Proclamation. He was a contributing attorney in the land- mark 1940 US Supreme Court case of Hansberry vs Lee.
History of the University of Chicago Chapter, The Iota of Kappa Alpha Psi ® Distinguished Members Truman Kella Gibson Jr. (Iota 1930) Attorney, Aide to President Harry S. Truman, Undergraduate Grand Board of Director, Boxing Impresario The Harry S. Truman Library and Museum cited Brother Truman Gibson for working “behind the scenes to end segregation in the armed forces.” B orn in 1912 in Atlanta, Georgia, Brother Truman K. Gibson Jr. grew up in Columbus, Ohio. He was the son of the founder of a company that impacted Af- rican American life in the 20th century and in some ways, was intertwined with the history of Kappa Alpha Psi; the Supreme Life Insurance Company. He earned bachelor’s and
Gibson’s principal achievement in the civil rights movement of the 20th century was his efforts to fight discrimination in the United States Army as an advisor to the War Department. He was chief adviser on racial affairs to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson from 1943 to 1945. He continually pressured the Army to use African American troops in combat and investigated complaints from African American soldiers facing indignities and sometimes violence during their training. “It was complete, absolute segregation,” Gibson told The Columbus Dispatch, in Ohio, in 2002. “The training facilities were in the South. The attitude was that Southern officers understood ‘those people.’ White bus drivers in military towns were deputized and armed. That was their approach to handling Southern black soldiers. I tried to put
Dr. George Cecil Lewis Physician, past Grand Board of Director, past Province Polemarch D r. Lewis was a three-sport athlete at University of Chicago and graduated with honors in 1919
Nelson M. Willis, Esq. Attorney, Past Province Polemarch A graduate of Mississippi’s Tougaloo Southern Christian College (now Tougaloo College), Willis, in 1918, became the first African American to
from University of Chicago’s Rush College of Medicine. He was the second Polemarch of the Iota Chapter. He was an early member of the Springfield (IL) Alumni Chapter and was national chairman of the fraternity’s Commission on Inter-Racial Cooperation. In 1952-53, he served as a Grand Board Director in the administration of the 15 th Grand Polemarch William H. “Stud” Greene. Professionally, Dr. Lewis practiced medicine for over 25 years in Peoria, IL and later, in Danville, IL. Dr. Lewis served on the Board of Directors of St. Elizabeth Hospital of Danville (IL), Homer G. Phillips Alumni Association as well as the National Medical Association. In February 1954, Grand Polemarch Greene appointed him as Polemarch of the North Central Province unfortunately Dr. Lewis transitioned to Chapter Invisible in September of that year.
earn an L.L.B. degree from the University of Chicago Law School. He served as Iota Chapter’s first Polemarch. He was also a charter member of the Louisville (KY) Alumni Chapter and its first Polemarch. In 1926, the Fifth Grand Polemarch Earl B. Dickerson appointed him as the first Polemarch of the original Southern Province, now known as the South Central Province, serving from 1926 to 1929 and again from 1931 to 1932. He was an attorney first based in Louisville, KY and later in Chicago, IL. In the early 1950s, he was the president of the Chicago branch of the National Association of Colored People (NAACP) and the Cook County Bar Association. In 1959, he was appointed prosecuting attorney for Lake County, MI. Affiliated with both Chicago (IL) Alumni and Louisville (KY) Alumni Chapters, Brother Willis entered the Chapter Invisible in 1967. NOTE: 1. Photo of Judge Wendell Green is from the December 1953 issue of the Kappa Alpha Psi Journal 2. Photo of Nelson Willis is from the October 1923 issue of the Kappa Alpha Psi Journal 3. Photos of the other Iota Chapter charter line members are documented in the Bibliography document
law degrees from the University of Chicago in 1932 and 1935, respectively. While an undergraduate student, he served in the administration of the eighth Grand Polemarch Dr. J. Je- rome Peters as an un- dergraduate represen- tative on the Grand Board of the Direc- tors. He worked brief- ly in the 1930s as the advertising manager for the Kappa Alpha Psi Journal. Post- graduation, Gibson set up a private legal practice and was in- strumental in organiz- ing the 1940 American Negro Exposition held in Chicago marking the 75th anniversary of the Emancipation
out fires. We were dealing with the killing of black troops.”
In December 1946, President Harry S. Truman picked Gibson to join a nine-member civilian commission studying the future of universal military training as the panel’s only African American member. The commission issued its report urging an end to segregation in the military. In 1948, President Truman issued an executive order that led to desegregation of the armed forces. In recognition of his efforts, Gibson earned the Presidential Medal of Merit, the first African American bestowed this achievement. Gibson shifted from the world of Washington, DC politics to the sport of boxing when he became the lawyer for former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis. The two met during their respective military service during WWII. He worked with the heavyweight champion to solve Louis’ income tax woes with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This association with the Brown Bomber led to Gibson’s transition into the boxing business. He became secretary
56 | WINTER ISSUE THE JOURNAL
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
THE JOURNAL WINTER ISSUE | 57
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