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!

Image I retrieved another image from the "unidentified" box of photographs today in the Archives.

Following the completion of the Main Building in 1864 planning was initiated for a chemical laboratory for the Institute. Construction was started in 1865 and work on the brick structure was completed the following year. The cost of the building was $10,000, half of which was donated by Rensselaer President John Flack Winslow.

Image Mystery Image #30 generated an incredible amount of interest!  I'm so pleased it was such a great hit.

For those who follow sports, the crisp air of fall is strongly associated with an old tradition: RPI football. Intercollegiate games have been played at Rensselaer since 1886, albeit on borrowed fields and without a coach for the first twenty years. When the ’86 Field was completed in 1906, football soon became a popular spectator sport, as evidenced by the wonderful programs that promoted the team’s games.

On May 20, 1862, 10 days after Rensselaer’s physical plant was completely destroyed in The Great Troy Fire, the Institute’s trustees began planning a new home for Rensselaer.  Under the leadership of

Fishing through some unidentified photographs yesterday, I came across a folder labeled "Students" and within it I found this great photograph of a cheering crowd. As I stood above the image smiling (because this photo told me it was the next mystery image), I asked silently, who, what, when, and where? Look at their faces, there's so much intensity, excitement, maybe even dismay, perhaps suspension. This crowd is packed into a space with wood and leather seats, and one gentleman is holding what looks like a program with the Rensselaer seal on it. Hmmmm!

In 1947, Samuel Rezneck (Professor of History at the Institute) replied to a researcher who asked why the Institute had adopted cherry and white as its school colors. We have Rezneck's response to the query which reveals some colorful articles he found in The Rensselaer Polytechnic that I sought out for myself and couldn't resist sharing with our readers.

May 10th of this year was the 150th anniversary of Troy’s Great Fire. The fire destroyed a major portion of the city’s downtown including the Institute’s entire physical plant. It was an important event in Rensselaer’s history because it marks the beginning of the move of the Institute from downtown Troy up the hill to its present location.

With the new academic year approaching I decided to stage an exhibition of signs, seals, & symbols designed and used by the Institute’s offices and students throughout its history. The main point emphasized is that Rensselaer reaches its community through numerous visual methods.