Items

• Mark Ellingson Standing in Open Field of New Henrietta Campus, June 26, 1965
  This architectural rendering of RIT's Henrietta campus, a four-color reproduction printed at RIT School of Printing, was the centerfold of a promotional booklet about the new campus. The new campus was designed to accommodate the growing population of students while planning for future expansions. In setting the tone for what would become an RIT aesthetic, every building is constructed from brick, thereby earning the campus’s moniker as “Brick City.”
• Campus Plan Map, 1967
  This large print shows the plan for RIT’s new Henrietta campus, including dormitories, a dining hall, and academic buildings. Many of the buildings on our current campus can be identified on this map. The Gordon Field House and adjoining buildings are consistent with these initial plans. However, the legend points to a building labeled as “Health Sciences,” which was never constructed. The map also shows plans for future dormitories and an earmarked location for what would become the Edith Woodward Memorial Pool (no longer extant).
• Frosh Pennant
  Pennant used to advertise Frosh Daze
• RIT Reporter scrapbook
  A scrapbook containing news clippings from the RIT Reporter, and various other local newspapers at the time. The scrapbooks contain content parallel to the RIT Reporter collection
• RIT 1967 Academic Calendar
  This academic calendar show all of the important dates from September 1967 to September 1968, including the academic calendar (RIT was on the quarter system at the time), holidays, open and close dates of the residence halls, and course categories.
• Techmilla 1967
  RIT’s year book for the class of 1967. This includes a brief description of Frosh Daze, the new student orientation program at the time. As one would expect, there were several photographs of RIT graduates, many of which were from the Rochester area.
• Frosh Daze Button
  A name tag in the form of a plastic button. The words “Frosh Daze 67 RIT” are printed on the button, and the button is for Michael Buonaccorso.
• Taxidermy Letter by David Page
  This 8.5x11 inch business letter was written in June of 1967 by David Page, one of SpiRIT’s handlers who previously served as the school’s human mascot, and addressed to Dr. James B. Campbell, Vice President of Student Personnel Services at RIT. In the letter, Page discusses the plans to have the deceased SpiRIT’s pelt cured by a taxidermist, and turned into “a small tiger skin rug… for a trophy case on the new campus.” Contrasting this endeavor to the taxidermy often utilized by trophy hunters who actively seek out animals to kill, Page states: “the spirit of the tiger has done much in the past to enrich the tradition of RIT and it can do much more in the future. It is a small but integral part of RIT as an institution and should never be allowed to fade as the school grows.”
• Pelt of SpiRIT the Tiger Mascot
  This is the pelt of SpiRIT, which was preserved in 1967. Both students and faculty, including David Page, worked to ensure that the tiger’s legacy would be sustained after SpiRIT had to be put down due to untreatable medical issues. Although the pelt usually stays at its home in the school’s archive, the mascot still fosters a sense of student identity, particularly when incoming Freshmen are given the opportunity to view and experience the preserved SpiRIT of RIT during new student orientation. (Pelt not on view during the onsite exhibition in 2017-2018. Please contact the RIT Archives to view.)