Today is the 189th birthday of Rensselaer and weR: The Spirit of Rensselaer Society had a fabulous idea - to serve cake in front of the Troy Building!

Presentation: "Exploring Space at RPI" Space can be described as “the stage upon which the drama of communal life unfolds.” At Rensselaer, the academic, athletic, social, and common spaces used, and often created by students and administration have come and gone, ebbing and flowing from one decade to the next.  Assistant Institute Archivist Jenifer Monger has dug deep within the Archives collections to place at center stage key spaces which have been utilized, advocated for, appropriated, and experienced throughout campus and its environs.

Following the construction of the Main Building (1864) and Winslow Laboratory (1866), Rensselaer’s trustees began planning for a third instructional facility—an astronomical observatory.

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

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.

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.

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.

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!