LOOK BACK KAPPA HISTORY
Top: Brother Don North (right of marker), North Central Senior Vice Province Polemarch Eugene Whitaker (2nd from right), Grand Historian Kevin P. Scott (left of marker), along with the group of Kappa brothers at Fort Des Moines. Right: Fort Des Moines Iowa Historical State Marker.
by the Executive Director of the Doughboy Foundation, followed by fraternal reflections by representatives of the Prince Hall Masons and the four fraternities. Grand Historian Scott spoke on behalf of Kappa Alpha Psi. Sorority representatives for Delta Sigma Theta and Zeta Phi Beta suc- ceeded them. A framed resolution was presented by the North Central Senior Vice Province Polemarch Eugene Whitaker, on behalf of the North Central Province. Special recognitions were given by the Des Moines Histori- cal Society and Octavius Clark (Winter Park (FL) AL 2024) for the Southern Province. Fraternity and sorority, city, state, and military representatives joined Brother North on Clayton Hall’s veranda to unveil the marker. The removal of the black drape revealed the 36" x 24" cast aluminum and onyx powder-coated Iowa State Historical
Society marker, with gilded raised lettering. The marker’s narrative account succinctly honors the Black men and women, particularly those fraternity and sorority members who trained at Fort Des Moines and were commissioned as officers during WWI and WWII. An identical account is featured on the marker’s opposite side. A 1917 panoramic photo of the Fort Des Moines Company No. 5 candidates appears underneath the text. The program concluded with final words from NAACP Des Moines Branch President Victoria Henderson, Fort Des Moines Museum President Matthew Harvey, and Brother North. In his final comments, Brother North gave acknowledgment to all involved with making the event possible, includ- ing the aforementioned, the VFW, the American Legion, the Veterans Administration, the Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation, and the North Central,
Southern, and Southwestern Provinces for their donations to the marker, Major General Hawthorne Proctor, U.S. Army (Ret.), and Kappa Alpha Psi’s Military and Veterans Affairs Commission, as well as Omega Psi Phi and Phi Beta Sigma for their donations to the museum. In 2019, Brother North erected the Sgt. Isaac Woodard Historical Marker in Batesburg, South Carolina. He is currently working on marker projects in the Philippines, Cuba, New Bedford, Massachusetts, and at his alma mater, the University of West Georgia. ♦ Contributions to the Fort Des Moines Museum & Education Center are needed to preserve this rich history. Please consider donating, www.fortdesmoinesmuseum.com
SUMMER 2025 ♦ THE JOURNAL 79
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