Editor: Ronald Simmons
Archived version
Renowned British photographer Martin Parr chose the 1972 Torch Yearbook as his “Favorite Photobook About America” for a Time Magazine article, saying: “”One of the unsung achievements of American publishing are the college annuals, especially the ones produced in the 60/70’s. Just recently I found the best one I have ever seen, from the State University of New York.” The book is placed along groundbreaking works by the likes of Paul Graham and Latoya Ruby Frazier.
The 1972 Torch Yearbook was the subject of an installation at UAlbany’s University Art Museum in 2021. The Torch ’72/2021 exhibition, a commissioned project by artist Shane Aslan Selzer, occupied the entire museum space and “explores the trajectory and lineage of intersectional justice efforts on the UAlbany campus, and reactivates UAlbany’s 1972 Torch yearbook, edited by then student and renowned AIDS activist, Ron Simmons.”
The 1972 Torch Yearbook was the subject of a UAlbany Alumni Magazine article in the Fall 2023 issue: ‘Remembering UAlbany’s most controversial yearbook‘
