On April 22 and April 23, 1938, the Wilmington, NC-based Omicron Alpha Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity hosted the group’s sixth district conference. Members from sixteen chapters of the fraternity from towns across North and South Carolina gathered to meet in the city. The Black fraternity’s members had to navigate Wilmington’s segregated spaces, and the program for the conference reflects those realities.

Members registered for the conference at Payne’s Hotel on Friday night. The hotel, located at 417 North 6th Street, was owned by Charles and Annie Payne and seems to have been the only Black-owned hotel in the city. Business and social events were held at African American schools, including Williston High and Williston Primary. There was also a late-night social event at Herring’s Casino in Seabreeze, a Black resort area.

Omega Psi Phi was one of five sororities and fraternities that were founded at the historically Black Howard University in the early 20th century. Three young men founded Omega Psi Phi in 1911. They became head of the physics department at Howard University, a medical doctor in Philadelphia, and a Methodist Bishop. Black fraternities and sororities helped create bonds of fellowship among members, and they worked to improve life for Black people in their communities. Omega Psi Phi members pledged themselves to four principles: Manhood, Scholarship, Perseverance, and Uplift.

The Port City chapter of Omega Psi Phi was formed in 1936, twenty-five years after the first chapter. A group of men met at James Cooper’s residence on 815 North 6th Street on November 3, 1936, to organize a graduate chapter of the fraternity. Mr. Cooper and 12 other men were the first members of the local chapter. Others included dentist Dr. Sylvester Rosemond, the Reverend Herbert Bell Shaw, and Williston teacher William Wheeler.

When, two years later, the local chapter hosted the district conference, they noted, “The membership of Omicron Alpha has steadily increased and has many men valuable to her, to the community, to the fraternity, and to the race.” The chapter, known colloquially as the Port City Omegas, remains active in the community, holding social events and raising money for charity.

Source: Cape Fear Museum - Educator Crummell Howe MacDonald, who joined the fraternity in 1937, donated this program to the Cape Fear Museum.
Gift of Crummell Howe MacDonald - CFM 1983.034.0005