Fishing through some unidentified photographs yesterday, I came across a folder labeled "Students" and within it I found this great photograph of a cheering crowd. As I stood above the image smiling (because this photo told me it was the next mystery image), I asked silently, who, what, when, and where? Look at their faces, there's so much intensity, excitement, maybe even dismay, perhaps suspension. This crowd is packed into a space with wood and leather seats, and one gentleman is holding what looks like a program with the Rensselaer seal on it. Hmmmm! 
What do you think? Can you tell us where they are? Can you clue us in on what event this could be? Give us a shout, let us know!
Comments
Sure looks like the field house - but at least prior to 1969. When I arrived in September 1969, the seats in the Field House were wood and instead of plexiglass there was chain link fencing on the end boards!
In reply to by egglel
Thank you! Everyone mentioned the Houston Fieldhouse, and Dave you mentioned 1969. So I did some investigating myself.
Based on the clothing and haircuts, I guessed this photo came from the 1950s. I wanted to see if any of the hockey programs from that era had the RPI seal on the front or back cover.
None of the regular-season programs have that insignia on them, but one smaller item does. It’s the official program of the NCAA hockey championships which were held – you guessed it – at the RPI Field House. Rensselaer was the first eastern school to host the “Frozen Four,” but unfortunately our team didn’t make it into the tournament that year. You can see <a href="http://digitool.rpi.edu:1801/webclient/DeliveryManager?application=DIGI…; title="NCAA 1959 program" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">a digital version of the program</a> in Rensselaer Digital Collections; the seal is on the back cover.
While I can’t prove this is what’s depicted in Mystery Image #30, it sure seems likely!
Did you compare it to any of the old fraternity photos in the archives? The guy holding the paper with crest is wearing a shirt with what appears to be the Greek letter phi.
Looks like a hockey game in the Houston Field House to me!
I agree with Holly if you look closely in the background you can see a G and an H for section markers and looks like the architecture is that of the Field House.
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