers
Male opera composers
Academic staff of the Schola Cantorum de Paris
Conservatoire de Paris alumni
Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris
French music critics
French male non-fiction writers
Members of the Ligue de la patrie française
20th-century French composers
20th-century French male musicians

Pierre de Bréville


Paul Henry Maty (1744 – 16 January 1787) was an English librarian.

Maty was born in London, the son of the librarian Matthew Maty (1718–1786), and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. He vacated a Trinity fellowship to marry in 1775. In 1777 he published his religious doubts about the 39 articles in the Gentleman's Magazine. With his Ecclesiastical advancement thus impeded, he became an assistant librarian, and then under-librarian, at the British Museum.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in May 1771. He also obtained the job of foreign secretary, and subsequently general secretary, to the Society – although taking Charles Hutton's side in his dispute with the president Joseph Banks forced Maty's resignation in 1784.

From 1782 to 1786 Maty founded, edited and was primary author of a review journal, A New Review: with Literary Curiosities and Literary Intelligence. He indexed the Philosophical Transactions, collaborated with Samuel Ayscough on a catalogue of the British Museum's printed books, and translated the Travels through Germany of Johann Kaspar Riesbeck (1754-1786). Some  of his sermons were posthumously published by Samuel Horsley.

On his death he was buried in Bunhill Fields.

Works
An history of the instances of exclusion from the Royal Society … with strictures on the formation of the council and other instances of the despotism of Sir Joseph Banks, the present president, 1784
A General Index to the Philosophical Transactions, vols. i–lxx, 1787
(with Samuel Ayscough & S. Harper) Librorum impressorum qui in Museo britannico, adservantur catalogus, 1787
(transl.) Travels through Germany, in a series of letters, 1787
Sermons preached in the British Ambassador's Chapel, at Paris, in the years 1774, 1775, 1776, 1788

References

Thomas Seccombe, 'Maty, Paul Henry (1744–1787)', rev. Rebecca Mills, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 6 Jan 2008

1744 births
1787 deaths
Librarians from London
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge
Fellows of the Royal Society
British critics of Christianity
English religious sceptics
18th-century English Anglican priests
Burials at Bunhill Fields

Paul Henry Maty


John William Kitson (1846 – February 6, 1888) was an English-born architectural sculptor who worked in the United States.

Early life
Kitson, the third child and the first-born son of John McWhire and Emma Jaggar Kitson, was born in 1846 in Berry Brow, Huddersfield. He was sent to London at the age of 14 as an apprentice to learn the art of stone and wood sculpturing. By 1870 he was living in Philadelphia with other architects and sculptors.

Sculptor career
Kitson was active in the United States 1868 – 1888 as a sculptor of wood and stone.  He and his fellow Englishman, Robert Ellin, joined forces 1n 1874 under the name Robert Ellin Co and created an architectural sculptor partnership, Ellin & Kitson, based in New York City in 1879.  Just prior to Kitson's 1888 death, the firm became known as Ellin, Kitson & Co.  Kitson's estate remained as partner in the firm until 1904 when his eldest child reached maturity.  This also coincided with Robert Ellin's death.

According to family oral stories Kitson and Ellin decided to compete in a juried show for the 1876 centennial as Americans to set themselves apart from other English entrants. Their mahogany breakfront won an award and has been noted in articles about the 1876 centennial show.  In this exhibit they also showed examples of their church furnishings.

Neither William nor his partner Robert were known for fine art sculpture. Instead, their work was seen as a part of the exterior and interior of churches and commercial buildings and elegant homes; their work also included carved furniture such as seen in the 1876 Centennial
Exposition held in Philadelphia, PA.

Kitson has been attributed with carving stone columns of the National Art Institute NYC now known as the National Academy. These have been lost. His work is also seen in an upstairs meeting room of the Tilden Mansion, now the  National Arts Club, in a carved frieze of birds against a gold leaf ground.   Circa 1872 at Philadelphia's First Presbyterian Church on Walnut, Kitson and Alexander M. Calder carved all exterior and interior stone and woodwork. According to family oral history, he was known for his bird sculptures. One of his beautiful breakfronts is still in family hands.  An example of his birds in walnut is also in family hands.

Kitson married 1882 to Mary Ann Morrell, also known as May Kitson, whose family arrived in New Jersey from London, England in 1873. In February 1888 he died at the age of 43 of back injuries, leaving his 25-year-old wife with a son Howard Waldo age 5 and an infant daughter Velma Mary aged 8 months.  He is buried in Woodlawn. Velma Mary later married Byron McCandless and was the grandmother of Astronaut Bruce McCandless.

Brothers
All four Kitson brothers (Will, Sam, Harry and Rob) moved to the United States.  Samuel James Kitson, a fine sculptor, attended the Rome Academy 1870 – 1873.  He was promoted by Ellin & Kitson while he developed his own career beginning 1878.  Younger brother Harry, Henry Hudson Kitson, was sent at the age of 14 to apprentice with John William and Samuel James and then moved to Paris for his sculpturing education.  The youngest brother, Robert Lewellen Kitson, arrived in the United States following his mother's death in 1898.  Robert displayed some watercolors in the English Royal Academy of the Arts. He was a watercolorist of whose work very little is known to survive.

References

"In Pursuit of Beauty"  Metropolitan Museum of Art NYC
New York Times February 1888
"Stories in Stone on Walnut Street" Center City Quarterly June 2010
Family letters, photos and legal documents held by family historian
George Titus Ferris, Gems of the Centennial Exhibition 1877, D Appleton & Co Publishers NYC Pages 136-139
New York NY Tribune May 4, 1902 Page 2, American Art Industries Wood Carving
Stone; an Illustrated Magazine - Google Books Result 1894 Vol 9 Page 470
 Stone; an Illustrated Magazine - Google Books Result 1902 Vol 24-Editorial "The Founder of American Architectural Decoration" pages 342-345
Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide August 10, 1901 Mortgages and Assignments Borough of Manhattan
The Critic: An Illustrated Monthly Review of Literature, Art 1893 Vol 22-23 Pages 391-2
Building Trades Employers Association Vol 5 1904 page 56
Great Britain Patent Office "The Commissioner of Patents Journal" August 11, 1874
Columbia University Press, NYC, W. Craven, 'Stanford White: Decorator in Opulence and Dealer in Antiquitie'
"Royal Academy of Arts: A Complete Dictionary of Contributors Vol 4" Page 336
newspapers.rawson.lib.mi.us/enterprise/CCE_1895_A%20(E)/issues/06-14- 1895_6.pdf "BIGGEST BRONZE CASTING"
Yearbook of the Architectural League and Catalogue Vol 14 Pages 133, 137
George Titus Ferris, Gems of the Centennial Exhibition D Appleton & Co Publishers NYC 1877 Pages 136-139

1846 births
1888 deaths
English sculptors
English male sculptors
British woodworkers
People from Huddersfield
19th-century English sculptors

John William Kitson


An executive order or executive decree is a rule or order, or a law made by a head of state (president or monarch) who has this power given to him by the constitution of the country. The order tells ministries, agencies, the civil service and the military of a state the things that they must do.

Executive orders can be stopped by the courts in a process called judicial review. They may be stopped by the courts or the legislature if they are against laws or against the constitution.

However, in countries where there is no real separation of powers and the head of state is actually a dictator, the executive order cannot be stopped by the courts or the legislature, which as a result have no powers and are controlled by him. In many cases, the head of state with dictatorial powers often rules the country by making executive orders rather than making laws in the legislature which he also controls.

Executive orders have a big effect on the internal affairs of the government and on the citizens. They decide how and to what degree legislation will be enforced. They also deal with emergencies and wars.

Law

Executive order


"From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" is a song released off of Britney Spears' first studio album ...Baby One More Time. It was released as a single in December 1999 in the United States, Latin America, and Oceania. It reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 in the year 2000.

1999 songs
Britney Spears songs

From the Bottom of My Broken Heart


The Pontiac Vibe was a compact car made by General Motors with Toyota at New United Motor Manufacturing plant in Freemont, California. It was only sold as a five-door hatchback. The Vibe has the same engine and parts as the Toyota Matrix and Toyota Corolla. The Vibe and Matrix were made in different factories. The Vibe had replaced the Chevrolet Prizm in 2002 due to low sales and the discontinued Toyota Sprinter (Prizm was a mere rebadged version of this car).The Vibe was sold in Japan by Toyota as the Voltz from 2002 to 2004. Pontiac Vibe discontinued in 2009 due to General Motors and Toyota's decision to close down NUMMI. After Pontiac announced it would go out of business, General Motors announced that the Vibe would be replaced with Buick Verano (a badge engineered Opel Astra). Though it only offered limited AWD it was often categorized as a compact crossover and competed with the Dodge Caliber.

Sport utility vehicles
Pontiac automobiles

Pontiac Vibe