One hundred years ago, commencement for the class of 1911 was held on June 14th at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. It was a momentous occasion. The first degrees for electrical and mechanical engineering were awarded that day, nine EE and three ME degrees. The graduates and their guests were honored by the presence of Rear Admiral Robert E. Peary, who delivered the commencement address.

Julius Skilton In remembrance of Cinco de Mayo, I thought I would share an interesting RPI connection to the end of the French occupation of Mexico. Julius A. Skilton, Class of 1849, became a physician and practiced as a surgeon during the Civil War.

I often browse through old issues of The Polytechnic looking for answers to burning questions. Today's question brought me to the 1925 issues. Sometimes I happen to read headlines, articles or ads that make me smile. Allow me to share my latest find. :)

Winter Carnival is this weekend, and I'm excited to see a couple of old traditions being resurrected for the event.

Miss Harriet Peck was the first RPI librarian. She was hired in 1912 when a small library for the Institute was designated for a library, which contained about 9000 volumes. Miss Peck had a degree in library science and experience working in public libraries. She immediately went to work creating the first card catalog for the book collection at RPI.

Visitors to the Archives often remark that we have a lot of cool stuff.  I agree!  Most recently, I found a small photographic flip book.  The subject of the flip book is William B.

Today we celebrate 175 Years of Civil Engineering at Rensselaer!

Aaron Olmstead earned a B.N.S. and a C.E.

The Class of 1838 included some rather notable alumni.  Two of them are in the Alumni Hall of Fame and several more are worthy candidates.  When I read over the accomplishments of these alums, I'm amazed at their ambition.  Ezra Carr, for instance, had an astounding resume.&nbsp

The first civil engineering graduates pursued a variety of careers.  In addition to the obvious careers in railroad or bridge engineering, some were lawyers, some doctors, and a couple were even men of the cloth.  Fletcher Hawley was one of those men.  Fletcher was a care