Page 25 - Hampton-Newport News (VA) Alumni Chapter 75th Charter Day Celebration

Lest We Forget

A SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO

DR. JAMES BAKER ABRAM, JR.

A KEY CONTRIBUTOR TO OUR LEGACY OF ACHIEVEMENT

21 Chapter Polemarch
st
Alpha Pi ‘56

Brother Abram was a member of the Eastern Province Board of Directors when he arrived in
Hampton in 1970. His extraordinary intellect and fraternal vision led to him being elected Chapter
Polemarch on June 3, 1972. His election germinated a Kappa Renaissance on the Virginia Peninsula.
His vision led to the beginning of joint founders’ day celebrations, the establishment of the Hampton
Alumni Chorale and the chartering of one of the first Kappa League chapters in the country. He
presented the charter to the Hampton Alumni Kappa League on May 15, 1974 while serving as
chairman of the National Guide Right Committee.

Abe’s tenure as Chapter Polemarch ended on June 7, 1975. He was appointed to serve as Eastern
Province Polemarch on July 1, 1975. As Eastern Province Polemarch he established the William Henry
Greene Award, the William Thomas Carter Award, the I. W. E. Taylor Award and the coveted Pillar of
the Province Award; the highest individual award presented by the Eastern Province. He later served
on the Grand Board of Directors, and as Sr. Grand Vice Polemarch. At the 73 Grand Chapter
rd
th
Meeting, Grand Polemarch Ronald Young presented Abe with the 55 Elder W. Diggs Award. Grand
Polemarch Young was Polemarch of the Beta Chi Chapter at Hampton University when Brother Abram
took over as their advisor in the Fall of 1970. Abe entered Chapter Invisible on September 26, 2000.