THE BALTIMORE (MD) ALUMNI CHAPTER CELEBRATES ITS CENTENNIAL
Baltimore (MD) Alumni Chapter Centennial: A Century of Brotherhood, Service and Achievement
By Donald Malcolm Smith
At the beginning of the 20 th Century the City of Baltimore was a hub of com- merce and trade. Its signature harbor and proximity to the nation’s capital provided its residents with incredible economic and social opportunity. Even during the height of Jim Crow Baltimore’s potential for its African American citizens was significant. Captured in the pages of the Baltimore Afro-American Newspaper the early 20 th Century represented a time of hope and opportunity. It is within this environment that the seventh Alumni and 23 rd Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi was charted. At the time of its chartering, the Baltimore Alumni Chapter was the first Alumni Chapter in what would become the Eastern Province. While the charter for the Baltimore (MD) Alumni Chapter was received on September 9, 1921, the road to chartering what would become known as the “Benchmark” of Kappa Alpha Psi began with Brother George Lehrman Newman.
of Kappa Alpha Psi; John Huffman Lassiter, Lambda; and Deaver Preston Young, Charter Member and first Keeper of Records of both Omicron (NE) and Jacksonville (FL) Alumni Chapter (S), and later the Southeastern Province Polemarch. With the permission to initiate and function as a Chapter, the nucleus of what would become the Baltimore (MD) Alumni Chapter identified candidates for membership. The first initiates of the Baltimore (MD) Alumni Chapter represented the cream of Baltimore’s emergent African American professional class. Lewis Sparkman Flagg, Jr. an attorney and the son of the Presiding Elder of the Baltimore Conference of the AME Church and was notably the brother of Margaret Flagg Holmes who was one of the founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; William S. Harris a Pharmacist; John Johnson a Banker; and Dr. John H. Tompkins a Physician. The experience of the new initiates was recounted by Charter Member Harris: “Brother Newman called upon the mem- bers of the Epsilon to assist in bring- ing into being the Baltimore Alumni Chapter. They responded well and such broth- ers as Boone Hamer, his blood brothers Willie and John Howard performed well. Brother Jones was the Polemarch of Epsilon. After a vigorous membership campaign, we finally met. On a hot evening in Au- gust before the era of electric refrigera- tors and air conditioners. We assembled at a fraternal hall in the 1200 Block of Myrtle Avenue. We retired to an upper floor and we neophytes, were duly ac-
at Storer College in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, where he also served as the Head Football and Track Coach. Brother Newman’s efforts to establish the Baltimore (MD) Alumni Chapter were joined by Brothers Nathaniel Mon- roe Scott (Xi) and Robert Lee Jackson, MD (Kappa). The three Kappa men requested and were granted permission on July 15, 1921 to form a chapter and initiate members. Brothers Newman and Scott were Bal- timore natives and they both attended Frederick Douglas Colored High School together and lived within blocks of one another. Brother Jackson was a native of Birmingham, Alabama and attended Walden University and graduated from Meharry Medical College, where he was a Charter Member of the Kappa (SC) of Kappa Alpha Psi and served as its first Polemarch. Brother Jackson trav- eled to Baltimore after completing his residency at the Millie E. Hale Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, and postgradu- ate work at hospitals in Chicago, New York University, and George Washington University. Brothers Newman, Scott, and Jackson were joined by Kappa stalwarts Broth- ers John Henry Alston, Charter Mem- ber of the Epsilon (NE) and Pi (SE) and first Polemarch of the Johnson C. Smith Chapter, the Alpha Epsilon (ME)
Charter Members of Baltimore (MD) Alumni Chapter
Brother George L. Newman was initi- ated into the Lincoln University Chapter, the Epsilon (NE) of Kappa Alpha Psi on August 17, 1918. Brother Newman graduated from Lincoln in 1920 with a degree in Pharmacy with honors. In ad- dition to being an exceptional student he was also a phenomenal athlete. The May 20, 1920 edition of The Kappa Alpha Psi Journal a “Letter from Epsilon” highlights Brother Newman’s athletic exploits and notes he played both offense and defense and was selected as a Second Team All- American in football. After returning to Baltimore, he began a career as a Phar- macist and spectacularly played with the semi-pro Basketball team The Baltimore Athenians. In 1923, he was appointed as a Professor of Chemistry and Biology
66 | SUMMER 2021 ♦ THE JOURNAL
VIRTUAL 85 TH GRAND CHAPTER MEETING
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