The Institute Archives and Special Collections August Object of the Month is President Theodore Roosevelt’s letter appointing John Ripley Freeman (MIT 1876) one of six “engineers of high standing” to inspect and report on construction of the Panama Canal.

The Archives houses a rich collection of Freeman’s papers, including many photographs of the Panama Canal project. Among his many undertakings was a detailed presentation of designs for MIT’s Cambridge campus, “Study No. 7.”

Also in the Archives’ collections are the papers of Allen Hazen, another of the engineers appointed by President Roosevelt. Hazen, who attended MIT in 1888, was the subject of an earlier exhibit.

Pictured here: the six engineers. Freeman and Hazen, 1st row, 1st & 2nd from left