381 - Stephen van Rensselaer

About the song

Words and Music by E.M. Frost '11 Lyrics:

In eighteen hundred and twenty-four, lived a man of great repute;
This good man founded the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,
His aim was to furnish his country with men
Who could build better bridges then those
They used then.

Now a thousand or two such men pass in review,
And we'll give all the honor due
To Stephen Van Rensselaer,
A noble man with a grand career;
An A.B. from Harvard and an L.L.D. from Yale.
He saw the need of such an institution
So he straightway proceeded to establish a good one,
And its world-wide fame will perpetuate the name
Of Old Stephen Van Rensselaer.