Founders

Byron Kenneth Armstrong

Founder Byron Kenneth Armstrong was a scholar, imaginative and outspoken. He was affectionately known as “Boomski,” born in Westfield, Hamilton County, Indiana, on April 8, 1892, was one of five children and was the cousin of 2nd Grand Polemarch, Irven Armstrong.

Armstrong enrolled at Howard University in 1909, met Elder W. Diggs, and together, they transferred to Indiana University in the fall of 1910, where he studied philosophy, mathematics, and sociology. He graduated from Indiana University with an A.B. degree in the fall of 1913. Armstrong subsequently earned an M.A. degree from Columbia University in 1914 and was decreed a Doctor of Philosophy by the University of Michigan in 1940. He held teaching positions as a professor at universities in Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, and Michigan and served as Dean in Maryland and Oklahoma.

During World War I, he was an investigator for the Department of Labor. He subsequently worked as Personnel Director for Chrysler Motors for 22 years.

He married Elizabeth Hester Moore, and they had a daughter, Hardena Marzella Armstrong.

Armstrong was one of the primary potent forces behind the founding of Kappa Alpha Nu. He created the motto, assisted Diggs in preparing the Coat of Arms, and produced the fraternity badge. He suggested the fraternity should reward members’ outstanding achievements with a Laurel Wreath. He served the fraternity as the 1st Grand Strategus, 5th Grand Historian, and Grand Board Member. He also established the Beta, Theta, Xi, Alpha Pi, Gamma Xi, Chicago (IL), Langston (OK), and Tulsa (OK) Alumni Chapters. Armstrong assisted in the writing of the Handbook of Kappa Alpha Psi®, 1928. He also authored Crossing the Jordan and Beyond and served as Editor of The Kappa Alpha Psi® Journal.

Armstrong was awarded the 6th Laurel Wreath. The Byron K. Armstrong Scholars Award, the only Grand Chapter award available to fraternity undergraduate members for outstanding achievement, is named in his honor. Armstrong died June 28, 1980 and is buried at Inglewood Cemetery in Inglewood, California.

Guy Levis Grant

 
Founder Guy Levis Grant was small in stature but was a giant in charitable endeavors and a preserver of history. He was born in New Albany, Indiana, on April 9, 1891, and was the third of thirteen children, five of whom became members of the fraternity. When his father died, he became head of the household and assumed responsibility for educating himself and his siblings.

Grant attended public schools in his hometown, graduated from Scribner High School in 1909, and entered Indiana University. While there, he majored in chemistry, graduating with an A.B. degree in 1915. In 1920, he received a D.D.S. degree from Indiana Dental School, then a part of Indiana University. He practiced dentistry in Indianapolis for over 50 years.

In 1929, he married Laura Hammons, a cousin of Founder Byron K. Armstrong. He was a veteran of World War I, was the Founder and President of Recorder Charities, and was active in several civic, professional, and business organizations. He was also a member of the Second Baptist Church in Indianapolis.

Grant helped to establish the Beta Chapter and joined Founders Diggs and Alexander to establish the Indianapolis (IN) Alumni Chapter in 1920, and was its first Polemarch. He served several terms as a non-voting member of the Grand Board of Directors and as Grand Historian. Grant gathered bits and pieces of Kappa history for several years to accumulate a recorded history for posterity. This archive collection became the factual supportive base for the written account of the Fraternity’s history.

The 2nd Edition of the Story of Kappa Alpha Psi® was dedicated to him. Following 16 years of dedicated service as the Grand Historian, the Fraternity conferred the title of Grand Historian Emeritus upon him at the 54th Grand Chapter Meeting in 1967. The Guy Levis Grant Award is named in his honor and is bestowed to undergraduate members of the fraternity who exhibit extra meritorious contributions to the Fraternity’s advancement. Grant died on November 11, 1973, and is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Marcus Peter Blakemore

Founder Marcus Peter Blakemore was a man of deep religious convictions and quiet confidence. He contributed significantly to education, his community, church, hospitals, and fraternity. Blakemore, affectionately known as “Blakie,” was born in Franklin, Indiana, on January 3, 1889, and was the eldest of four children.

Blakemore’s family moved to Anderson, Indiana, where he attended public schools and graduated high school in 1909. He entered Indiana University the following year. After leaving Indiana University in the spring term of 1912, he organized the Electric Engineering Company, which he operated until he enlisted with the U.S. Army in World War I. Blakemore served in the U.S. Army as the rank of Private with the 30th Company, 154th Depot Brigade. He was honorably discharged in August 1918 and married Azalea Hall the following month. They had one daughter, Elizabeth.

He earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Pittsburgh and graduated from its Dental School with a D.D.S. degree in 1923. In 1949, Blakemore became the first Black to receive an M.S. degree in Prosthetic Dentistry from the University of Pittsburgh Dental School.

Blakemore was a member of national and local Dental Societies and a staunch member of Ebenezer Baptist Church, having served as a trustee and a clarinet soloist.

Blakemore was a roommate of Byron K. Armstrong in the rooming house of Ms. Molly Spaulding. He was one of the two Founders who pawned his watch to help raise the Fraternity’s incorporation fee. Blakemore was one of the first three freshmen initiates of Kappa Alpha Nu. He wired the first Fraternity house for electricity, the first Negro home ever wired for electricity in Bloomington. He was a charter member of the Pittsburgh (PA) Alumni Chapter and was instrumental in establishing the Beta Epsilon Chapter.

Blakemore maintained his dentistry practice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for 35 years until his death on October 9, 1959, and is buried at Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Ezra Dee Alexander

Founder Ezra Dee Alexander was an outgoing and dedicated worker. He was fondly known as “Dee,” was born in Bloomington, Indiana, on July 18, 1891, and was the second eldest of seven children.

Alexander graduated from Bloomington High School in 1910. He matriculated to Indiana University in the fall of 1910 and graduated from Indiana University in 1917 with an A.B. degree. Prior to graduation, he held positions as a teacher and principal at Indiana public schools. He received his M.D. from the Medical School of Indiana University in 1919.

Alexander served an internship at Provident Hospital in Chicago in 1920. Alexander served in the Army Medical Corps during WWI and as a medical examiner during WWII. He practiced medicine in Indianapolis for nearly 50 years.

In 1920, he married Mary Hunter, an Indianapolis Public School system teacher. They had a son, Ezra D. Alexander Jr., who became a member of the fraternity, and a daughter, Dorothy Alexander. He later married Leota Snorden in 1961.

Alexander served 22 years as a non-voting member of the Grand Board of Directors to fulfill a requirement of the Constitution and Statutes that at least one of the directors was an Indiana resident. Alexander presented and dedicated the new KAΨ flag at the 47th Grand Chapter Meeting (1957). He was one of three Founders who helped establish the Indianapolis (IN) Alumni Chapter. His affiliation with the Indianapolis (IN) Alumni Chapter lasted until his death on September 29, 1971. He is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana.

John Milton Lee

Founder John Milton Lee was a scholar, loyal, and tireless worker for the growth of the fraternity. Due to his idealist character was commonly referred to as ‘a dreamer’ during the fraternity’s early years. He was born in Danville, Indiana, on September 7, 1890, and was the third of four children.

He attended Danville public schools and enrolled at Indiana University in 1910. He completed three years of pre-medical work before leaving the university. In 1914, he enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania but withdrew for health reasons. In 1915, he became a student at Temple University but was compelled to leave due to a death in the family.

Lee enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917. He was a non-commissioned officer assigned to Battery F, 349th Field Artillery Regiment, 167th Field Artillery Brigade of the 92nd Division. The Field Artillery component was the first Negro Artillery Regiment in the history of the military. Lee subsequently served overseas as a Sergeant First Class and Gunner. His battery enjoys the unique distinction of being the first Battery of Negro Artillerymen ever to open fire upon an enemy. Lee reportedly fired the first shot. He was an associate editor of Modern Artillerymen, the official record of Battery F.

Lee helped organize and, for several years, was president of the Fairview Golf Club, the first Negro Golf Club in Pennsylvania. For two years, he was the editor of The Golfer, the monthly publication of the Fairview Golf Club. In 1931, he was married to Mary Walker Robinson.

Vocationally, he was engaged in several enterprises. For eight years, Lee 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 was also a member of the Board of Managers of the Columbia Community Branch of the YMCA.

Lee contributed significantly to the vision and development of the fraternity in its early years. The articles of incorporation listed Lee as the Secretary of Kappa Alpha Nu. He assisted in the development of the emblems of Kappa Alpha Nu. Lee helped to establish the Epsilon, the Lambda, and the Philadelphia (PA) Alumni Chapters. He served as its interim Polemarch until the chapter elected its first Polemarch.

At the time of his death, January 3, 1958, he was employed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He is the only Founder to be cremated, and his ashes are preserved in an urn at International Headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Henry Tourner Asher

Founder Henry Tourner Asher was an unassuming, dependable supporter of Negro youth, equal rights, higher education, and religious affairs and the son of a Baptist Minister. He was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, on June 30, 1890, and was the eldest of seven children.

After his family moved to Bloomington, Indiana, he attended and graduated from Bloomington High School in 1910. He enrolled at Indiana University in 1910, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1914. He became an instructor at Lincoln Institute in Jefferson City, Missouri, from 1914-1915. In 1915, he enrolled in a graduate program at the University of Wisconsin and subsequently at the University of Illinois. However, he transferred to the University of Minnesota, where he earned his Master of Arts in 1917. He received the degree of LL.B. at the Detroit College of Law in 1928.

Asher served a year overseas in France during World War I and attained the rank of corporal. He was assigned to the 809th Pioneer Infantry unit of the U.S. Army. Upon completing his service in 1919, he gave up a possible teaching career at Wilberforce University for one in real estate. He subsequently ended up in Detroit, where he decided to enter the postal service and worked as a teacher.

Asher married Celia Craig in 1936 and later met and married his second wife, Bessie.

Asher, along with Founders Edmonds and Blakemore, were the first three freshman initiates of the Alpha of Kappa Alpha Nu. Although he was not a charter member of the Detroit (MI) Alumni Chapter, he was among the first to affiliate with the chapter in 1920. In 1925, Asher served as Detroit (MI) Alumni Chapter’s Strategus and Keeper of Records.

Asher was an active member of several organizations, including the NAACP, the Elks, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He spent the remainder of his life in Detroit, Michigan, where he died on March 5, 1963. He is buried at Detroit Memorial Park (East) in Warren, Michigan.

Edward Giles Irvin

Founder Edward Giles Irvin was a civic and religious leader, journalist, and entrepreneur. He was born August 13, 1893, in Spencer, Indiana, and was the seventh of nine children of an African Methodist Episcopal minister.

Following graduation from Kokomo Indiana High School in 1910, he enrolled at Indiana University the same year. At only 17 years of age, Irvin was the youngest of ten Black students who founded Kappa Alpha Psi® Fraternity. Irvin served on the fraternity’s Incorporation Committee. Irvin left the school following the spring term of 1911.

After leaving school, Irvin pursued a career in journalism until World War I. Irvin enlisted in the U.S. Army and was a combat medic with the Expeditionary Forces in France, where he was cited for bravery. Irvin served on the Selective Service Board during WWII and the Korean War. The United States bestowed the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest medal for valor. He also received two Distinguished Service Awards from Presidents Truman and Eisenhower.

Following his honorable discharge, he met Maywilla Wooten, who became his wife. He subsequently moved to Indianapolis and was on the staff of the Indianapolis Freeman. In 1922, he established The Shining Star, an Anderson, Indiana weekly newspaper. He subsequently moved to Gary, Indiana, and became the editor of the Gary Sun newspaper. Irvin moved to Chicago, Illinois, and in 1928, he worked as the sports editor for The Chicago Daily Bulletin newspaper. After it collapsed, he worked at the U.S. Post Office and became the owner and operator of the Afro-American Manufacturing Company, a distributor of candy, novelties, and specialty items. Irvin was a long-time member of the Chicago (IL) Alumni Chapter.

Deeply rooted in the community, he was also an active member of the Masonic Order, the Odd Fellows, and the St. James African Methodist Church. He was also a trustee of St. James A.M.E. Church in Chicago and founded and edited the lay newspaper, Voice of the A.M.E. Laymen.

Irvin was bestowed the 24th Laurel Wreath Award for meritorious achievement and the third Founder to receive this coveted fraternity award. The fraternity named the Edward Giles Irvin Award in his honor. It is bestowed upon the most outstanding Undergraduate Chapter.

The Fraternity’s last living Founder died on November 4, 1982, and was survived by his daughter, Dorothy Manyweather. He is buried at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.

George Wesley Edmonds

Founder George Wesley Edmonds was witty and an enigma to most in the fraternity. He was born in Knight Township, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, on August 13, 1890, and was the eldest of two sons.

He attended Clark High School in nearby Evansville, Indiana, and enrolled at Indiana University in the fall of 1910. He joined nine other students in founding Kappa Alpha Nu Fraternity. Edmonds was listed as the Corresponding Secretary in the articles of incorporation of the Grand Chapter of Kappa Alpha Nu. He was one of the three freshmen, along with Asher and Blakemore, who were the first initiates of the Alpha of Kappa Alpha Nu.
After Edmonds returned home for the summer of 1911, he never returned to school. Instead, he worked in the coal mines and railroad of Vanderburgh County for many years, joining the local union, where he was elected secretary and treasurer. Edmonds also lived in Lake County, Indiana (1917-18) and Warwick County, Indiana (1942).

Edmonds married Willa Mae Forte and settled in Stevenson, Indiana. They became the parents of one son, Noel. Founder Edmonds died on June 13, 1962.

Unfortunately, little more is known of Edmonds because of his premature withdrawal from school. The Fraternity had attempted to locate Edmonds for several years. Several factors hampered these efforts. The circumstances of his life prevented him from moving in the circles of higher education. Edmonds’ lack of contact with college colleagues prevented him from knowing the organization he assisted to found. In 1915, the Fraternity changed its name from Kappa Alpha Nu to Kappa Alpha Psi®. Attempts to locate him may have been hindered because his last name was misspelled in the Fraternity’s records. For these reasons, Edmonds’ location was unknown to the Fraternity for sixty-seven years. In 1975, Founder Edward G. Irvin urged Brothers to intensify their search for Edmonds. Edmonds’ burial site was finally confirmed in 1978. He is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Evansville, Indiana.

Paul Waymond Caine

Founder Paul Waymond Caine was the consummate entrepreneur and chef before his time, always friendly and displaying a pleasant disposition. He was born in Greencastle, Indiana on May 17, 1890. He was long thought to be an only child but is now known to have a half-brother.

Caine attended Greencastle public schools and enrolled at Indiana University sometime between 1909 and 1910 as a business major. He was adept at cooking and honed those skills while working at DePauw University, where he worked as a cook in the sorority houses before enrolling at Indiana University. He was a fine caterer and was in demand by the White fraternities on campus and kept many of the Founding fraternity brothers from hunger.
He lost all his belongings during his freshman year because of a disastrous fire in the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity house where he was employed. Caine persevered but was eventually forced to withdraw from school during his sophomore year, the winter quarter of 1911. He subsequently set up the Caine Catering Company in his hometown and continued his catering business in various cities, including Gary, Indiana, Peoria, Chicago, and Evanston, Illinois. Caine opened a restaurant and bakery while residing in Peoria, Illinois. He also published a catering book, Artistic Dishes, copyrighted in 1919 by the Hurst Publishing Company. He became well known in the culinary circles and was well sought after to teach and conduct lectures.

While residing in Gary, Indiana, Caine worked as a laborer at the Gary Steel Mill and married Jeanette E. Wilson in 1921. While living in Chicago in the early-mid 1920s, Caine assisted in organizing and furnishing the Chicago (IL) Alumni Chapter’s new “Kappa Kastle.”

Caine helped the other Founders in organizing Kappa Alpha Nu. He was among the first to be initiated into the Fraternity. He was also instrumental in setting up the Beta, Gamma, Delta, Zeta, and Theta Chapters.

He later acquired a 2nd hand goods clothing store and dry-cleaner business in Rockford, Illinois. He was burned during an explosion of gaseous materials while working in his dry-cleaning business. Caine subsequently died of pneumonia on April 15, 1931, from injuries sustained from the fire. During Conclave, the highest Grand Chapter award available to alumni chapters is granted to the most outstanding alumni chapter(s).