Theta Brother Spotlight: Dr. Roscoe C. Giles, Sr.

Dr. Roscoe C. Giles, Sr. was an accomplished physician, surgeon and influential member of both Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Theta Chapter and the City of Chicago.

Giles was originally from Albany, New York. His father, Francis Giles, was both a minister and a lawyer. He was an outstanding student early in his academic career, winning the B.B. Christ medal and a scholarship to Cornel University. He was a literature major and had an eye towards medicine. He graduated from Cornel in 1911, and was the first African-American to gain admittance into the medical school at Cornel.

Giles was initiated into the Alpha Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha on October 26, 1907. As a member of Alpha Chapter, he served as president of the chapter, and later would be elected the second general president of the fraternity. It was Giles, ironically, how approved the application for the creation of Theta Chapter. Later, he would become a member and president of Theta Chapter, along with being a charter member of Xi Lambda Chapter in Chicago.

Upon his graduation from Cornel, he relocated to Chicago and was accepted on staff at Provident Hospital where we worked under distinguished physicians such as Daniel Hale Williams, George Cleveland Hall (Theta), Ulysses G. Dailey (Theta), and C.G. Roberts.

In 1917, Giles was appointed Supervisor of the Chicago Health Department by then Chicago mayor William Hale Thompson. Following the 1919 race riots in Chicago, Giles was appointed by then Illinois governor Frank Lowden to a 12 person panel (6 white, 6 black) to study the impact on race relations in Illinois.

He remained a popular and important figure in Chicago. In addition to his duties at Provident Hospital, he maintained a private practice until his death. He was known to be a welcoming and personable individual, who deeply cared about the well being of not only his patients, but of any he could assist.

Giles married the former Frances Reeder and together they had three children: Roscoe C. Giles I (who died as a child), Oscar DePriest Giles, and Roscoe C. Giles II.

Giles entered Omega Chapter on February 19, 1970.