This summer marks the 50th anniversary of STEP (Stevens Technical Enrichment Program) at Stevens Institute of Technology. The STEP program was implemented by former Stevens President, Jess Davis, to address the underrepresentation of minorities and lower-income students in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). An article announcing the STEP program in the Summer 1968 issue of the Stevens Indicator describes the two main purposes of this new program: “First, to stimulate interest in various areas of study with the hope of creating a desire for higher education, especially in the field of science and engineering. Second, to improve the students’ skills in English and Mathematics to enable them to take advantage of the higher education opportunities available to them.”
The STEP program recruits students from high schools in the Hoboken, Jersey City, and NYC area. It’s a pre-college program with students taking summer courses in STEM fields to increase their opportunities and interest in science fields that are not always considered an option by students from underrepresented minority groups.
The first summer of STEP was in June 1968 which was written about in the New York Times on June 30, 1968. That first summer had recruited 32 students from nearby high schools who were recommended for their strong aptitude in math and science. One student named Trevor from Evander Childs High School in the Bronx was quoted as saying “It seems like a lot of fun so far.” He then added that he always got good grades in math, “but I know it’s going to be a lot more work than fun.”
Many students like Trevor were given more exposure to science and engineering fields during high school through the STEP program at Stevens. Not all STEP students ended up in STEM fields, but the students that did go on to study at Stevens boasted of one of the highest graduation rates. Back in the spring of 2008 when the program was celebrating their 40th anniversary the Stevens Indicator stated that “STEP students, in fact, have a slightly higher graduation rate, at 76 percent, than the Stevens’ overall 75 percent graduation rate.”
The STEP program has been a great success at Stevens and continues to reach a wider population of underrepresented student populations in the nearby area. The STEP program has helped play a big part in our increased diversity which plays an essential role in the campus culture and has also helped students build confidence and motivation in demanding STEM fields.
Happy 50th Anniversary, STEP!!
In 1947, a Stevens alumnus wrote to C.H. Waugaman, former Assistant Dean, inquiring as to why Stevens chose Cardinal Red and Silver Gray as their official collegiate colors. He knew the exact shade of red and grey used, but turns out the story surrounding their meaning remained elusive, even to the administration. So Waugaman assigned Frances Duck, the Librarian at the time, to dig through the institutional records and solve this vexing query. During the course of her research, Duck uncovered quite a few anecdotes and hearsay but nothing that pointed to anything official. The search was inconclusive. However, it is worth sharing this one correspondence from Walter Phelps, an active member of the Alumni Association, who recalled a rather simple explanation (as seen in the letter above.) “The story I heard about the Stevens colors was told to me in my freshman year by Carter Page ’87, now deceased. He said a committee appointed to choose the colors had met and after quite a discussion were getting nowhere, when one of the members pulled out his Russian leather pocket book and put a new silver dollar on it and remarked, ‘You can’t beat those colors.’ And the committee agreed.” We also found some correspondence between Waugaman and James Creese, the former Vice President of Stevens and future President of Drexel University. Speaking about the mystery of the Stevens colors, Creese opines that, “If that story of Walter Phelps’ is merely a legend, then I think it’s about time for it to be accredited by some stamp of approval. I like the myth.” We here in the Archives wholeheartedly agree.
It’s National Teacher Appreciation Day and although there are plenty of illustrious Stevens faculty to choose from, we wanted to shine a light on one professor with a rather famous son. Most of us are familiar with Alfred Charles Kinsey, “the world’s most famous sex researcher,” according to the Washington Post, who attended Stevens for two years before dropping out and going on to study Western attitudes towards human sexuality. But lesser known is his father, Alfred Seguine Kinsey, who taught at Stevens for well over half a century. In the late 1800s, Kinsey Sr. began his apprenticeship as a shop boy in the newly founded Stevens Institute of Technology. In 1891 he became an assistant to Professor Denton in the Department of Engineering Practice. Later on 1908, Kinsey was promoted to full-time faculty as head of the Department of Shop Instruction where he remained until his retirement.
Though not the world’s greatest father by most accounts, Kinsey’s contributions to the field of Mechanical Engineering and its practice in the shop were highly influential at the time and are still studied today.
🌍☀️🚯♻️🎉 The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970 to raise public awareness for the plight of the environment and the links between pollution and public health.
48 years ago that day, concerned students at Stevens organized their own all-day event with talks by U.S. Senator Harrison A. Williams, State Senator Frank Guarini, various public officials, and Stevens faculty members. Afterwards, the Hudson River was given a mock funeral as hundreds of solemn mourners marched down the mile long path from the Howe Center to the riverside. Pallbearers clad in black carried a casket marked with the Earth Day symbol. A reporter from The Scotch Plains Times was on hand to describe the scene:
“As hundreds of Stevens students, faculty and Hoboken residents gathered around a casket containing the names of every polluted river in the United States, the Stevens Dramatic Society conducted ‘funeral rites’ for the river. Then a group of students from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School sang folksongs at the ritual, music they had composed themselves to protest the degradation of the American environment.”
Later that night, students staged a candlelight procession through the streets of Hoboken to symbolize the resurrection and rebirth of a dying environment.
You may not know it from the grey skies and pools of mud on the ground, but today is Opening Day for Major League Baseball! ⚾
Throwback to our own 1930 team who ended their season with a middling 5-6 record that while disappointing, was not without its highlights. In one home game against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (featured in the first two photos), Stevens overcame an early 6-1 deficit to slug their way back to a 16-6 victory over the Engineers. A reporter from The Link described their remarkable come from behind win:
“Spring Sports Day! A glaring sun, and hundreds of people decked out in their best for the matchup. But things didn’t look so promising for the home aggregation. The score was 6-1 and smiles were a little forced. Then—a double, a single, a tripe—and Meinhold brought three runs over the plate. Things were looking up. Fourth inning—and give more runs were scored as O’Connor and Meinhold hit home runs in succession. What a club! Things quieted down a little til the seventh inning when Meinhold again crashed through with a triple—and before the dust had settled for that inning, another group of five runs had been chalked up to the credit of Stevens. And when the final reckoning was made, Stevens was head and shoulders above R.P.I. to the tune of 16-6. The game afforded an excellent opportunity for the many spectators to give vent to their feelings, and the field rang with the cheers.”
Meanwhile, the 2018 Ducks teams have been going at it since February with Danny Poidomani on the Men’s Baseball roster pitching to an amazing 1.88 ERA and both Lauren Shirley and Corinne Loncar batting over 400 for Women’s Softball. Go Ducks!
March is National Celery Month and to celebrate, we wanted to display a few formal dining menus featuring the Class of 1927 and our little green friend from the Apiaceae family!
Women’s History Month was first designated by Congress in 1987 as a time to “honor and celebrate the struggles and achievements of American women throughout the history of the United States”. At the Samuel C. Williams Library, we want to recognize the many contributions women have made to the Stevens community and the world at large. Our Instruction & Scholarly Communication Librarian created a research guide that compiles books, ebooks, journal articles, and internet resources on the wide and varied subject of women’s role in history, as well as information about some of the women of Stevens Institute. Later in the month we will also be uploading clips from our Women of Stevens Oral History Project so stay tuned!
Image from the Administrative Offices and Departments Collection (1983): Archives & Special Collections, Samuel C. Williams Library
September, 1971, marked the beginning of a new era for Stevens as women were officially admitted into the school’s undergraduate program. Out of a class of 387, 19 co-eds composed the inaugural group— a “long overdue and necessary experiment for the Institute,” according to an article in the university’s alumni magazine the previous year. Many other schools of engineering had gone coeducational years ago and Stevens’ insistence on an all-male academic experience had started to seem woefully old-fashioned by the late 1960s. Yet despite this shift in attitude, the presence of women in academia remained a rare sight. Indeed, by 1971, “a mere 361 women across the country had earned undergraduate degrees in engineering,” according to data from the National Science Foundation.
Lenore Schupak, the first woman to graduate from Stevens in 1974, receiving her diploma from President Rogers at commencement
Clearly, Stevens needed to deal with this burgeoning population as a sustainable experiment that could have a long lasting impact on the larger community. With each passing year, the university created new programs intended to serve this new and thriving community. In 1974, the women’s fencing team became the first all-female varsity squad at Stevens that was also coached by the university’s first female coach, Linda Vollkommer-Lynch. 1977 saw the creation of the Office of Special Programs for Women which worked to increase the numbers of young women pursuing careers in engineering and science. The first national sorority, Phi Sigma Sigma, came to Stevens in 1982 and in 1999, the Lore-El Center for Women’s Leadership was established, serving “as a hub for community events, meetings and professional development opportunities for Stevens women.” Today, women make up approximately 30 percent of the student population, both in the undergraduate and masters programs, and occupy many leadership roles on campus.
Check back for more profiles on some of the more trailblazing figures throughout Stevens’ history.
The Spring athletic season is upon us and if you’ve ever attended a lacrosse or baseball game here on campus, you may have noticed the curious sight of an oversized duck frantically cheering on the home team from the sidelines. Most students have become familiar with Atilla, as the duck is known, who has been the official mascot of Stevens since 1972. But you may think to yourself; why a duck? Well, according to Atilla’s profile on the Stevens Athletics homepage, the choice of duck was perhaps “inspired by the school’s engineering heritage, as a Duck is equally comfortable on land, in the water or in the air.” Other sources say that one day in 1907, a duck walked onto the sidelines of a football match and after Stevens won the game, students retained the creature as a good luck charm. When it comes to stories like this, facts mingle with fiction and the best-told story oftentimes becomes the official record. So with this in mind, let’s dive into the dim reaches of our institution’s past as we attempt to uncover the origins of this fabled duck. We should note that much of this history was compiled by Stute reporter, Matt Neuteboom, who, along with the help of the Samuel C. Williams Library’s Archives & Special Collections, investigated the matter for his article, “Why the Duck?” published in 2010. So submitted for your approval, here is Matt’s brief history of our plucky mascot.
Original illustration for The Stute, 1935. Archives & Special Collections, Samuel C. Williams Library.
THE STUTE, JULY 20, 2010
“The duck’s origins actually tie in quite heavily with TheStute (the school newspaper). The story begins in 1904, when three members of the junior class of 1905, Alfred H. Potbury, L. Edwin Waldeck, and F. William Hausmann, began to talk about plans of starting a college paper. They had been at Stevens for three years and felt that the Institute would benefit greatly from a college paper. The three approached H. V. R. Scheel with the idea and the first Stute Board was assembled.
The date of first publication was scheduled to be shortly after the opening of school in September 1904. Over the summer of 1904, the four brainstormed ideas for The Stute. Scheel later wrote in the December 18, 1929 issue of The Stute “All of us had ideas – in retrospect thousands in number.” This is where the idea of using posters to chronicle the life history of The Stute was born.
Slowly, the question of how to properly introduce the paper surfaced. One of the editors approached Waldeck, an artist, with the idea of sketching something to place on the bulletin board – something that would grow. However, this request was only met with blanks stares from Waldeck. The editor repeated “Something that will grow, as we expect The Stute to grow – oh, say a duck!” The suggestion stuck, and before long a blue print of an egg was placed on the bulletin board.
As the publication date of the first Stute grew near, more posters were put up. The second was a blue print showing a duckling biting its way through its shell. In the next three weeks, a duck appeared dressed for football, lacrosse, and the mid-winter dance. According to a June 2, 1905 Stute article, he was named “Rodo.” Until The Stute became a weekly paper in 1908, Rodo would appear in every issue, often dressed for events that were occurring that week at the school.
Original illustration for poster advertising the yearly freshman/sophomore rush games, The Stute, 1907.Archives & Special Collections, Samuel C. Williams Library.
Rodo’s popularity grew in the next years. In a 1907 football game between Rutgers in New Brunswick, Rodo made its first appearance as Stevens’ mascot. A senior had purchased a duck costume and, with the help of a junior, carried the bird to the game. According to Jay Korobow in the October 22, 1971 issue of The Stute, “he waddled across the field in what he thought to be halftime only to realize too late that the third quarter had just begun.”
Stevens fans absolutely loved the suit and it was given as a gift to The Stute who displayed it in their offices. A year later the class of 1911 purchased the duck and borrowed the suit for more games (sadly, we were not able to find any documentation of either the suit or Rodo) Writing in a 1908 issue of The Stute, one student stated: “Whether the duck brought luck or not is a question, but it at least made a hit…Why not have a duck every year?”
Original illustration for The Stute, 1907. Archives & Special Collections, Samuel C. Williams Library.
However, as The Stute retired Rodo in 1908 when it became a weekly newspaper, Rodo faded away into obscurity. The tradition of having a duck at Institute sports games failed to remain a tradition. He is later mentioned in the 1929 edition of The Stute revisiting the origins of the paper, but is otherwise mostly forgotten.
Almost 60 more years would pass before someone would seriously take a look into the history of the Stevens mascot. According to Korobow in 1971, an organized attempt to find a school name and mascot was performed by The Stute on November 10, 1967 by then sports columnist Gerry Crispin. Crispin wrote, “A duck has been missing from Stevens premises. As a matter of fact he’s been missing for 60 years.” The 1967 Stute solicited suggestions for a new official nickname. Some of the popular suggestions were the Castlemen, the Rooks, the Turkeys, and the Ream Team. However, nothing ever came from the attempt.
However, the 1971 issue of The Stute once again solicited suggestions for a school nickname. This time, however, the attempt gained momentum. The movement gained popular support when student artist Jim Liberatore published his idea for the duck mascot in the February 18, 1972 edition of The Stute. Liberatore, in a somewhat half-joking, half-serious article, believed that Stevens’s students had a deficiency in human development. This was not helped by the campus, which he said, “exudes coldness and promotes isolation.” Liberatore felt that bringing back the duck would be instrumental in “bringing back an empathetic personality to this campus.”
The Stute stuck with its policy to promote the duck mascot. On March 10, 1972, The Stute urged the Student Council to sponsor a student referendum to indicate support for the duck. The referendum was created, and The Stute continued to drum up support for it with an ad in its March 17, 1972 issue. Finally, on March 24, 1972, the referendum results were announced. The duck passed with an overwhelming majority of 477 in favor of the duck, with 72 opposed, and 4 absentees. As well, 453 stated they wanted to use Liberatore’s duck as the mascot with 79 who did not and 21 absentees. With the referendum passed, the mascot went on to the Student Affairs Committee and eventually to the Board of Trustees in April.
Original concept art for Stevens mascot and illustration for naming contest (top right) by Jim Liberatore, 1972. Archives & Special Collections, Samuel C. Williams Library.
The name of Attila came from a student contest run by the bookstore from April 3-5. Student Keith Biesiada sent in the winning entry. The Stute announced the winning name of Attila the Duck, and Stevens’ mascot became the duck in spring of 1972. The duck later appeared peering out from behind an IBM computer on the May 1, 1972 cover of The Stevens Indicator.”
Every year on February 15th we honor the founding of Stevens Institute of Technology, named for the Stevens family. The Stevens family were known as great inventors and designers, engineers and urban planners, and their influence is still very much felt, and seen, in Hoboken, and across the nation. Edwin A. Stevens (1795 - 1868) was the youngest son of Colonel John Stevens and had a mind for engineering and business. He was the organizer and financier of the family.
When Edwin passed away in August of 1868 he had bequeathed a block of land adjoining the family estate at Castle Point, Hoboken, and he set aside $150,000 for the erection of a building and $500,000 to establish an “Institution of learning” firmly anchoring the Stevens legacy in Hoboken, NJ. With the help of his widow, Martha Bayard Stevens, Stevens Institute of Technology was officially established on February 15,1870.
Martha Bayard Stevens also served as one of the original Trustees at Stevens, ensuring that her late husband’s vision of an institute dedicated to advanced learning was followed through in a timely manner. The Stevens Institute of Technology is America’s first university devoted to mechanical engineering. The Edwin A. Stevens Hall building was the first building on campus, the next building (Carnegie building) was not constructed until 1902. The Edwin A. Stevens Hall was designed by NY architect Richard Upjohn.
Although Stevens Institute of Technology was officially established in 1870, the school didn’t formally open to students until September 20, 1871. That first year there were a total of 21 students, and the very first student to graduate from Stevens was Mr. J. Augustus Henderson in 1873. We have his handwritten senior thesis here in the archives, the very first one we ever accepted!
Today, Stevens has over 6,000 students in attendance with a campus that is 55 acres large. In 2020 we will celebrate our 150th anniversary and will have many special events planned!
#ColorOurCollections is a week-long coloring fest on social media organized by libraries, archives, and other cultural institutions around the world.
Our own coloring book (which can be downloaded as a PDF) features an assortment of grotesque caricatures created by an anonymous engraver in the style of Wenceslaus Hollar’s copies of Leonardo da Vinci’s own observational sketches from the late fifteenth century. The book was published in London in 1786 and was donated to the Stevens Library by alumnus John William Lieb, class of 1880.
Today, the Lieb Memorial Collection of Leonardo da Vinci contains one of the finest accumulations in the Western Hemisphere of prints, manuscripts in facsimile and books by and about Leonardo da Vinci. We encourage any curious students or outside researchers to come take a look by scheduling an appointment with our Archives & Special Collections staff.
