Vertner Woodson Tandy (May 17, 1885 – November 7, 1949) was an American architect. He was one of the seven founders (commonly referred to as "The Seven Jewels") of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1906. He was the first African American registered architect in New York State. Tandy served as the first treasurer of the

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...

chapter and the designer of the fraternity pin. The fraternity became incorporated under his

auspices Augury is the practice from ancient Roman religion of interpreting omens from the observed behavior of birds. When the individual, known as the augur, interpreted these signs, it is referred to as "taking the auspices". "Auspices" (Latin ''au ...

Early life and education

He was born on May 17, 1885, in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

. His parents were Henry A. Tandy and Emma Brice Tandy. Henry Tandy was a successful entrepreneur and building contractor. Born enslaved, in 1893 he established the firm Tandy & Byrd in Lexington. Among prominent projects of the firm are the

Lexington Opera House The Lexington Opera House is a theatre located at 401 West Short Street in downtown Lexington, Kentucky. Built in 1886, the Opera House replaced the former theatre, located on the corner of Main and Broadway, after fire destroyed it in January 1 ...

and the Fayette County Courthouse, now the site of the Lexington Visitor Center. In 1904 Tandy attended

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

studying architectural drawing. In 1905 he transferred to

, which he graduated from in 1907 with a degree in architecture. He was one of the founding members, who were collectively called the "Seven Jewels," of the

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

Society the first African-American fraternity in 1906.

Career

Ater graduation, Tandy and George Washington Foster started their own firm,

Tandy & Foster Tandy & Foster was an American architectural firm active from 1908 to 1914 in New York and New Jersey, based in New York City. Founded in 1908 by Vertner Woodson Tandy (1885–1949) and George Washington Foster (1866–1923). Tandy was the firs ...

, with offices on Broadway in New York City. Tandy became the State of New York’s first registered

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

architect. Tandy's most famous commission was probably ''

Villa Lewaro Villa Lewaro, is a 34-room mansion located at Fargo Lane and North Broadway ( US 9) in Irvington, New York, 30 miles north of New York City. It was built from 1916 to 1918, and was designed in the Italianate style by architect Vertner Tandy ...

'', the $250,000 mansion for the daughter of the

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

millionairess

Madam C. J. Walker Madam C.J. Walker (born Sarah Breedlove; December 23, 1867 – May 25, 1919) was an African American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and political and social activist. She is recorded as the first female self-made millionaire in America in the '' G ...

, in Irvington on Hudson, New York. The

Italianate-style The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

mansion was completed in 1918 and became important in the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...

prior to Walker’s death. Among his other extant work are the Ivey Delph Apartments, and St. Philip's Episcopal Church at 204 West 134th Street in Harlem, through his architectural firm of

. The Ivey Delph Apartments, designed in 1948, was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2005. Tandy also holds the distinction of being the first African American to pass the military commissioning examination and was commissioned

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

in the 15th Infantry of the New York State

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

Death

Vertner W. Tandy died of pneumonia on November 7, 1949, aged 64, in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

References

External links

Alpha Phi Alpha website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tandy, Vertner 1885 births 1949 deaths Alpha Phi Alpha founders Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning alumni Tuskegee University alumni Architects from New York City African-American architects American ecclesiastical architects 369th Infantry Regiment personnel Deaths from pneumonia in New York City 20th-century American architects 20th-century African-American artists

Early life and education

Career

Death

References

Further reading

External links