Eugene C. Colby was the first principal of the Mechanics Institute and first director of its art school. He served the Institute from its beginning in 1885 until 1905. Mr. Colby was also very active on the Rochester City Board of Education.

He wrote an early history of the Institute, tracing its development from 1885-1925. In it, he writes, "foundations have been set up for many other schools of the type of Mechanics Institute, but nowhere else in America has a community been so completely and effectively mobilized behind a private educational project."