More about RIT History

Resources For Learning about RIT's History

RIT History Timeline

RIT History Timeline  An overview of the major events in RIT's development,1829 to the present.

RIT 175:  Rochester and its Institute

Using historical photographs, historical footage, interviews and animation, this hour long documentary chronicles 175 years of RIT's history from its beginnings as the Rochester Athenaeum located in downtown Rochester. Produced for RIT's 175th anniversary celebration in 2004, the film was a co-production of Rochester Institute of Technology and WXXI Public Broadcasting. Students from the School of Film and Animation assisted in the project. Additional content includes extended interviews and student-produced short films.

Interview with Malcom Spaull, director of the film and chair, School of Film and Animation.

Interview with Al Davis, Mr. RIT. Davis began his long career at RIT in 1938.

Interview with Al Simone, president of RIT, 1992 to 2007.

And on a lighter side, two short films by students in the School of Film and Animation.

Student 1

Student 2

Bibliography of RIT History

All books are available in the library at RIT. 

Gordon, Dane R.  Rochester Institute of Technology: Industrial Development and Educational Innovation in an American City.  Rochester, N.Y.:  RIT Press, 2007.

Hoke, George W.  Blazing New Trails: The Biography of a Pioneer in Education. Rochester, N.Y.:  Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute, 1937.

Taylor, Gladys M.  A Bibliography of Institute History.  Rochester, N.Y.: Wallace Memorial Library, RIT, 1978.

Lang, Harry G. and Karen K. Conner.  From Dream to Reality: The National Technical Institute for the Deaf: A College of Rochester Institute of Technology.  Rochester, N.Y., 2001.

Lawson, Alexander S.  The School of Printing; Rochester Institute of Technology.  Rochester, N.Y.:  The Press of the Good Mountain, 1982.

Pankow, David, ed. View It!: The Art and Architecture of RIT. Rochester, NY:  RIT Cary Graphic Arts Press, 2004.

Scanlon, Patrick M. A Discipline the University Didn't Know it Wanted:  A Brief History of the Department of Communication at Rochester Institute of Technology. Rochester, N.Y.:  P. Scanlon, 2010.

Shoemaker, William S.  History of the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences.  Rochester, N.Y., 1980.

Past Meets Present:  Recovering the History of Women at Rochester Institute of Technology, 1885-1945.  Rochester, N.Y.:  The Pathways Collective, 2009.