Source: IHQ 1922 Iota Chapter Membership Report
Julian B. Wilkins (Iota 1942): Attorney
Source: University of Chicago Photo Archive Interfraternity Council (IFC) Sing 1949 Iota, Alpha Rho and Theta Chapters performing
Son of the 13 th Grand Polemarch J. Ernest Wilkins Sr. and younger sibling of Brother J. Ernest Wilkins Jr., Wilkins graduated at age 17 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1944 and from Harvard Law School in 1949. He was the first general counsel and one of the original board member of Chicago’s Seaway National Bank. He was a partner with his father and brother John comprising the law firm of Wilkins, Wilkins and Wilkins and subsequently became the first African American law partner at a major Chicago law firm, Jenner and Block.
His daughter, Carolyn, wrote a 2010 book entitled “Damn Near White: An African American Family’s Rise from Slavery to Bittersweet Success” (University of Missouri Press) which is a historical memoir of the Wilkins family and the impact of race and skin color in America. Brother Wilkins entered the Chapter Invisible in 1984.
Dr. Laval S. Wilson (Iota 1956): School System Administrator, Educator
Wilson earned a B.A. degree in education from the Chicago Teachers College, a master’s degree from the University of Chicago and his Ph.D. from Northwestern University. He has had a long and distinguished career as an educator and administrator in public schools across the nation. He worked as a superintendent of school systems in East Orange, NJ; Poughkeepsie, NY; Newburgh, NY; Boston, MA; Rochester, NY; Berkeley, CA; and Hempstead, NY. In 1985, he became city of Boston’s first African American superintendent of schools.
Source: University of Chicago Photo Archive Iota Chapter charter line member Brother G. Cecil Lewis (1918). Below: Source: IHQ 1922 Iota Chapter Annual Report.
Source: The Story of Kappa Alpha Psi ® , Iota Chapter 1919. Bottom row from left: Henry O. Slaughter, Irvin C. Mollison, G. Cecil Lewis, William J. Beatty. Middle row L-R: J. Ernest Wilkins Sr., James W. Allen, Wendell E. Green Top row from left: Robert L. Lightfoot, Buford Gordon and Joseph L. O’Neal.
It is important for all of us to appreciate where we come from and how that history has really shaped us in ways we might not understand. –Justice Sonia Sotomayor “
Source: University of Chicago Magazine (1950). Recording album of UChicago school songs recorded by the Iota Chapter.
72 | WINTER ISSUE THE JOURNAL
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
THE JOURNAL WINTER ISSUE | 73
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