Diversity at Rensselaer

Aniceto Garcia Menocal, RPI Class of 1862

Aniceto Garcia Menocal

The following selected resources will help identify materials in the Institute Archives and Special Collections Department which contain historical information about Rensselaer's diverse student population and members of the Rensselaer community spanning almost two centuries. Please contact us to discuss your research needs or if you have questions regarding the resources listed below.

See also, the online exhibit Engineering Exports: RPI Alumni in Latin America, 1850-1890.

Please note that we actively collect student clubs at Rensselaer that document the diverse history of the Institute. For more information please see our acquisition policy page and information about preserving student club history! We're here to help!

Campus newsletters

  • Review (1964 – 2000).

College Catalogs

  • Early Catalogs (1826 – 1901).
  • Bound Catalogs (1852 – present).

Directories

  • Register of Students (1930, 1949). Earlier registers can be found in the Catalogs.
  • Alumni Directory (1960, 1966, 1972, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 1999).
  • Directory of Faculty, Staff, and Students (1947-48 – 1965-66).
  • Directory of Faculty and Staff (1966-67 – present).
  • Student Directories (1966-67 – 1999-2000).

RPI Bulletins

  • Photographic Reproductions of Work of Graduates (1916, 1921, 1926, 1931).

Student Publications

  • The Transit (1865 – present). Yearbook.
  • The Polytechnic (1869, 1885 – present). Student newspaper.
  • The Pup (1924 – 1951). Humor magazine.
  • The Bachelor (1953 – 1971). Humor magazine.
  • The Unicorn (1972 – 1983). Humor magazine.
  • Polemic (1980 – 1986). Humor magazine.
  • Rensselaer Engineer (1947 – present). Scientific and engineering magazine.
  • Gorgon (1961 – present). Literary magazine.

Student Handbooks

  • Handbook for International Students (1977-78).
  • Student Handbook (1896 – 1915).
  • The Rensselaer Hand Book (1915 – 1968).
  • Various titles from the Dean of Students Office (1966 – 1978).
  • Rensselaer Handbook (1978 – present).

Alumni newsletters and magazines, (1928-present)

Faculty/Alumni Files | Information about individuals associated with Rensselaer (students, faculty, staff, trustees, etc.), including articles, publications, clippings, vitae, and other materials. Examples include Rensselaer’s first Black graduate, Garnet Baltimore (Class of 1881), and RPI President Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson (1999 – present).

Student Life Collection, 1866 – present, (MC 50) | Documentation of social, religious, political, cultural and scientific student organizations and activities, including:

  • Arab Student Association.
  • Black Cultural Center.
  • Black Students Alliance.
  • Chinese American Student Association.
  • Chinese Students’ Alliance.
  • India Club.
  • International Students Association.
  • Latin Students Association.
  • MOBY (Motivation of Black Youth).
  • Rensselaer Society of Black Engineers.
  • Rensselaer Ukrainian-American Student Society.

Subject File | Articles, clippings, reports, illustrations, and miscellaneous documents concerning a wide range of topics and events.

  • Union Hispano Americano 
    • Please contact the Archives for lists of UHA members at Rensselaer from 1900 - 1920
    • Please contact the Archives for digitized content from the Student Life collection highlighting PIA or PLA content
  • Panama Canal.

Photograph Collection – Individuals (AC 18, AC 16) | Alphabetically arranged prints and negatives of people affiliated with Rensselaer.

Photograph Collection – Subjects (AC 19, AC 17) | Prints and negatives of activities, events, and places at RPI and Troy, New York.

Class Collection, 1852 – present (AC 26) | Documents related to Rensselaer graduating classes, including class histories and information concerning reunions and other alumni events. Also, The Years of “86”: A History of a Class of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which contains biographical information on members of the Class of 1886, including students from Panama, Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, and Columbia.

Women’s Club of RPI. Records, 1935 – present, (AC 5) | Documents the club’s work in minority activities and issues, such as the Mobilization of Black Youth (MOBY) program.

Student Protest Movement. Records, 1968 – 1972 (MC 52) | Broadsides, correspondence, newsletters, pamphlets and other student publications relating to Rensselaer’s student Left.

Biographies of alumni can be found by following the link to Henry B. Nason’s Biographical Record of the Officers and Graduates of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1824-1886, (1887).

Please follow the link to DSpace@RPI for the following digitized histories:

  • Phelan, Ross, & Westerdahl, Rensselaer: Where Imagination Achieves the Impossible, (1995).
  • Resneck, Samual, Education for a Technological Society, (1968).
  • Ricketts, Palmer C., History of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1824-1934, (1934) .
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