"History is a measurement of the past and an assurance of the future. If a man loses or forgets his history, he will become a fugitive of yesterday and tomorrow." This quote represents my philosophical foundation as a research archivist at the Maryland State Archives. By reclaiming 19th century narratives of black history along its Eastern Shore, it is my task to discover and confront conflicts while helping others in Maryland to do the same. But one such search revealed a grave mistake within our Fraternity history regarding one of our Founders, the Most Honorable Bishop Edgar Amos Love. The Dreer History Book, the international website, and most chapter websites have incorrectly listed Love's birthplace as Harrisburg, Virginia. He was actually born in Harrisonburg (See Figures 1 & 2). Harrisburg and Harrisonburg are two completely different towns in Virginia, roughly 130 miles apart.
Quality supersedes quantity in regards to historical knowledge. What we qualify as relevant versus irrelevant will forever be subjective. That is, it will shift from one brother to the next. But we must make active decisions about what is significant and what is not. Fraternity information must undergo a vetting process of sorts, both to reject mistruths and avoid saturation. "Betty Crocker," as it is known in certain circles, refers to the unproven, mythical "facts" that constitute the extend of some brothers' knowledge. Its domination of our discourse will only serve to fabricate folklore and render our true struggle artificial and obsolete. What's the candy bar of the Frat? I don't know, and it doesn't matter. How many miles did Col. Young walk, as opposed to ride, on his journey to Washington? Again, I don't know, and it doesn't matter. Where was Bishop Edgar Amos Love born? Well that I do know, and that matters.
The second point is an addendum to the first. We must ever strive to retrieve evidence to support our knowledge base. Indeed, there are some things about our Fraternity history - and black history for that matter - which have no record; and by no means do I disqualify the credibility of oral tradition and its central role in passing down our stores at a time when we had no other means or opportunity to do so. Moreover, written records can be manipulated, doctored, or even destroyed. Yet we have access to resources our ancestors didn't. We have public archives, We have integrated libraries. We have electronic databases. Countless Omega Men gave their lives in hopes that their posterity might take scholarship to a new level, not simply replicate it. Locating a document - a letter, a photograph, an Army Registration Card - only assists our efforts to maintain a rich history of Omega. Questioning the source, origin, or validity of another brother's information does not demonstrate a lack of faith. Instead, it shows that preserving our heritage is of utmost priority, and that no brother has the right to tarnish it.
As we celebrate our first century and head into the second, the moment is ripe that we have a precise, substantiated account of relevant facts. These facts in and of themselves do not compromise the entirety of historical knowledge, but function as the sine qua non, Latin meaning "without which there is none." Bro. Walter H Mazyck initiated this legacy, Bro. Herman Dreer continued it, and Bro. Robert L. Gill refined it. Yet our history is never finished. History, out of its nature and necessity, evolves. Not every line of their work is correct, and that's ok. We are because they were. It is our duty to ensure that when our Fraternity enters its third century we will have stood firmly on their shoulders and strengthened our own, with the expectation that future generations of Omega Men will assume the humble responsibility to do so as well.
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