Elder Watson
Diggs, 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. He served as Grand Polemarch for the
first six consecutive years of the Fraternity's existence.
For this and other outstanding contributions to the Fraternity,
he was awarded the Fraternity's first Laurel Wreath in December,
1924.
An educator by profession, he taught in the
public schools of Indianapolis, Indiana, where he was elevated
to a principalship. 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. 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.
After European service with the 368th Infantry,
he became a captain in the Reserve Officers Training Corps.
Diggs was instrumental in having the Indiana Constitution
amended to permit Negro enlistment in the Indiana National
Guard.
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