A newly installed historical marker and murals for Christian County native Elder Watson Diggs, who was a co-founder of Kappa Alpha Psi, will be celebrated at ceremonies planned from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 7, at Founders Square in downtown Hopkinsville.
Members of the fraternity’s Hopkinsville-Fort Campbell Alumni Chapter are hosting the event, which is expected to draw several Kappa Alpha Psi luminaries from across the country.
Remarks will be given by the fraternity’s grand historian and by the grand polemarch, which is the highest ranking officer for Kappa Alpha Psi.
“This event is a wonderful opportunity to honor Elder Watson Diggs’ enduring legacy,” David Davenport, polemarch of the local alumni chapter, said in a press release. “His contributions to education, leadership, and the founding of Kappa Alpha Psi have had a profound impact on countless individuals and communities.”
The Kentucky Historical Society marker for Diggs is located in a landscaped area of Founders Square at Ninth and Main streets. Two Diggs’ murals, by local art teacher Paula Gieseke, are featured on the Founders Square brick wall devoted to several historic organizations and individuals.
Diggs, a Christian County native, was a student at Indiana University in 1911 when he and nine other men founded Kappa Alpha Psi.
Today the fraternity has more than 150,000 members with 700 undergraduate and alumni chapters in every U.S. state and international chapters in England, Germany, Korea, Japan, the Caribbean, Saint Thomas, Saint Croix, the United States Virgin Islands and South Africa, according to the press release from the local chapter.
