Words are the only things that last forever; they are more durable than the eternal hills. - William Hazlitt, English essayist

What’s big, red, and is celebrated like a hockey version of Mardi Gras? That would be Rensselaer’s Big Red Freakout, of course!

Campus Dormitory: The Warren House, acquired with the 1905 purchase of the Warren estate property, was converted into a student dormitory in 1907 and remained the only campus housing until 1916.

Student Army Training Corps, '86 Field, RPI, 1917 The first week of April 2017 marks the one hundredth anniversary of the United States entry into the Great War, or the First World War as it came to be called. On April 2, President Woodrow Wilson went before a joint session of Congress to request a declaration of war against Germany.

The first two buildings erected on the Warren estate property, purchased by the Institute after the 1904 fire which destroyed the Main Building, were the

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.

In our last “Continuing up the Hill” post we described the acquisition of the Warren property in 1905 following the fire which destroyed the Main Building. Along with a house and stable, the property contained 10.5 acres. During the next two years the Institute purchased more land.

This Friday is RPI's 4th annual Spirit Day, in which member's of the Rensselaer community are encouraged to show their pride by wearing or displaying RPI gear. We consider spirit everyday here in the Archives where it pervades the memorabilia collections that we house. We have certain items because they say Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute but we don't know who owned them, wore them, or touched them. We simply know that at some point in history certain items had particular significance to someone!

The construction of the Panama Canal begins with the French. In 1875, while the United States was conducting surveys across Mexico and Nicaragua, trying to find the right canal route, France became very active and ambitious, eager to make their mark. The French spirit had been so greatly aroused by Ferdinand de Lesseps’s completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, that France decided to take the lead and attempt to conquer the Isthmus of Panama. Again, RPI Engineers were involved, in varying capacities.

 “I remember my first chemistry professor…he was in the front of the class of course, and he said, ‘This reminds me of classes I had’--and he mentions where he was at the time--because that was co-ed. Here I am right in the middle of the first row with about…sixty fellows.”