Where D9 Trailblazers Stood: Fort Des Moines to Receive Historical Marker Honoring Black Military Officers

Black American military history receiving its proper recognition, thanks to the determined efforts of Kappa Alpha Psi Brother Don North (Pi Chapter, 1975). On June 14, 2025, a new Iowa State Historical Marker will be unveiled where the Fort Des Moines Provisional Army Negro Officer Training School stood, honoring the more than 1,200 Black men who trained there during World War I to become U.S. Army officers. Many of these men were not only pioneers in military service, they were also early members of the Black Greek-letter organizations that shaped the 20th century and some were even the founders of those organizations.

North, a retired educator and passionate military historian, described to Iowa Public Radio the moment when he discovered a documentary on Fort Des Moines as “God sent.” With a lifelong passion for history, the military, and horses, he was compelled to dig deeper into the site’s significance. What he found was a story that deserved to be told—and remembered.

In 1917, Fort Des Moines became the first and only training camp for African American officers during World War I. The men who trained there were not just fighting for their country; they were fighting for the right to lead. Among those commissioned were Elder Watson Diggs, a founder of Kappa Alpha Psi; Edgar Amos Love and Frank Coleman, founders of Omega Psi Phi; Charles H. Houston, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha who would later become the legal architect behind the NAACP’s campaign to dismantle segregation; and Howard D. Queen, a Phi Beta Sigma brother and Buffalo Soldier. Their stories speak not only to military excellence but also to the transformational leadership cultivated within Black fraternities.

The historical marker being installed at Fort Des Moines aims to permanently honor their legacy. It is the first formal public recognition of these officers and their contributions—a silence now being replaced by remembrance. The project, co-sponsored by the Des Moines Branch of the NAACP and the State Historical Society of Iowa, will ensure that this history is no longer hidden in footnotes or archives, but etched into the landscape of the nation.

The legacy of Fort Des Moines doesn’t end with World War I. During World War II, it also served as a training site for the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), where 40 Black women—trailblazers in their own right—were trained for military service. Among them was Charity Adams, a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., who became the first Black woman commissioned as an officer in the WAAC and eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Her story, along with that of five other Black women who trained at Fort Des Moines, is featured in Tyler Perry’s Netflix film, The Six Triple Eight. Adams served with distinction, commanding the only all-Black, all-female battalion deployed overseas during World War II.

She was joined by Hariett Waddy, another WAAC leader, who urged other Black women to enlist—even in the face of segregation—believing their service was a critical step toward realizing the true promise of American democracy.

“You guys are kind of like the cradle of birthing army officers, right there in Des Moines,” North reflected to Iowa Public Radio. That cradle produced not just soldiers, but brothers and sisters—Black Americans who belonged to organizations rooted in service, scholarship, and community leadership. Until now, their presence at Fort Des Moines had gone largely unrecognized. This new marker makes it clear: Black excellence, Black military leadership, and Black Greek life have always been intertwined.

With the unveiling set for June 14, 2025, the legacy of Fort Des Moines and the Divine Nine members who walked its grounds will finally be honored—not just as military history, but as a vital part of the Black American story.