RIT Archives Collection Development and Policy of Use
Purpose
The collection reflects the Institute's growth from the founding of its parent
organization in 1829, the Rochester Athenaeum, through the present day. First
organized in 1960, the nucleus of the collection came from the President's Office,
the Registrar, and University News Services. The RIT Archives collects, organizes,
preserves and displays these materials and makes them available for research.
It also houses graduate student masters theses, doctoral dissertations and published
books by faculty. The Archives will preserve up to five copies of any item.
The Archives will acquire pertinent material and employ recommended methods
of preservation, and proper housing techniques.
The Archives will also:
- prepare or assist with historical displays throughout the Institute
- provide photographs or items for Institute publications
- lend or supply material for presentations on RIT history
- compile class lists and class histories for Alumni Relations
events
- provide material when feasible for external publication of research
projects. Credit should read: Rochester Institute of Technology
Archives
Facility
Located on the third floor of RIT Library, the Archives is housed in a secured,
restricted environment that is temperature and humidity controlled
for the preservation of paper and photographs. It forms the primary
source for the study of the history and development of the Institute.
Contents of Collection
Photographs: 15,000 photographs and negatives, 8x10, 5x7 and 4x5 formats
Documents: Correspondence, reports, memoranda, brochures
Catalogs: Course catalogs and descriptions dating from 1909
Institute Annual Reports: dating from 1858
Newspaper clippings and scrapbooks: dating from 1885
Yearbooks: dating from 1912
Convocation programs: dating from 1920
Memorabilia: artifacts, objects, apparel, plaques
Publications: Institute publications; Alumni publications from 1942;
Reporter Magazine from 1951
Audio and videotapes, films, slides
Policy of Use
The collection, except for items deemed confidential by donors, is for the
use of students, alumni, faculty, staff, administrators and independent
researchers, and is available only under close supervision.
Staff
Archivist: Becky Simmons, 585.475.2557 or raswml@rit.edu
Hours of Service
During the academic year (September - May), the Archives is open:
- Monday, Wednesday & Friday 9:00 am to noon
- Tuesday & Thursday 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
- Thursday evening 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
- Please call for Summer hours
To make an appointment for times other than open hours, please call: 475-2557.
Activities
The Archives serves nearly 2000 users a year requesting information about the
Institute or requiring to see rare books housed in the Archives for appropriate
security and preservation. Seventy-three percent of users are students, 20 percent
faculty, staff and administration, and 7 percent external researchers.
The collection dates back to 1858 reports and includes items such as yearbooks
from 1912, Reporter magazine from 1951, tens of thousands of photographs and
negatives, slides, books, tapes, graduate theses, objects, housed in an environmentally-controlled
facility built to specification in 1991.
Recent projects included historical displays in celebration of the inauguration
of Dr. Simone, researching of early Institute photographs for use in the RIT
exhibition booth at the Riverside Convention Center for Montage '93, the receipt
and housing of over 50 cartons of the papers and personal memorabilia of Dr.
and Mrs. Mark Ellingson.
Frequent inquiries by students focus on facts about the downtown campus, current
and past enrollment statistics, the history of athletics, how streets and buildings
got their respective names, Spirit the tiger mascot pelt, the story of the Tojo
Memorial Garden.
The collection is for use by not only RIT students, alumni, faculty, staff
and administration, but by any member of the community interested in the history
of the Institute.
[Revised 9/94]
Maintained by Sheila Smokey
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