On Nov. 17, 1911 at Howard University in Washington, DC the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. was established. It was founded by three undergraduates and their facility adviser.

Classmates Edgar A. Love, studying for the ministry, Oscar J. Cooper, taking pre-med courses, and Frank Coleman, studying science, worked closely with Ernest E. Just, a professor of biology, to catalyze this idea. The fraternity came to Boston when Edgar Love graduated from Howard and matriculated at Boston University’s School of Theology. While at BU, he founded the Gamma Chapter in 1916, the third chapter in the organization, serving students enrolled in all colleges in the greater Boston area.

Edgar would be our very first international Grand Basileus (national president). He was elected Bishop in the Methodist Church in 1952 and received an honorary doctorate from Boston University in 1956.

Many Omega men have spent time on the Vineyard in various capacities over the decades. I begin with Herbert Tucker whose aunt owned a cottage in the Camp Grounds and had it relocated to Gorham avenue in Oak Bluffs. Herbie would become the caretaker for his aunt who had no children and would eventually inherit the property. After law school and a growing practice, he would be appointed a traveling judge covering Cape Cod and the Islands. He would eventually be appointed the presiding judge of the Dukes County District Court, sitting in Edgartown.

His interests and contributions are wide and varied. Brother Tucker, through his leadership in the NAACP, led the fight to finally integrate the Boston Red Sox, the last team in the majors to sign a Black professional. He was appointed by President John F. Kennedy as ambassador to the Republic of Gabon. His many gifts were recognized by his fraternity when he was elevated to the position of international Grand Basileus, serving from 1955 to 1958.

Herbie and wife Mary Hill Tucker were also active members in Grace Episcopal Church in Vineyard Haven. It was in this context that he met another distinguished member of the fraternity, Bishop John Burgess. Burgess was educated at the University of Michigan and received his master’s degree from the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge. In 1969 he became the 12th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. This election made him the very first African American diocesan bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States.

The Burgess family moved to Martha’s Vineyard permanently in 1989 and worshiped with the Tuckers at Grace Episcopal Church in Vineyard Haven. In addition to sharing the same faith and the same fraternity both had been involved in the civil rights movement. The Tuckers initiated a church drive to honor Bishop Burgess by having a stained glass window with a likeness of the Bishop installed in the church. As the project was discussed among the congregation it was decided to add another window in honor of Father Absalom Jones, the first African American ordained Episcopal priest. The windows commemorating these two historical figures were installed in 1999.

The third Omega giant from the Vineyard was Vernon Jordan. Civil rights activist, Washington and New York power broker in law, politics and in business. Brother Jordan came to the Vineyard every August for three decades. He was most visible in the 1990’s when he joined President Clinton and his family as they too summered on the Island. Jordan loved his privacy while he relaxed, played golf daily, enjoyed his cigars and ate lobsters. He typically rented a cottage in Chilmark, could be seen at Union Chapel on Sundays and occasional private dinners and cocktail parties. And he celebrated his birthday every summer on the Island. In particular, many will remember his 80th birthday celebration in 2015, as the Obamas and the Clintons headlined a bevy of the famous and not so famous on the Farm Neck grounds.

It was seeing Brother Jordan driving a golf cart with Bill Clinton and seemingly having the time of his life that inspired many African Americans to trek to the Vineyard to feel what was in the air and the water. On a list of events and people helping to portray actually and symbolically the Vineyard as hospitable to Blacks, Jordan is at the top of the list.

In 2016, a new science wing at the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School was named for Brother Jordan. The project was funded by a gift from his longtime friend Robert Day, an Edgartown summer resident. At the ribbon cutting Jordan said: “I am 81 years old and have 80 honorary degrees, but this science center named for me thanks to my friend Robert Day means as much to me as any one of those honorary degrees, or all of them combined.”

Over the years many other men of Omega have come to the Vineyard. Some brothers, such as Richard Bayne, had grandparents who purchased cottages as far back as 1934 in the Highlands.

Internationally acclaimed lyric tenor and composer Brother Roland Hayes summered at Shearer Cottage and collaborated with singer and composer Harry Burleigh.

Bobby Jennings, Richard Walker and Lance Slaughter were among a cohort of Omega’s whose parents bought cottages in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Consequently, they grew up spending summers working in various restaurants and business establishments in Oak Bluffs. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, a large number of Boston-area brothers led by David Van Allen, the Basileus of Gamma Chapter in 1955, made a pact to continue their fellowship on the Vineyard. Bill Lytle, Mac Davis, Wayne Budd, Lloyd Bell, Dave Edmonds, Joe Hurd, Vincent Frye, Bill Ravennel and Ray Smith were among this group.

The second wave of brothers purchasing cottages during that period included Ed Redd, Frank Redd, Donald Williams, Milton Britton, Leon Wilson and Bud Moseley.

Brothers like Leo Frame, a Fisk University graduate, lived full time on the Vineyard and taught in the public school system.

Over the years former Grand Basileus George Grace and First District Representatives Ed Arrington, Vaughn Willis, Mike Jefferson, Lennitt Bligen and Ray Jones have established a visible presence on the Island. During the most recent years the Island has been graced by the presence of our current Grand Basileus, Ricky Lewis from California participating in the Divine Nine Charles Ogletree Public Forums.

Today, there are brothers who continue the traditions of service, uplift and community here on the Island. They include Bobby Jennings is a long time trustee at Union Chapel; Ed Redd and Hansel Tookes are Polar Bear stalwarts; Steve Capers manages The Strand Theatre; Colin Redd founded Vineyard Legacy; Rodney Sampson is on the board of the Tabernacle; A.J. Calloway owns the Chowder House; Fred Lowery hosts the Ernest E. Just porch gathering every August; Larry Jones is very active with the Martha’s Vineyard African American Heritage Trail; and Calvin Butts from East Chop Capitol.

Our founder Dr. Just did research and performed experiments at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole from 1909 to 1941 the year of his death. Professor Just and Roland Haynes won the coveted Spingarn Medal from the NAACP.

On a personal note, I joined Gamma Chapter in 1968 during my days at Boston University. My service at the Union Chapel Educational and Cultural Institute, sponsoring the Charles Ogletree Public Forums and as president Eemeritus of Union Chapter, represent a major part of my community service which is a hallmark of our great fraternity.

May our memories of Brothers Herbie Tucker, Bishop John Burgess and Vernon Jordan inspire all who read this column and become familiar with their remarkable lives achieving professional excellence but also moving the nation toward a more perfect union.

Paradise on earth is living the Vineyard experience. Enjoy it as life is fleeting. Randall Edward Taylor, Rest in Peace!

Happy Thanksgiving to all and Happy Birthday Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.!