100 years ago (1898)
In May, men who volunteered for the Spanish-American War got a rousing send-off as they left for encampment in San Francisco. Thirty-eight were sent to the Philippines, and two of them – a professor and a student – were killed in action. The conflict stimulated President David Starr Jordan’s interest in the causes and effects of war, and led to his later mission promoting world peace.
75 years ago (1923)
Students debated a proposed amendment to their constitution that would restrict automobile use to upperclassmen. Many community members were irritated by the increased number of cars crowding the campus. Dean of Men George Culver favored the measure, saying cars were a potent threat to democracy. They also wasted students’ time and afforded easy access to liquor, he said. Several alumni pointed out that student life had been more focused on campus before automobiles made it so easy to get away. Athletic coaches noted that two football stars brought expensive motorcars to campus and proceeded to flunk out. In the end, the amendment was defeated 721 to 476.
50 years ago (1948)
Excavations behind the Bookstore (the current Career Planning and Placement Center) unearthed a Peninsular Railway Co. roadbed, enabling students to see what remained of the line for the red trolley cars that connected the Quad with Palo Alto from 1909 to 1929. In those early days, many students had arrived on campus riding the Toonerville Trolley from the train station through the arboretum to Encina Hall.
25 years ago (1973)
President Richard W. Lyman announced that the planned new engineering center would be named after Frederick E. Terman, vice president and provost emeritus. Principal donors were William and Flora Hewlett and David and Lucile Packard. Hewlett and Packard had studied under Terman in the 1930s, and he had inspired them to found Hewlett-Packard Co. in 1938.
The formal association between Stanford and the Army and Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps came to a close after 14 undergraduates were commissioned in a ceremony at nearby Moffett Naval Air Station. At the height of student antiwar protests, the faculty had voted to bar future enrollment of students in ROTC but approved off-campus programs. The Air Force withdrew in 1971 because of low enrollment.
In April, after moving to the old power plant on Galvez Street, the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band staged a bring-your-own-sledgehammer party to demolish its former headquarters. The party started with Jing Lyman, the president’s wife, throwing a bottle of champagne into the doomed structure. The band’s cannon then sounded and President Lyman delivered the first blow with his red-ribboned sledgehammer. The wooden structure was surprisingly strong, but eventually gave way. Later that night, a mysterious fire eliminated the need for a bulldozer.
Stanford won its first NCAA men’s tennis championship. (Coach Dick Gould’s teams went on to win the championship 15 more times in 25 years.)
Delta Tau Delta was suspended when members threw rocks and bottles at nearby houses, set a fire and shot pellet guns at cars. Phi Delta Theta was censured following a party involving topless dancers.
Catherine Peck, ’35, writes this column on behalf of the Stanford Historical Society.
