On The 62nd Anniversary Of His Passing, Charter Member Bro. Dr. Rozier E. Bland’s Prized Artifact Finds Its Forever Home In The Alpha Rho Chapter Archival Collection At AUC Woodruff Library
Updated: 22 minutes ago
After 26 years in his care, Intrepid 25’s Bro. Ahuacan D. DeGruy entrusts the treasured history book to AUC Woodruff Library, ahead of the collection’s 2027 grand opening.
APCAA Staff
Atlanta, GA, October 15, 2026 – Sixty-two years ago today, on October 15, 1964, Alpha Rho Chapter Charter Member Bro. Dr. Rozier Earl Bland passed on. Today, a prized artifact from his life has a permanent home, thanks to a brother who spent over 25 years making sure it was never lost.
Bro. Ahuacan D. DeGruy, the tail of Alpha Rho’s Spring 1999 line the Intrepid 25, has completed a brilliant legacy relay. He has selected the Alpha Rho Chapter Archival Collection at AUC Woodruff Library as the forever home for Bro. Bland's signed history book, which was acquired by DeGruy more than two and a half decades ago. He kept it in his personal care, showed it to brothers who visited his home, and most recently shared it with his son Bro. Jaden DeGruy, who crossed the burning sands himself at George Washington University's Nu Beta Chapter in the fall of 2025.
DeGruy’s devotion to the chapter’s legacy began during his undergraduate years, when he served as Alpha Rho’s chapter historian. He has long championed the archival acquisition strategy for both Alpha Rho Chapter and Alpha Phi Alpha history at large.
“This historical find has always been near and dear to me," he shared. As Chapter Historian, I remember researching our Chapter’s Charter Members, incessantly poring over the files housed in the Office of Alumni Relations. I wanted to ensure that, for future Alpha Rho Brothers, our 13 Charter Members weren’t simply names we memorized, but real people with real stories — Morehouse Men, our prophytes, who laid the foundation upon which we proudly stand today."
Remembering Captain Bland
A 1925 graduate of Morehouse College and Meharry Medical College, Captain Bland built a remarkable record in his profession. He left many connections in Memphis, Tennessee to serve his country in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He later maintained a wide practice across the tri-state area and headed the city-controlled Wellington Clinic.
Bro. Bland was a former president of the Bluff City Medical Society and chairman of the insurance section of the National Medical Association. He was initiated into the fraternity by Atlanta’s Eta Lambda Chapter as a Morehouse undergraduate and held membership in Nashville’s Chi Chapter and Memphis’s Alpha Delta Lambda Chapter. He is interred at Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.
A Campaign Built on Trust
DeGruy’s priceless gift is the latest result of a campaign launched in 2023 by the Alpha Rho Chapter Alumni Association (APCAA).
“Bro. DeGruy has been a believer in this work from the very beginning,” said APCAA President and Archives Collection Founder Bro. BMaynard Scarborough (Fall 1980). “For this campaign to succeed, brothers had to trust us with the things they have treasured for decades. That this book arrives on the anniversary of Bro. Bland’s passing makes the moment even more meaningful. When a keeper of it for 26 years says this collection is where it belongs, that is the highest endorsement we could receive.”
Engagement with APCAA’s 851-member organization has also brought in artifacts tied to other charter members: Bros. Fr. Henry James Charles Bowden, Charles Johnson Dunn, and Cassander Woodliff Sellers. The collection also holds items related to Fraternity Jewel Henry Arthur Callis, former Morehouse College presidents Bro. Dr. John Hope, Bro. Dr. Hugh Morris Gloster, and Bro. Wiley Abron Perdue, and Omega Psi Phi’s Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays.
The initiative has made the Morehouse-affiliated brotherhood the first and most recognized chapter-specific association to establish an international research center-led partnership.
View from the Donor's Level
Reflecting on the impact his donation has made to the mission of the association, DeGruy added that "It's with great pride (and relief) that this precious historical artifact now has a home where all Alpha Brothers, future Brothers, and the general public can view and appreciate this remarkable piece of Alpha Rho Chapter history.”
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