among RPI’s greatest leaders

This weekend the Rensselaer community will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson’s tenure as president as well as commemorate the first decade of the Rensselaer Plan and completion of the Renaissance at Rensselaer capital campaign.  Dr. Jackson’s accomplishments are readily apparent and widely publicized.  If you have any affiliation with Rensselaer, you know [...]

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at the beginning of the Hockey Line

The Hockey Line is a long standing (no pun intended) tradition at RPI.  When and why did it start?  Before 1972, student tickets rotated through sections on the North and West sides during the season so that everyone had a chance to sit in the best seats on the North side.  Brace poles, in place [...]

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Ask AmytheArchivist

One of my primary duties is answering people’s questions — we call this reference.  They may be quick questions — when did my great-grandfather attend RPI? — or they may be in-depth research questions — what were the origins of American human space flight? For in-depth research, I help people access collections where they search [...]

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the mascot with a short life

The  “Engineers” moniker for athletic teams goes back to the 1920s. It was a good idea when the name summed up RPI quite well and an “image” of athletics was unnecessary. Marketing athletics can be tricky and fan support fickle, however, when there is no mascot to relate to. An attempt to fix this problem [...]

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a gap in Grand Marshal history

There were no Grand Marshals elected from 1890-1893 — an unexplained gap in a long history of Grand Marshals. There were no wars, no national crises and no apparent upheavals at the Institute.  Published histories do not provide an explanation and references to it merely mention that the office was suspended during this time period. [...]

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RPI Day?

Did you know that March 21st , 1974 was proclaimed “RPI Day” in New York State?
Resolved, That Governor Malcolm Wilson be and hereby is respectfully memorialized to publish and declare by appropriate proclamation to the people of the state designating for observance this year the twenty-first day of March as “RPI Day”, since it was [...]

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women’s history up-close and local

March is National Women’s History Month and it seems fitting to focus some attention on the history of women at RPI.  We have a great online exhibit, Women at Rensselaer, that provides lots of information in a historical chronology.  I also created a quick slideshow of some of the “firsts” for women at the Institute [...]

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Winter Carnival

Mid-winter fesitivities with various names have come and gone over the years at Rensselaer. In 1949, the Junior class planned a Snowflake Saturnalia dance in lieu of the Junior Prom. The Rensselaer Outing Club (ROC) organized outdoor activities during the 24 hours leading up to Saturnalia and dubbed it “Winter Weekend.” The schedule [...]

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‘86 Field, 1906 A.D.

The 2008 football team now has the distinction of playing the last intercollegiate game on the ‘86 Field. So when was the first football game played on this field?  The name may lead one to believe that it all goes back to 1886.  Well, in a way it does.  The field is [...]

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presidential campaign stops

On October 8, 1952, ten thousand people gathered to hear Dwight D. Eisenhower, Republican candidate for president, give a campaign speech that blamed the Truman administration for leading the nation into a “policy of inflation.”  Two days later, 8,500 people gathered in the same place to hear the Democratic candidate for president, Adlai Stevenson.  Stevenson [...]

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