RPI History Revealed

Posted by Jenifer Monger on June 10, 2013
The Archives has a new exhibit on display in Folsom Library! We are showcasing fourteen letters, written from 1819 to 1837 by Rensselaer School co- founder Amos Eaton to Emma Willard. Mrs.
Posted by Jenifer Monger on May 20, 2013
"On the 15th of September, 1909, there entered into Sage Laboratory a crowd of fellows who were to represent the class of 1913.
Posted by Jenifer Monger on April 18, 2013
We are pressing on with the Mystery Image series. Here we present another unusual scene, but details abound in this image: an antique car, a fire hydrant, a toy baby, a toy rocket(?) and a man wearing a police cap standing on what we presume to be the hood of that car.
Posted by Jenifer Monger on April 5, 2013
On April 3, Rensselaer lost a true patriot of the Institute, Carl Westerdahl.  Carl’s passing hits close to home to many in the RPI community due to his enduring relationships with students, alumni, staff, and especially those of us in the Institute Archives and Special Coll
Posted by T. A. Gobert on March 8, 2013
Every now and then unusual things cross my desk and I get to figure out what to do with them!  One case in point is a shopping bag of sports memorabilia, a pair of skates, and four wooden hockey sticks that were forwarded to me recently.
Posted by Jenifer Monger on February 15, 2013
When we provide titles or descriptions to images in our database, they're usually very basic and point out identifiable characteristics of the photo so we can easily retrieve it for patrons or internal use. For example, the description for this image might be "Man using torch in lab."
Posted by John Dojka on January 23, 2013
Following the construction of the Main Building and Winslow Laboratory, Rensselaer’s trustees began planning for a third instructional facility—an astronomical observatory. In order to erect the observatory more land was needed, and in 1877 the Ranken property, situated on the east side of Eighth Street across from the Winslow Building, was purchased. The property had a 150 foot frontage on Eighth Street and extended about 500 feet to the top of the hill. The purchase included a house and stable. The Ranken House was about 40 feet square by two stories high and built of brick.
Posted by Jenifer Monger on December 12, 2012
Just for fun, we decided to mine the archives for some of those interesting items that don't quite fit into our usual posts. Instead, we selected some gems that convey a campus mood or a mindset if you will!
Posted by Jenifer Monger on November 28, 2012
Image I retrieved another image from the "unidentified" box of photographs today in the Archives.
Back to top