In honor of Tech’s 125th birthday year, we’re partnering with Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine to highlight a piece of Tech history. This issue’s topic: the earliest known Tech class ring.

The following excerpt is number 8 on the list “125 Pieces of Tech History,” featured in the September/October 2010 issue of Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine:

The earliest known Tech class ring was presented to President G. P. “Bud” Peterson in a ceremony at the Alumni House in July 2010. Russell Holmes, great-grandson of the ring’s original owner, Tech graduate Trezevant Holmes, handed over the ring. Class rings at Tech were not widely popular until the 1920s. The next oldest ring the Institute has is from 1919.

“The ring may have actually been made here on campus by Mr. Holmes as a shop project,” said Living History Director Marilyn Somers. “The only mark it bears is his signature carefully engraved on the inside — a signature that matches the one he entered into the registrar’s book in 1890. All in all, the ring is a remarkable piece of Georgia Tech memorabilia.”