We haven’t blogged about mystery images in a while, but since they’re always fun I’d like to introduce a twist on that theme. Today I want to share a couple of “mystery publications” with our readers: KITE and Student Buyer’s Guide (SBG).  I found several issues of each while organizing some old campus publications that were donated to RPI.  Now I want to know more about them!

The end of the Fall semester is always associated with the holiday break. As for faculty and staff, we go our separate ways for awhile, and head off to enjoy a break with friends, family, and loved ones.

Every year leading up to commencement, we revisit the proud heritage that we have here at Rensselaer and offer the community glimpses into our history.  To the Class of 2016, we congratulate you and wish you the best moving forward. You too are leaving a legacy behind, as did the students in 1916.

The students formed the R.P.I. Union in the fall of 1890 stemming from a desire to be taken more seriously for their athletic endeavors, to be more competitive with rival colleges, and to create social ties with Troy citizens (The Poly Dec. 20, 1890). At this time, the first President of the Union, W.C.H.

It’s no secret that the Grand Marshal is symbolized by a top hat – the GM even writes a column by that title in the Polytechnic.

In our efforts to bridge the gap between the past and present, we share with the Class of 2014 a look back one hundred years ago, when Rensselaer bid farewell to the Class of 1914.

As many of you know, the main publication on the RPI campus is the Rensselaer Polytechnic.  But did you know why the Polytechnic was revived in 1885, after being out of publication for nearly fifteen years? I stumbled across the answer to this question while completing my first project as an intern here at RPI, digitizing nineteenth century student newspapers.

The Institute Archives wishes everyone a happy Spirit Day at Rensselaer. 

Image The staff of the Institute Archives is pleased to announce the digitization of back issues of RPI’s student newspaper, The Renss

Lately we’ve been reviewing our collections for information about the era in which the first women students were admitted to Rensselaer.  This occurred in the fall of 1942, after the United States entered World War II, as industries clamored for female engineers to help r