The Eastern Province, as a defined region of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., traces its origin to 1925. Earl B. Dickerson CPA, the fifth Grand Polemarch of Kappa Alpha Psi, appointed John Miller Marquess the first Eastern Province Polemarch following the adjournment of the 15th Grand Chapter Meeting in December 1925.
Brother Marquess was a charter member of the Langston-Oklahoma City Alumni Chapter in 1922 and the third president of the Langston University [1916-23]. At the time of his appointment, he was pursuing an advanced degree at Columbia University and a member of the Columbia University Chapter, the Omicron of Kappa Alpha Psi.
The boundaries of the Province have by no means been constant. In 1925, the Province included chapters as far north as Boston, MA and as far south as Washington, DC. During the tenure of Dr. James E. Allen, the fifth Eastern Province Polemarch [1933-34], the northern border was New York and the southern border was Durham, NC. However, for most of its existence, the area comprising the Eastern Province has been the state of Maryland, the District of Columbia and the commonwealth of Virginia. Today, the territory also includes the island of Bermuda.