August 15, 2014 marked the 100th anniversary of the Panama Canal - its completion being one of the greatest feats of engineering by mankind, and one which rested on an idea four centuries old!

We don't really know what to make of this photograph! Can any of our readers shed light on the Who, When, and Why of it? Of course anything else you'd like to share about the photograph will be appreciated. Thanks! Yours Truly, the Archivists

During the mid-19th and early 20th centuries fire twice played a seminal role in determining the Institute’s future location.

I was looking for a good sports theme for this post when I read that the RPI women’s lacrosse team was hosting the Liberty League championships this year.  I decided 2014 would be as good a time as any to watch my first lacrosse game.  I was not disappointed!

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.

Who is this man? What is he looking at? What is he doing? I think documentation meets artistic license, but my colleague thinks she knows things about the image and the gentleman depicted that might challenge my subjective interpretation. Our student assistant has offered a scientific perspective.

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.

 “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.”

The construction of the Main Building in 1864 marked the beginning of the steady expansion of Rensselaer’s campus up the hill on Troy’s eastern edge. There were two exceptions: the Gymnasium (the subject of our December 3 post) built just below the Main Building in 1887 and the lesser known Alumni Building erected on Second Street next to the Troy Savings Bank in 1893.

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