James E. Huger BORN: JANUARY 4, 1915 | INITIATED: ALPHA ZETA, MARCH 25, 1939 | OMEGA: OCTOBER 15, 2016
ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY OMEGA SERVICE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016 | 7:00 PM
STEWART MEMORIAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH | DAYTONA BEACH | FLORIDA
ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY, INC. DEVELOPS LEADERS, PROMOTES BROTHERHOOD AND ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE, WHILE PROVIDING SERVICE AND ADVOCACY FOR OUR COMMUNITIES.
Resolution Honoring and Transferring to Omega Chapter Brother James E. Huger Sr. WHEREAS:
Brother James E. Huger was born on Monday, the fourth of January, nineteen hundred fifteen; and
WHEREAS:
Brother Huger’s journey toward academic enlightenment took him to Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida where he graduated; and
WHEREAS:
Brother Huger was duly initiated into the House of Alpha on Saturday, the twenty-fifth of March, nineteen hundred thirty-nine at the Alpha Zeta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha seated at West Virginia State University and went on to become life member number seventy-two on Monday, the twenty-fourth of August, nineteen hundred fifty-seven; and
WHEREAS:
Brother Huger went on to show his commitment to serving the community by beginning his career at his alma mater and managing a United Negro College Fund campaign, serving as a Montford Pointe Marine for which President Obama presented him with the Congressional Medal of Honor and serving in leadership with several organizations; and
WHEREAS:
Brother Huger has been tremendously dedicated to Alpha Phi Alpha and shown unwavering commitment over his seventy years of service. He has remained involved and served as the executive director of the fraternity, and because of his work in two thousand nine the national office of the fraternity presented him with the highest honor bestowed, the Alpha Award of Merit; and
WHEREAS:
Our hearts are overjoyed with Brother James E. Huger’s accomplishments and how he has touched so many lives, remaining mission focused, promoting academic excellence, and providing service and advocacy to his community. It is because of brothers like him we are in fact the College of Friendship, the University of Brotherly Love, and the School for the Better Making of Men.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity transfers the membership of Brother James E. Huger to the higher realm of its Omega Chapter where he may stand in noble peace alongside our other dearly departed brothers. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I, Mark S. Tillman, general president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Constitution and ByLaws, have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand sixteen, and of the fraternity, the one hundred tenth anniversary year.
Mark S. Tillman General President ATTEST: William Douglass Lyle Executive Director/COO
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*Document created with excerpts from Daytona Times and Daytona Beach News Journal
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THE LIFE OF AN ALPHA LEGEND
ames E. “Jimmy” Huger Sr., Alpha Life Member 72, was initiated at Alpha Zeta Chapter at West Virginia State University on Saturday, March 25, 1939. He is among the last to have become an Alpha before World War II. Brother James Huger met three U.S. presidents, became one of the first black Marines during World War II, knew Brother Martin Luther King Jr., and became the first African American elected to a local government office in the Daytona Beach area. Brother Huger was born Monday, January 4, 1915, in Tampa, Fla. He and his brother were the sons of a Methodist minister who continually moved their family of four from town to town in Florida. When Brother Huger was 15 years old, his family first arrived in Daytona Beach. It was a time when many homes in the city had no running water, some roads were unpaved, and blacks were forced to live in a particular area. In spite of this modest upbringing, Brother Huger persevered. He credits two women for his success: his first employer, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, founder of the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute in 1904, which later became Bethune-Cookman College, and his beloved wife of 71 years, Phannye.
Brother Huger would go on to West Virginia State where he would earn a bachelor’s degree in business administration. While in West Virginia, Mary McLeod Bethune intervened in Brother Huger’s life by helping him obtain a position in the United States Department of War. Brother Huger held that job for only a few months when Bethune sent for him to come work for her at Bethune-Cookman College. “I told her I had just graduated from college. I didn’t know anything about running a college. But she said, ‘You will learn,’” Brother Huger recalled. He eventually became the business manager for the school. While working at Bethune-Cookman College (B-CC), Brother Huger was drafted into the Marine Corps in 1941.
He went on to become a Montford Point Marine and married Phannye Brinson, whom he met while he was a sophomore at B-CC while she was visiting B-CC to learn about the school. Mrs. Huger would not end up enrolling at B-CC, but as destiny would have it, they would meet later while he was living in West Virginia. She would go on to graduate from another college and be successful in her right, including being the first black principal at the former Mainland Seventh Grade Center. The two stayed married for 67 years until her death in March of 2009. Brother Huger was asked to run the United Negro College Fund campaign for Mrs. Bethune who no longer wished to travel. After this assignment with the UNCF, Bethune persuaded Brother Huger to return to the college to work full time. She had just appointed Dr. Richard V. Moore to take over for her as president of the institution. Brother Huger said had it not been for Dr. Richard V. Moore and Mary McLeod Bethune, he would not have been able to attend the University of Michigan to earn his graduate degree. WITNESSING CIVIL RIGHTS HISTORY Brother Huger served as Alpha Phi Alpha’s general secretary when he first learned about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who was a member of the fraternity before he became famous. From 1952-1957, Brother Huger served as general secretary, now known as the executive director, becoming the second official to head operations at the former Alpha Phi Alpha General Office in Chicago, Ill. He oversaw the 50th-anniversary convention for the fraternity in Buffalo, New York. He said in 2015 that he secured the post after being recommended by Past General President Belford V. Lawson, who also arranged for Brother Huger to take a temporary leave of absence from his job in Florida at the time.
Brother Huger with 26th General President Ozell Sutton, Executive Director W. Douglass Lyle, and Acting General President Aaron Crutison Sr.
March 20, 1956, Brother Huger (l) and Lewis O. Swingler (m), southern regional vice president, presents a check to Brother Martin Luther King as they arrived for Brother King’s trial.
One of Brother Huger’s greatest honors was serving the fraternity and the role he played in helping King when he was arrested in Alabama for supporting civil rights icon Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man.
WINNING A HISTORIC ELECTION Before he made any major decisions, Brother Huger said he always talked to his wife, Phannye. When he was asked to run for city commission, he was hesitant to do so. Many thought it would be impossible to win.
Brother Huger said he and several of his Alpha brothers went to Montgomery for Brother King’s trial and was shocked at the treatment of Brother King by his attorney who referred to him as “that boy.’’
Brother Huger would end up winning, becoming the city’s first black elected official. He represented the City of Daytona Beach as a commissioner from 1965 to 1971.
“We were ready to walk out. [Brother King] was watching us. [Brother King] said, ‘Cool it. This too shall pass,’” Brother Huger recalled. DESEGREGATING PEABODY Before leaving Montgomery, the fraternity, with Brother Huger presenting the check, gave Brother King and his supporters $5,000, which is over $44,000 in today’s dollars. In later years, Brother Huger would work with King to help fight discrimination in St. Augustine and integrate Peabody Auditorium.
He was also the first black person to serve on the Volusia County Council, holding office from 1973 to 1978 and serving as chairman in 1975 and 1978.
“I LIVED THROUGH VERY HARD DAYS WHEN WE PEOPLE OF COLOR WERE CONSIDERED FAR LESS. WE WERE NOT GIVEN A CHANCE AT ANYTHING.”
“I was with him when he started his journey and with him at the end of his journey,” said Brother Huger, who signed King’s certificate when he became a member of the fraternity. Brother Huger often reflected on Daytona Beach and Florida and the segregation in the 1950s and 1960s. He wanted to go to the University of Florida, but at the time blacks were not allowed to attend the state school. Perhaps this is what prompted him to return to Daytona Beach and his decision to run for an elected office in 1965. “I was born and raised in the South. I knew about lynching, and I knew about being called a nigger,” he said.
-JAMES E. HUGER
In 2009, Brother Huger was awarded the Alpha Award of Merit, the fraternity’s highest honor bestowed upon a member of the organization. In 2012, he became the recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal for serving with valor as one of the first black Marines, even as Brother Huger and his fellow Marines were subjected to discrimination. The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian honor bestowed by the United States Congress. Brother Huger lived an amazing life. He was a family man, a fraternity man, a powerful community advocate, and an activist for civil rights.
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Organ Prelude Procession of Officers and Alpha Phi Alpha Members Musical Selection THE OMEGA SERVICE RITE THE LITURGIST I am the resurrection and the life saith the Lord He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. INVOCATION O Master Eternal, give to each of us The deep consciousness of Thy presence That the spirit of fraternity may so Direct our thoughts, guide and control Our hearts and lives, that we may become Through Thee, servants of all mankind. AMEN SING THE FIRST VERSE OF THE ALPHA HYMN WITH CHORUS. SCRIPTURE LESSON And God said, let there be light, and there was light And God saw the light that it was good. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God And the Word was God. In Him was the life and light of men. Then spoke Jesus again unto them saying: I am the Light of the world. He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, But shall have the light of life. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness Hath shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge Of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ. Ye are the light of the world; Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. I am ALPHA and OMEGA, the beginning and the end saith the Lord, Which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. AMEN LITANY FOR THE DEAD L. O Father of life and Giver of light, look with favor upon Thy creatures here assembled; R. AND GRANT US THY BLESSING. L. O, Thou, who hast led man through the ages of his existence upon the earth by Thy Spirit R. GRANT US THY CONTINUED GUIDANCE. L. Thou who dost generate love and goodness in hearts and the desire for fellowship one with the other in life’s living: R. INCREASE THY SPIRIT IN US. L. Thou who hast called our brother from his task to the reward of noble thought and deed: R. DEEPEN OUR MEMORY OF HIM. L. Thou who are the light of the new heaven, the new earth, the new Jerusalem, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of all creation, R. GRANT A FINAL RESTING PLACE WITH THEE TO ALL WHOM THOU HAST CALLED AND FINALLY OURSELVES. AMEN
Brother Huger with 29th General President Milton C. Davis (l), 28th General President Henry Ponder, Acting General President Aaron Crutison Sr., and 31st General President Harry E. Johnson, Sr.
Brother Huger with Florida District Director Matthew Bradford (l), Brother James Huger Jr., 34th General President Mark S. Tillman, and Executive Director William Douglass Lyle.
Words of Tribute Musical Selection Words of Tribute THE OMEGA CHAPTER HYMN (Sung to the tune of the Alpha Hymn) Alpha brothers, gather ‘round And make our praise resound Of this brother, whose labors now are crowned. His good deeds, heaven blest Commend them through each test To OMEGA our chapter of sweet rest. (chorus) Farewell, dear brother, transcendent are thou, Thy spirit shall dwell with us now. We cherish thy mem’ry, thy good name we’ll revere To thy glory, thy honor, BROTHER, dear. BENEDICTION AND BLESSING The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ Be with your spirit, brother. And now, may the Peace of God, Which passeth all understanding, Keep your hearts and minds in the Knowledge and love of God, And of His Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord: And may the blessing of God Almighty, The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Be amongst you, and remain with you always. AMEN SING THE FIRST VERSE AND CHORUS OF THE ALPHA HYMN Closing Remarks Recession of Officers and Family
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Farewell, dear brother, transcendent are thou...
"WE WILL CONTINUE TO TELL OUR STORY, AND BROTHER HUGER’S STORY, THROUGH THE DEEDS AND COMMITMENTS THAT REACH BEYOND THE WALLS OF THIS FRATERNITY. FAREWELL, DEAR BROTHER." -MARK S. TILLMAN, GENERAL PRESIDENT
Brother James E. Huger ALPHA ZETA 1939 | OMEGA 2016