Vertner Woodson Tandy was an American architect. He was one of the seven founders of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at Cornell University in 1906. He was the first African American registered architect in New York State. Tandy served as the first treasurer of the Alpha chapter and the designer of the fraternity pin. The fraternity became incorporated under his auspices.
Tandy circa 1920
Historic marker installed 2009 honoring Tandy, sponsored by Alpha Phi Alpha, the oldest African American fraternity
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. (ΑΦΑ) 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 into a fraternity with a founding date of December 4, 1906. It employs an icon from Ancient Egypt, the Great Sphinx of Giza, as its symbol. Its aims are "Manly Deeds, Scholarship, and Love For All Mankind," and its motto is "First of All, Servants of All, We Shall Transcend All." Its archives are preserved at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.
The 1907 ΑΦΑ Constitution and Bylaws
The 1906 charter for Alpha chapter at Cornell University
Alpha Phi Alpha and Cornell University dedicated a centennial memorial on Ho Plaza in 2006
Alpha Phi Alpha board members at the centennial banquet, July 2006 in Washington, D.C.
