The earliest copy of the yearbook in our possession is from 1900, and was titled the "Neon." It went through several name changes including "The Senior Book" and "Our Book" until the name "Pedagogue" was chosen in 1913. The "Pedagogue" unlike the other renditions of the yearbook, included more than just simple photographs and names of faculty and students, like some earlier editions had. Each club was represented with a photograph and a list of their members, as well as advertisements for institutions that had contributed to the published of the book. This format has not varied.

The yearbook remained under the name "Pedagogue" until 1963 when it was renamed the "Torch." This name change coincided with he beginning of the construction of the new uptown campus. It was an important part of the first edition of the "Torch" since the campus population had been growing rapidly, and this was remarked on in the yearbook itself. In the 1970s' there were multiple editions of the "Torch" which were used as stumps in which the students made political statements or protests. The 1972 copy had photographs of a Vietnamese child's head printed multiple times on each page, intermingled with the photographs of the students. Copies such as this would focus heavily on the level of campus unrest at the University at Albany, as well as across the country. The "Torch" continues to be the published year book for SUNY Albany