Title

Jack Rittenberg interview, circa 1994-1995

Contributor Names

Poll, Carol (Interviewer)

Rittenberg, Jack

Date

1993-12-31

Date Digitized

2020

Description

Dean Emeritus at the Department of Business and Technology at the time of this interview, Jack Rittenberg discusses his many roles while at FIT between the years of 1963 and 1992. He talks of the development of degrees within the baccalaureate program such as those in advertising and menswear, the latter being a degree that Rittenberg co-developed with Ted Roberts. He talks extensively about the school's early existence in the C Building and the growth of the physical campus as FIT became more than a commuter school. Rittenberg remembers the building of the library and how space for the clothing collection allowed them to split from a storage arrangement with the Brooklyn Museum. Formerly a buyer for Bond Stores, Rittenberg has enjoyed showing FIT's collections off to friends and visitors. Though Rittenberg was retired at the time of the interview, he was still teaching a spring merchandising course as well as industry seminars. He talks about strong relationships with alumni of the school and how retirement has allowed him to keep in touch with many of them through travel. Rittenberg talks about the faculty tendency to continue to work in the Industry so as to remain current. He also discusses the uniquely driven nature of the FIT student body. Rittenberg then goes into detail about the liberal arts program and gives a deep history of the founding and development of FIT from its roots as the Central High School of Needle Trades. He briefly discusses international students and changing demographics of the school and then launches into a discussion of the evolution of attitudes within the industry in regards to race and sex. The interview ends with a brief discussion of the decline of the fur industry.

Type

Moving Image

Oral histories

Subject

Rittenberg, Jack

Green, Annette

Goodman, Shirley, 1915-1991

Winders, Arthur

Feldman, Marvin

Roberts, Ted

Bishop, Hazel

Marcus, Gladys

Volpe, Joan

Liz Claiborne Inc.

Coach, Inc.

Jarnow, Jeannette A.

Madison, Lucile

Godnick, Newton E.

Levenson, Clara

Brooklyn Museum

Fashion

Education

Student affairs services

Fashion Institute of Technology (New York, N.Y.). Business and Technology Department

Sexism

Racism

New York (State)

New York (State)--New York

Related Materials

Finding Aid

Rights

In Copyright

This video was produced by the Fashion Institute of Technology ("FIT") and is the property of FIT. FIT expressly prohibits the copying, displaying, or uploading to a website of any portion of this video, except for the purposes of fair use as defined in the copyright laws, without express written permission from FIT. This video has been made available online by the Fashion Institute of Technology Gladys Marcus Library strictly for research and educational purposes. If you are the copyright holder for content in this video and have any objections to this work being made available online, please notify us immediately at [email protected].

Identifier

FIT Repository ID: aod_000699

SPARC reference code: US.NNFIT.SC.FITA.3.20.4.9.4.24