Florida Tech Opens Archives Exhibition Room at Evans Library
Public Invited to Inaugural Exhibit Open House April 29
MELBOURNE, FLA. — Part of Florida Institute of Technology’s Evans Library has been transformed into the University Archives Exhibition Room, an area that will highlight the university’s rich history and deep ties to the Space Coast.
On April 29, the public and the campus community are invited to the room’s first exhibit, “Vision Extraordinaire: The History of Florida Institute of Technology.” From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., visitors may enjoy the varied displays of documents, artifacts and more that mark key points in Florida Tech’s 56-year history.
There’s the basketball used in the basketball team’s first victory – a three-point win against Stetson University in January 1967. There’s a program from the 1962 commencement ceremony at what was then called Brevard Engineering College signed by astronaut Gus Grissom, the keynote speaker. There are railroad relics reflecting how, from 1912 to 1919, the Union Cypress Company Railroad carried cypress logs from swamps through what became Florida Tech’s campus on its way to the sawmill in Melbourne.
Overall, the exhibit will touch on four areas: Origins: People and Places; Confluence of Forces; The Institute; and A 21st Century University.
The opening of the exhibit and display space will also mark the launch of Florida Tech’s digital Historical Timeline project. Viewable at the exhibit and starting April 25 at timeline.fit.edu, this component will highlight the university’s most important moments since its founding in 1958.
“The library has been working hard to find a way to document Florida Tech’s history and to preserve university records for generations to come,” said Dean of Libraries Sohair Wastawy. “We are thrilled that our inaugural exhibit and digital timeline reflect Florida Tech’s own powerful blend of modern technology and more traditional educational approaches.”
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