On July 6, 1947, Phis and guests from all over gathered in Oxford, Ohio, to celebrate the cornerstone laying of the new home of Phi Delta Theta. Sitting directly across from Miami’s campus and on the site of Benjamin Harrison’s wife’s childhood manor, the building was to be finished in time for the upcoming General Convention.

Participants of the ceremony placed a 100-year time capsule in the cornerstone of the building containing the following items: Palmer’s History of Phi Delta Theta, Catalogue of Phi Delta Theta (tenth edition), The Ritual, Fraternity Constitution and General Statues, The Songs of Phi Delta Theta, The Scroll, The Palladium, The Phikiea Manual, The Crew That Sails the Phi, 1942 General Convention Proceedings, a letter over the signature of General Council President Admiral Cluverius, a badge, pledge button, ring, recognition button, and an alumni charm.

During the Centennial General Convention in 1948, the new General Headquarters and Memorial Library building was dedicated with hundreds of Phis in attendance. The purpose of the building was to provide a permanent home in Oxford for Phi Delta Theta while providing space for both historical archives and Fraternity staff.