At a Fearsome Cost: 18th century New York and the Revolution
In commemoration of America at 250, the Institute Archives and Special Collections at RPI is pleased to present this exhibition of original eighteenth-century manuscripts. Drawn primarily from the estate of Isadore M. Fixman (RPI Class of 1927 and Trustee), these documents provide firsthand perspectives on colonial New York and the American Revolution. Additional materials from other repositories are included with attribution where appropriate.
The exhibition features manuscripts from the Collins, Schuyler, and Van Rensselaer family papers, as well as selections from the A. Walton White Evans Family Papers. Together, these collections preserve correspondence, military documents, legal papers, and other records that illuminate the political, military, and social history of eighteenth-century New York.
The documents presented here reflect a period of profound transformation. Until the American War of Independence, New York was a royal colony within the British Empire. Much of its territory remained contested, as New France, Indigenous nations, British authorities, and colonial settlers competed for control of the Hudson–Champlain corridor, a strategic gateway to the interior of North America. New York also maintained contentious relationships with its New England neighbors, where overlapping land claims produced recurring disputes and episodes of violence. Long before independence, the colonies were often divided by competing political, economic, and territorial interests.
The American Revolution was simultaneously a war for independence, a civil conflict, and part of a broader global struggle among European empires. This exhibition reflects the perspectives of military officers, political leaders, and prominent families. The experiences of women, Indigenous peoples, Loyalists, enslaved and indentured laborers, and many other communities are less visible within these particular records. Recognizing both what archival sources reveal and what they omit is an essential part of understanding the complexities of the Revolutionary era.
For a closer look at select digitized material from the 18th century from the Institute Archives and Special Collections visit: Digital Assets
Please use the Archives Reference and Research Submission Form for all research queries.
Web Archived Online Exhibits
A web archive of an IASC exhibit created by Institute Archives and Special Collections, RPI in 2007. As of 2024, this exhibit has been transformed into a WACZ file for web archiving, and is only accessible via Digital Assets in a web viewer. This exhibit highlights the history of women associated with RPI.
A web archive of an IASC exhibit created by Institute Archives and Special Collections, RPI in 2007. As of 2024, this exhibit has been transformed into a WACZ file for web archiving, and is only accessible via Digital Assets in a web viewer. This exhibit showcases the Williamsburg Bridge, and the Rensselaer alum who helped construct it. Featured are photographs of the bridge, during and after construction, and photographs of the engineers, with their names and graduation dates listed.
A web archive of an online exhibit, created by the Institute Archives and Special Collections staff at RPI c. 2003. As of 2024, this exhibit has been transformed into a WACZ file for web archiving, and is only accessible via Digital Assets in a web viewer.
A web archive of an online exhibit, created by the Institute Archives and Special Collections staff at RPI c. 2003. As of 2024, this exhibit has been transformed into a WACZ file for web archiving, and is only accessible via Digital Assets in a web viewer. Symbols of the Institute highlights 200 years of seals, logos, and official branding of the RPI up to 2009.
A web archive of an online exhibit, created by the Institute Archives and Special Collections staff at RPI c. 2006. As of 2024, this exhibit has been transformed into a WACZ file for web archiving, and is only accessible via Digital Assets in a web viewer. This exhibit highlights RPI civil engineering students’ historic “summer surveys,” fieldwork trips where they practiced surveying techniques around the Troy region.
A web archived online exhibit created by the Institute Archives and Special Collections staff at RPI c. 2014. As of 2024, this exhibit has been transformed into a WACZ file for web archiving, and is only accessible via Digital Assets in web viewer. This exhibit was created to showcase performance spaces at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Highlighted is the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) that was completed in October 2008.
A web archived online exhibit created in 2006, by the Institute Archives and Special Collections staff at RPI in 2006. As of 2024, this exhibit has been transformed into a WACZ file for web archiving, and is only accessible via Digital Assets in web viewer. This exhibit was created to showcase particular Rensselaer engineering alumni, who graduated during the years of 1850 and 1890.
A web archive of an online exhibit, created by the Institute Archives and Special Collections staff at RPI c. 2004. As of 2024, this exhibit has been transformed into a WACZ file for web archiving, and is only accessible via Digital Assets in a web viewer. The Mr. Rensselaer exhibit focuses on Palmer Chamberlain Ricketts, a former student, professor, director, and president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The exhibit provides a brief overview of Palmer C. Ricketts' storied career, and showcases a few items from the Palmer C. Ricketts papers and other related collections.
A web archive of an online exhibit, created by the Institute Archives and Special Collections staff at RPI c. 2007. As of 2024, this exhibit has been transformed into a WACZ file for web archiving, and is only accessible via Digital Assets in a web viewer. This exhibit highlights RPI's benefactor, Margaret Olivia Sage who supported the creation of the Laboratory and therefore the creation of RPI's electrical and mechanical engineering degree programs.
A web archive of an online exhibit, created by the Institute Archives and Special Collections staff at RPI c. 2008. As of 2024, this exhibit has been transformed into a WACZ file for web archiving, and is only accessible via Digital Assets in a web viewer. The RPI Student Traditions online exhibit features a multitude of various traditions that Rensselaer students have participated in over the college's 200 year history.
