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 Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the ...

fraternity at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

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 ) 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'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...

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

auspices Augury was a Greco- Roman religious practice of observing the behavior of birds, to receive omens. When the individual, known as the augur, read these signs, it was referred to as "taking the auspices". "Auspices" () means "looking at birds". '' ...

Early life and education

He was born on May 17, 1885, in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

. 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 18 ...

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 university, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was f ...

studying architectural drawing. He married Sadie Dorsette, a daughter of the Montgomery physician Cornelius N. Dorsette. 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 Society the first African-American fraternity in 1906.

Career

After graduation, Tandy and George Washington Foster started their own firm, Tandy & Foster, with offices on Broadway in New York City. Tandy became the State of New York's first registered

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

architect. Vertner Woodson Tandy historic marker

Tandy's most famous commission was probably ''

Villa Lewaro Villa Lewaro, also known as the Madam C.J. Walker estate, 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. Entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker commissioned architect V ...

'', 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 on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

millionairess Madam C. J. Walker, in Irvington on Hudson, New York. The Italianate-style 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 ti ...

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 Tandy & Foster. 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 Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

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 se ...

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. ...

Death

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

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

. He is honored with a historic marker in Lexington, Kentucky, installed in 2009.

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