1906 The first black fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc., was founded at Cornell University, in Ithaca, N.Y.as a social studies club for African-American males. The group was established to fill a void of social and cultural interaction on the Ivy League campus. On December 4th of the year 1906, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity was founded by seven of the original members of the social studies club.

1935 Cornell University's first African-American football player was Jerome (Brud) Holland '39. Two years after stepping foot onto the Big Red football field, Holland was named an All-American at the end position in 1937. He was just one of five black players to be named All-America in the first half of the century. He was the second-leading votegetter for the team, a remarkable achievement considering many southern newspapers would not run his photo with the other 10 for fear of offending their readership. Holland, a native of Auburn, N.Y., became one of the nation's most distinguished educators in the 1960s as the president of the Hampton Institute in Virginia. In 1970, he was appointed the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden. Holland was inducted into the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame and was presented the organization's highest recognition - the Distinguished American Award.

1946 Paul Robeson, Jr., who became just the second first-team Heps African-American athlete in 1945, won the IC4A Indoor High Jump Championship.

1952 Meredith Gourdine '52, who had won IC4A titles in both the long jump and the 220-yard dash for the Big Red, took the silver medal in the long jump with a leap of 24-7 1/4 at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.

1957 Irvin (Bo) Roberson '58, perhaps the greatest pure athlete in Cornell history, was a halfback in football, a pivotman in basketball and a sprinter/low hurdler in track. In 1957 he became the first African-American to be named the Heptagonal Games Indoor Track Athlete of the Meet. He went on to win the silver medal at the 1960 Olympic Games, and he broke Jesse Owens' 25-year-old world indoor record in the broad (long) jump with his 25'9" effort at the 1960 Nationall AAU Track and Field Championships. Following the '60 Games, he began a six-year pro football career: San Diego Chargers (1961), Oakland Raiders (1962-65), Buffalo Bills (1965) and Miami Dolphins (1966). He was named the Raiders' MVP in 1962, led the league in kickoff returns in 1964, and was the leading receiver for the Bills' AFL championship in 1965. Bo was part of the Black Renaissance in pro football, the emergence of African-American players, according to Al Davis, former head coach and then owner of the Raiders. After pro football, he obtained his doctorate degree in psychology.

1961 Former Cornell football standout Sam Pierce argued before the Supreme Court as part of the legal team defending Rev. Martin Luther King, other black ministers and the New York Times in a groundbreaking dispute. Sullivan v. New York Times initiated because of a political advertisement that offended Southern office holders. The case would result in establishing limitations on the use of defamation suits. Pierce authored a number of firsts, including being one of the first African-Americans to play football against the Naval Academy. Pierce -- the first black partner of a major New York City law firm -- was the first black member of the board of directors of a Fortune 500 corporation ••• When Kip Keino, a policeman back in his native Kenya, defeated Jim Ryun in the 1,500-meter run at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, it spawned a revolution which is in evidence at every Olympics, World Championship or major marathon. But Stephen Misati Machooka didn't follow, he led. And the distance runners in the Ivy League had watched a graceful and effortless Kenyan runner long before Keino's revolution. In the fall of 1960, he became the first Kenyan distance runner to take on the United States. And he did so in dramatic style, winning the Heps freshman cross country race by a wide margin. Machooka continued to cause a stir in the spring of his freshman year by wiping out the school's mile record and shaving seconds off the bests of the legendary John Paul Jones, who had set Cornell's record in 1914. Machooka ran a 4:10.8 on a rain-drenched track to beat Jones' longstanding mark by nearly four seconds. That time was close to the Kenyan record, as Keino would establish the mark of 4:07.0 at the Commonwealth Games in 1962. He was even better the following fall as he won six straight races -- including setting a Franklin Park record in Boston -- heading into the Heptagonal Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in New York City. The windy, 50-degree weather did not affect Machooka at all, as he led all the way, finishing the hilly course in 25:38.3, about 100 yards ahead of the next runner. With that performance he became the first black athlete to earn first-team All-Ivy status in cross country as the Big Red claimed a surprising team victory. At the IC4A Championships a few weeks later, he won by about 60 yards in the worst conditions in meet history. Despite the freezing sleet and snow, Machooka won while wearing a blue woolen hat with ear flaps, socks on his hands and no shoes. When asked about the socks on his hands, he told reporters, "I didn't have any gloves." The story of Machooka was now getting a lot of attention. His appearance was less than usual and he had rare ability. He appeared on the cover of Track & Field News and was detailed and pictured in several stories in the New York Times.

1966 Gregg Morris poured in 37 points in 92-77 win over Kentucky and Adolph Rupp on Dec. 28, 1966, before a sellout crowd at Lexington's Memorial Coliseum. Making 16-of-21 shots from the field, Morris also hauled in 11 boards as the Big Red poured in 53 second-half points. Kentucky had opened the season ranked third nationally. Another African-American, Walt Esdaile, added 18 points and 14 rebounds. Later that season, Morris became the first black men's basketball player to be tabbed first-team All-Ivy League. A year later, Morris would become the first African-American from the Ivy League chosen in the NBA Draft when the Baltimore Bullets selected him in the 16th round.

1972 Jerome (Brud) Holland became the first African-American to receive the Theodore Roosevelt Award, given by the NCAA 'to honor a distinguished citizen of national reputation and outstanding accomplishment who earned a varsity athletic award in college and has demonstrated a continuing interest in physical fitness and intercollegiate sports.'

1974 The Ivy basketball season began with three black head coaches with Tom Sanders at Harvard, Ben Bluitt at Cornell and Marcus Jackson at Dartmouth. Of the more than 200 major college programs at the time, fewer than 10 had African-American head coaches.

1975 Brian Dawson became a first-team All-Ivy gymnast for the third time as the Big Red won its eighth of 10 straight Ivy League titles. Men's gymnastics was discontinued as an Ivy sport in 1982 and women's gymnastics suffered the same fate in 1990.

1977 Barry Robinson, the captain of the Cornell sprint football team, was a third-generation athlete for the Big Red. His grandfather Aubrey was a runner at Cornell in 1920 while his father Charlie played football and an uncle, Aubrey Jr., ran track.

1978 Running back Joe Holland '78, the son of Brud Holland, became the first African-American to rush for 1,000 yards in an Ivy season and the second player ever after Ed Marinaro.

1981 Derrick Harmon became the first African-American to be named the Ivy League Football Rookie of the Year.

1982 Field hockey player Shea Maultsby became the first African-American to be named first-team All-Ivy League in that sport.

1983 Rhonda Anderson '83 set the Cornell women's basketball career scoring record (1,105 points), and overall, she set 19 school scoring and rebounding records. She was the first black woman selected to first-team All-Ivy. She also became the University's first female athlete to be named the Cornell Daily Sun Senior Athlete of the Year. She was runner-up for Ivy Player of the Year in 1983.

1985 Ken Bantum averages more than 20 points a game in Ivy play as he becomes the only Big Red to win League Player of the Year status in men's basketball. After the season Bantum was a seventh-round pick of the New York Knicks.

1999 The Ivy League celebrated its 25th year of women's championships during the 1998-99 academic year. In honor of the many women who have excelled in their sport, the League announced its Silver Anniversary Honor Roll. Twelve African-American women were named to the list. From Cornell was basketball standout Rhonda Anderson '83.

2002 Keith Ferguson broke the school career receiving records at Cornell by wide margins, finishing his career with more than 200 receptions. Ferguson, who grew up in Washington, D.C., played in an inner-city program that was featured on HBO's Real Sports in 2002 ••• Cornell graduate Melinda Vaughn became the head coach of Howard's women's lacrosse team, the only team sponsored intercollegiately by a historically black university.

2005 When Tamara John found out she had won the Dwight Mosley Scholarship from the United States Tennis Association, she was driving to practice. In her excitement, she nearly crashed. She was hoping for a scholarship to pay for her books at Cornell, but wound up with one of the organization's most prestigious awards, a $10,000 scholarship given to one male and one female of ethnic backgrounds who have demonstrated academic and tennis excellence throughout high school. The award is named for Dwight A. Mosley, the first African American appointed to the USTA Board (1993-94). ••• It was a big year for Cornell volleyball coach Deitre Collins, who was named one of the six best volleyball players of the past 25 years by the NCAA for her stellar play at Hawaii. She capped the year by helping Cornell to its second straight Ivy League crown and taking the Big Red, which lost to Yale in a playoff the year beforehand, to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1993. ••• In a fine year for Ivy football, few players shone brighter than Cornell offensive tackle Kevin Boothe, of Plantation, Fla., considered a likely second- or third-round selection in the 2006 NFL draft, was named second-team All-America by the American Football Coaches Association. Boothe was also selected for the 2006 East-West Shrine Game.