Huel Davis Perkins, a distinguished composer, pianist, professor, administrator, and orator, was born on December 27, 1924, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. From 1943 to 1946, Perkins served in the U.S. Navy as a Musician First Class. After being honorably discharged, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern University in Baton Rouge in 1947, where he became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. In 1948, he married Thelma O. Smith, and they parented a son, Huel Alfred Perkins.
Perkins received a Master of Arts in music from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois in 1951. He then obtained his Ph.D. from Northwestern in 1958. Perkins began his teaching career as an associate professor of music at Southern University, where he taught until 1960. From 1968 to 1978, Perkins served as the Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at Southern University. During this period, he composed the lyrics and music for the “National Alpha Phi Alpha Sweetheart Song” in G Major, which was completed in 1974.
From 1979 to 1990, Perkins worked at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where he held several positions: Professor of Humanities, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and Executive Assistant to the Chancellor. In 1996, he was appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton to the Board of Advisors of the J.W. Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Program, a position he held until 2002. He also established his consulting firm, Huel D. Perkins & Associates, Inc. He was one of the original members of the Alpha Phi Alpha World Policy Council.
Throughout his life, Perkins received numerous awards and honors. In 2005, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Louisiana State University, which led to the establishment of the Huel D. Perkins Doctoral Fellowship Program in his honor. He also received the Alpha Phi Alpha Award of Merit.
Dr. Huel Davis Perkins, who was emeritus of the humanities and Grand Sire Archon (International Chairman) of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity (The Boulé) from 1992 to 1994, passed away on April 15, 2013, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at the age of 88.
In 2022, at the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Regional Convention in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Perkins’s “Alpha Phi Alpha Sweetheart Song” was selected to be performed by 1,300 brothers at the Fraternity’s 91st Anniversary Convention.
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“In Memoriam: Huel Davis Perkins, 1924-2013,” Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, https://jbhe.com/; “The Passing of Brother Huel D. Perkins,” Alpha Phi Alpha.net, https://apa1906.net/; Rick Blalock, “Huel Davis Perkins Loved Alpha ‘Madly,’” The Sphinx, Volume 99, Summer 2013.
