100 YEARS AGO (1899)
Jane Stanford sold her holdings in the Southern Pacific Co. for about $16 million. She eventually made a "blanket" deed to the Board of Trustees of nearly everything she possessed, including proceeds from the stock sale and deeds to various pieces of property, all of which totaled about $25 million. She kept $3 million for personal use, later spending most of it on construction of University buildings.
Without consulting President David Starr Jordan, Mrs. Stanford decreed that there could not be more than 500 women enrolled at any one time. The number of female students had grown to nearly 40 percent of the student body, and she feared that the University established in her son's memory might become largely a girl's school. By the time trustees removed the limit in 1933, the 500 women represented only 14 percent of the student body.
The Stanford Alumni Association launched a publication designed to keep some 1,000 graduates informed about campus and alumni news. Initially called the Stanford Alumnus, it has gone through several name changes and now is known simply as Stanford.
75 YEARS AGO (1924)
Plans for the Class of 1925's junior week were disrupted because Lagunita was still dry in May. Aquatic activities -- an interfraternity swimming and diving contest, a water polo game, a canoe joust -- moved to Encina Pool. The canoe flotilla was replaced by a line of decorated automobile floats parading down the Row.
50 YEARS AGO (1949)
Former U.S. President Herbert Hoover, Class of 1895, celebrated his 75th birthday on campus on August 10. In an address to 12,000 people in Frost Amphitheater, Hoover decried federal spending as "collectivist." The four national radio networks carried his speech live, and the program ended with the Stanford Hymn played on the Hoover Tower carillon.
Chancellor Ray Lyman Wilbur died of a heart attack at his campus home on June 26 at age 74. As Stanford's third president, he served 27 years, from 1916 to 1943 -- a record unlikely to be surpassed. He was president of the senior class in 1896 and dean of the Medical School from 1911 to 1916. He served as secretary of the interior during the presidency of his close friend Herbert Hoover.
25 YEARS AGO (1974)
Vice President Gerald Ford had to cancel his speech at the 100th anniversary of Herbert Hoover's birth. A day earlier, on August 9, Ford had become president after Richard Nixon resigned. The campus commemoration featured the other invited speaker, U.S. Sen. Mark Hatfield of Oregon, who had earned his master's degree at Stanford for research on Hoover.
The School of Nursing closed after 77 years. A study had recommended replacing the bachelor's degree program with a two-year master's degree, but funds were not available to make the conversion.
"Streaking" came to campus as groups of undergraduates, mostly fraternity men and freshmen, staged naked blitzkrieg runs through the Quad, White Plaza and student houses. Clad only in hats, shoes and Stanford regalia, 45 Branner Hall freshmen streaked across the Golden Gate Bridge, causing a traffic jam at rush hour.
Catherine Peck, '35, writes this column on behalf of the Stanford Historical Society.
