He was a graduate student at the University of Minnesota in 1917. He served as Grand Polemarch for the first six consecutive years of the Fraternity's existence. Always remembered for her dignity, poise, and grace! In 1920, he received the D.D.S. Henry Tourner Asher, Dr. Marcus Peter Blakemore, Paul Waymond Caine, George Wesley Edmonds, Dr. He later entered the Dental School of the University of Pittsburgh, from which he was graduated in 1923. Kappa Alpha Psi later was included in March 1949. After finishing Indiana University, he earned his Master's degree at Columbia University in 1913, and subsequently the Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Michigan. Formidable obstacles were erected to prevent the few who were enrolled from assimilating into co-curricular campus life. In addition to his activities with Kappa Alpha Psi, Brother Grant held memberships in several civic, professional, and business organizations. 6363 St. Charles Ave . He served as Grand Polemarch for the first six consecutive years of the Fraternity's existence. Kappa Alpha Psi, a college Fraternity, now comprised of functioning Undergraduate and Alumni Chapters on major campuses and in cities throughout the country, is the crystallization of a dream. degree from the Medical School of Indiana University in 1919. He served as Grand Polemarch for the first six consecutive years of the Fraternity’s existence. After leaving the University, he organized the Electric Engineering Company, which he operated until he enlisted in World War I. Elder Watson Diggs was Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity’s first chairman and one of it’s principal founders. He enrolled at Indiana University in 1909 and helped the other Founders in organizing Kappa Alpha Nu. degree. Robert Sengstacke Abbott was born in 1870 to Gullah parents who had been slaves, he grew up to create a newspaper that had the highest circulation of any black-owned newspaper […] He was awarded the Laurel Wreath in 1935. Henry Tourner Asher. It ... Sigma Alpha Iota, Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma to fulfill on any campus where our chapters mutually exist, now or in the future. In 1920, he married Mary Hunter, a teacher in the Indianapolis Public School system. Upon America's entrance into World War I, Diggs resigned his principalship to enter the Nation's first Officer's Training Camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, and was commissioned a lieutenant. Brother Caine went into the catering business in his hometown, later attended Columbia University, set up a catering business in Gary, Indiana, and published a book on catering, which was copyrighted in 1919 by the Hurst Publishing Company. Born: June 30, 1890 Woodburn, Kentucky-Died: March 5, 1963-Occupation: Attorney. It was bestowed upon him in 1976 at the 60th Grand Chapter Meeting of Kappa Alpha Psi® Fraternity, Inc. Irvin was the 24th Laurel Wreath Laureate and the third Founder to receive this coveted Fraternity award. During World War I, he served as an investigator for the Department of Labor. Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Founders’ Day Weekend Calendar of Events: January 3, 2020 (Friday): J5 Kickoff Party, 9 pm until Flashlight, Donations accepted Born in Christian County, Kentucky was a graduate of Indiana State Normal (now Indiana State Teachers College) and Indiana University, the birthplace of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. With 80 alumni chapters and over 140 thousand men and women in more than 250 college chapters; Alpha Kappa Psi is a complete and integrated national business fraternity standing for the highest levels of conduct and achievement in both university and professional life. degree in 1915. 4,080 likes. -Occupation: Physician and founder of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. We at Watch The Yard reached out to Kevin Scott, the fraternity’s official Historian and created a list of the Kappa Alpha Psi founders who served during the “Great War.” Founder Elder Watson Diggs. Aside from his success as a Journalist, Brother Irvin was a pioneer in promoting basketball and track athletics in the small town schools of Indiana. John Milton Lee, born in Danville, Indiana, September 7, 1890, was graduated from the Danville High School in 1910 and entered the University of Indiana and there completed three years of pre-medical work. George married the former Willa Mae Forte and settled in Stevenson, Indiana. In the school years of 1910-11, a small group of Black students attended Indiana University.Most of them were working their way through school. He was an active member of the Methodist Church of Chicago and a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows Lodges. The number of places where they might assemble was limited. He enlisted in the 349th Field Artillery in March of 1918 and served overseas as a First Class Sergeant and Gunner. After George returned home for the summer of 1911, his father became ill with pneumonia and died. He was a member of the Second Baptist Church in Indianapolis. An educator by profession, he taught in the public schools of Indianapolis, Indiana, where he was elevated to a principalship. After European service with the 368th Infantry, he became a captain in the Reserve Officers Training Corps. For eight years, he conducted a successful catering business in Philadelphia; he organized and served as Vice-president and Secretary of the Mutual Emergency Union, a mutual aid company in Philadelphia. He practiced medicine in Indianapolis. The Fraternity named the Undergraduate Chapter of the Year Award in his honor, the Edward Giles Irvin Award of Kappa Alpha Psi®. Because of a disastrous fire in the Fraternity house in which he was employed, he never finished his sophomore year. His battery enjoys the unique distinction of having been the first battery of Negro Artillerymen ever to open fire upon an enemy. 21. John Milton Lee fired the first shot. Founder Elder Watson Diggs entered the nation’s first Negroes Officers Training Camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa and was commissioned a First Lieutenant. The state of Indiana became the 19 th state of the Union in 1816 and it founded Indiana University in Bloomington four years later. 1911. degree from Indiana Dental School, then a part of the University of Indiana; he practiced dentistry in Indianapolis. Crump, The Story of Kappa Alpha Psi, 27. Byron K. Armstrong, born in Westfield, Indiana, entered Indiana University where he studied philosophy, mathematics, and sociology. Edward Giles Irvin (1893-1982), born in Spencer, Indiana, on August 13, 1893, was graduated from Kokomo, Indiana High School in 1910 and entered the Indiana University the same … They also have international chapters in Nigeria, South Africa, and Korea – to name but a few! In 1931 he married Mary Walker Robinson. “Kappa Alpha Psi, a college Fraternity, now comprised of functioning Undergraduate and Alumni Chapters on major campuses and in cities throughout the country, is the crystallization of a dream. Diggs was instrumental in having the Indiana Constitution amended to permit Negro enlistment in the Indiana National Guard. Elder Watson Diggs, a native of Kentucky earned a bachelor's degree from Indiana State University in 1908 and enrolled at Howard University a year later to pursue graduate studies in education. Ms. Shields brought her ability to secure grants, personable skills, and deep desire to be of service to all mankind with her membership in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. His choice of institution may have been Howard's education program, coupled with his cousin, Lucy Diggs Slowe, … The fraternity was founded as Kappa Alpha Nu on the night of January 5, 1911, by ten African-American college students.Join us an celebrating another year of existence! André McKenzie, “In the Beginning: The Early History of the Divine Nine,” in African American Fraternities and Sororities: The Legacy and the Vision, ed. He was graduated from Bloomington High School in 1910. Today, Alpha Kappa Psi is among the twenty largest national college fraternities in the country. He received the degree of LL.B. H e served as Grand Polemarch for the first six consecutive years of the Fraternity’s existence. Fraternity Est. at the Detroit College of Law in 1928. At the time of his death in October 1959, he was residing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he maintained his practice of dentistry. He organized and operated the Afro-American Manufacturing Company in Chicago, which produced novelties, candies, and specialties. Chartered and incorporated originally under the laws of the State of Indiana as Kappa Alpha Nu on May 15, 1911, the name was changed to KAPPA ALPHA PSI on a resolution offered and adopted at the Grand Chapter in December 1914. Tamara L. Brown, Gregory S. Parks, and Clarenda M. Phillips, 181–210 (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2005). Henry T. Asher, born in Woodburn, Kentucky in 1892, was graduated from the Bloomington High School in 1910. George W. Edmonds was born in Vandenburgh County, Knight Township, Indiana on August 13, 1890. He held teaching positions in Florida, Indiana, Kansas, and Oklahoma. He was also a member of the board of Managers of the Columbia Community Branch of the YMCA. John Milton Lee. The founders accepted chemistry professor Hilton Ira Jones' suggestion to name the fraternity "Kappa Kappa Psi." Surviving founders Lavinia Norman and Norma Boyd attended the celebration of unveiling the Memorial Window, designed by Lois Mailou Jones. Marcus Peter Blakemore. Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, relatively early, envisioned the modified attitudes of college administrators and administrations regarding certain frivolous activities previously identified with Greek letter organizations; and it initiated appropriate changes. Famous members of Kappa Alpha Psi include NFL star Colin Kaepernick. After his death on November 8, 1947, the name of the school where he taught was changed to the Elder Diggs School in his memory. Guy Levis Grant, Edward Giles Irvin, and Sgt. In 1929, he married Laura Hammons. Introducing the Founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. This is Joanna Mary-Berry Shields! His father had worked in the coal mines of Vandenburgh County for many years.