Name/Title
RPI 1896 Yearbook ExceptsEntry/Object ID
2022.1.11Description
This entry documents an 1896 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) yearbook that featured several amusing stories, photos, and cartoons regarding 80 students from the RPI classes of 1895 and 1896 who traveled to Sand Lake in early June through early July of 1894 and temporarily resided at the Crooked Lake Hotel or other adjacent Sand Lake hotels for approximately a month while completing field work for their engineering survey classes. The visit obviously became a huge highlight of their academic careers given the time, effort, and pages dedicated to commemorating their experiences. The stories begin on page 44 of the downloadable PDF of 53 pages of excerpts from the yearbook and describe the student's travel to Sand Lake on a stagecoach, explorations of the local lakes and countryside, interaction with Sand Lake residents, attendance of several special events, perceived cultural enlightenment of the local population, and overall appreciation of the area. The full yearbook is available from the RPI archives. The excepts provide an interesting overview of the nature of such publications around the turn of the 19th century. In addition, the following entries provide JPG photos of the Sand Lake specific pages which appeared in the "Literature" portion of the yearbook along with other amusing anecdotes regarding RPI life. Local residents Paul and Kathy Albertson discovered the yearbook in the attic of their home located at 56 Pikes Pond Road in Nassau, NY. While the exact connection of the yearbook to their home is unclear, their residence is a former one-room schoolhouse that was combined into the Averill Park Central School system and converted to a private residence in 1935. Prior to the Albertsons, the home belonged to Peg (Margaret) Woodhouse, whose sister served as the last teacher at the one-room schoolhouse. Peg was the youngest daughter of Albert Fox Demers, who was married to Abigail Ellsworth Boughton, whose father was Artemus Bailey Boughton, whose parents were Mary Bailey and Dr. Smith Boughton of Anti-Rent War fame. The yearbook excepts include the names of the RPI faculty at the times and all three class years of RPI students in case anyone can help make additional connections of the yearbook to the history of Sand Lake and/or former schoolhouse. Per the web links portion of this entry, SLHS President Peter Finn nicely summarized and described the Sand Lake related yearbook entries during a January of 2023, SLHS Show and Tell, program presentation. The original yearbook remains in the Albertson's private collection. Many thanks to them for saving the yearbook and bringing it to Pete's attention.Cataloged By
Michael Frederick PerryCreated By
curator@slhstrustees.orgCreate Date
February 17, 2023Updated By
curator@slhstrustees.orgUpdate Date
March 28, 2024
