Jim Van Der Hoef and his brother Bob at the Foundry, early 1910s

Jim Van Der Hoef was one of the founding brothers of the Cornell Chapter. He can be seen on the left of this picture. His brother, possibly his twin, Bob, is on the right. They were both instructors in the Foundry at Sibley College.

Jim was known to give great bear hugs to all his friends, and they could take your breath away, as Jim was a big man! A dedicated member to the fraternity, he acted as trustee in the chapter's purchase of its house at 708 E. Seneca.

Plans for 1924 Proposed rennovations by Harriet Williams

Click on each image to see a larger view. These were old plans designed by Arthur N. Gibb '90, architect of Northcote, and later Mayor of Ithaca. Harriet Williams rented Northcote to Delta Zeta sorority in 1919-1920, but the group did not stay long. In 1920, Delta Zeta moved next door to the boys of Acacia on Buffalo Street. Why did they stay only one year? Perhaps the notoriously fussy Harriet was too much for the women of the sorority, or perhaps Harriet could not stand riotous college girls roaming her family's home. In any case, these plans call for an apartment addition to be built over the old kitchen area on the first floor, and changes to be made to the second floor for bedroom space. In this way, Harriet could rent out an apartment to a tenant while maintaing her privacy in the other rooms of the house. Or, vice versa, she could live in the apartment while renting the rest of the house to a professor and his family. In any case, these plans were never implemented. I wonder, if they had, would Acacia ever have come to 318 Highland Road?

Post on Centennial Horizon, spring 2006

The next issue of the Traveler, due sometime this month, will contain the second number of the Centennial Horizon, the alumni publication designed to update Cornell Acacians on our centennial celebration in 2007. Be on the look out for this newsletter, as it contains all the important information you will need to start making your plans for 2007 today!