John H. Lassiter

Brother John H. Lassiter was born on May 3, 1891 in Harrellsville, North Carolina to Lewis and Candis Baker Lassiter. The 1900 Census shows Brother Lassiter living with his widowed mother and 8 siblings on their rented farm. Brother Lassiter would ultimately leave North Carolina and enroll in Temple University where he studied Pharmacy. Notably, he is listed among the graduates in the Crisis Magazine, the Official Publication of the NAACP.

In 1918, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served from August 1, 1918 until his honorable discharge in December 1918. This was not uncommon, during World War I as many college students were enlisted into the Student Army Training Corps and their enlistments concluded at the end of the war. Brother Lassiter was initiated into the Lambda of Kappa Alpha Psi on April 9, 1920, a few months prior to his graduation from Temple University. Brother Lassiter would have been among the first group of Lambda pledges and initiates. In 1921, he obtained his pharmacy license and moved to Baltimore. The 1921 and 1922 Baltimore City Directory shows his residence as 1534 McCulloh Street and his occupation as a Druggist. In 1923, Brother Lassiter returned to New Jersey and continued as a Pharmacist. The record is scant for the period of his life between 1925 and 1940, but the record indicates he married, had four sons and two daughters, and was an Instructor for the WPA in 1940. Brother Lassiter passed to the Chapter Invisible on March 17, 1946 and was buried in the Glendale Cemetery in Bloomfield, New Jersey.