Interment Ceremony for Alain Leroy Locke (PA & Hertford 1907)
In 2007, the Association of American Rhodes Scholars conceived and planned a symposium in conjunction with Howard University on the centenary of the election of Alain Leroy Locke as a Rhodes Scholar from Pennsylvania. We conducted archival research at Rhodes House, Oxford and at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University, which resulted in “Alain Locke at Oxford: Race and the Rhodes Scholarships,” The American Oxonian, Vol. XCIV, No. 2 (Spring 2007) by Jack C. Zoeller (NY & University 1972). Another unexpected outcome of the research was in learning that Locke’s cremated remains were still in the custody of the University.
From this discovery arose the commitment to arrange for a proper interment for this eminent American scholar. With the financial support from African-American Rhodes Scholars, we have purchased a burial plot at Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D.C. and commissioned a memorial headstone to honor our distinguished predecessor. The interment ceremony will occur onSaturday, September 13, 2014, and we attach an invitation for you to join us in honoring and finally laying to rest Alain Leroy Locke.