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Leland Stanford Junior University

Leland Stanford Junior University

Image creditDetroit Photo Company, c. 1900; Smithsonian American Art Museum (2004.29.61), Smithsonian Open Access
CC0 ↗

Leland Stanford Junior University

Year
1891
Creator
Leland Stanford, Jane Stanford
Company
Stanford University
Location
Stanford (Palo Alto), California

Description

Leland and Jane Stanford founded this private university in 1885 in memory of their only son. It opened on October 1, 1891, on their Palo Alto stock farm, and the photograph shows Encina Hall, its first dormitory for men.

Importance

In 1909 a Stanford graduate, Cyril Elwell, started the radio company that became Federal Telegraph. Later, Frederick Terman helped two of his students start Hewlett-Packard. The founding grant did not let Stanford sell its land, so the university leased land to companies in the Stanford Industrial Park from 1951.

Interesting fact

Herbert Hoover and a classmate moved into Encina Hall one week before the university opened, so they were its first residents.

Sources

  1. History of Stanford ↗Stanford University
  2. The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover, Volume 1: Years of Adventure, 1874-1920 ↗Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum (NARA) · 1951
  3. Annex A: Stanford and Silicon Valley, in Best Practices in State and Regional Innovation Initiatives ↗National Academies Press (via NCBI Bookshelf) · 2013
  4. The Founding Grant ↗Stanford University · 1885-11-11
  5. Stanford Industrial Park (addendum paper for the International Forum of University Science Parks) ↗Stanford University Office of Technology Licensing (Jon Sandelin) · 2004