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Past Programs

Some of the Society's past programs are now available as streaming audio through the Stanford iTunes site!! To get started, install iTunes on your computer (see instructions below). Then, to listen, click on the blue iTunes icons in the the program list below.

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Instructions for Using Stanford iTunes

• If you have iTunes installed, just click on the iTunes icons () below.
  • If you do not have iTunes, download it for free from Apple at http:// www.apple.com/itunes/download/ (there are versions for both PC and Mac). Once you have iTunes installed, follow the instructions below.
• To browse the SHS iTunes entries
  1. Go to the SHS iTunes Preview page and click on "View In iTunes" to see the list of available podcasts in iTunes.
  2. See also the Pioneers in Science preview page.

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2012-2013

May 15, 2013 Wednesday 4:00 - 6:00 pm Reception to Follow	SHS 37th Annual Members' Meeting and Reception: History of the Music Department This program is cosponsored by the Stanford Arts Institute and Stanford Historical Society. SHS Members only. RSVP required. John Chowning, Osgood Hooker Professor of Fine Arts and Professor of Music, Emeritus Albert Cohen, William H. Bonsall Professor of Music, Emeritus Steve Sano, Professor Harold C. Schmidt Director in Choral Studies and Professor of Music Stephen Hinton (moderator), the Denning Family Director of the Stanford Arts Institute, and the Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Music. *Optional docent guided tour starting at 3 p.m. If you'd like a tour of the Bing Concert Hall on another day, please email binghall@stanford.edu directly. Location: Bing Concert Hall Studio
	Walking Tour Brochures & 2014 House Tour In lieu of a house tour in Spring 2013, the Stanford Historical Society (SHS) will sponsor the next Historic House & Garden Tour, “Through the Decades,” on Sunday, May 4, 2014. The tour will showcase the history and architecture of campus homes that were built in different decades before WWII. In addition, the SHS Historic Houses Committee is launching an exciting new project: walking tour brochures highlighting historic residential neighborhoods on the Stanford University campus. The printed guides will include self-explanatory maps and information about historic houses and gardens along the routes. Stanford’s historic loop from Alvarado Row to Salvatierra Street will be among the first brochures in this series. The Stanford Historic Houses Committee plans to augment the self-guided tours with periodic docent-guided walking tours of various Stanford neighborhoods. Look for the release of the first tour brochure by Fall 2013. For more information and updates, please check our web site in the coming months.
April 8, 2013 Monday Deadline	2013 Prize for Excellence in Historical Writing - Submission Deadline Contest Flyer
April 2, 2013 Tuesday 7:30 pm	Creative Writing at Stanford: A History With Eavan Boland, Nancy Packer, Philip Levine, and Scott Turow The celebrated writer and environmentalist Wallace Stegner founded the Stanford Creative Writing Program in 1946 with the aim of providing young, talented writers the guidance, encouragement, and funding to further their writing knowledge and craft. “Minds grow by contact with other minds,” Stegner wrote. “The bigger the better, as clouds grow toward thunder by rubbing together.” Over the past sixty years the creative writing program has grown in stature so that it is widely recognized, alongside the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, as one of the two best programs in the country. It has trained thousands of undergraduates and hundreds of Stegner Fellows including Wendell Berry, Tillie Olsen, Ernest Gaines, Scott Momaday, Ken Kesey, Larry McMurtry, Raymond Carver, Robert Pinsky, ZZ Packer, and Tobias Wolff. The directors and instructors in the program have been equally distinguished, among them: Wallace Stegner, Yvor Winters, John L’Heureux, Ken Fields, Nancy Packer, Simone DiPiero, Elizabeth Tallent, Tobias Wolff, and Eavan Boland. This evening’s extraordinary program will bring together in conversation: EAVAN BOLAND, Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing, Stanford, author of a dozen volumes of poetry and prose, most recently, the PEN Award-winning A Journey with Two Maps: Becoming a Woman Poet PHILIP LEVINE, Former Stegner Fellow at Stanford, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, and former Poet Laureate of the United States, author most recently of the collection, News of the World SCOTT TUROW, Former Stegner Fellow at Stanford, practicing lawyer, and author of nine novels and two non-fiction books about the law that have sold over 30 million copies.  Four of  his novels have been filmed, including the successful movie Presumed Innocent. NANCY HUDDLESTON PACKER (Moderator): Professor of English (Emerita) and former Director of the Creative Writing Program (also a former Stegner Fellow), author of four collections of short stories, most recently Old Ladies This program is cosponsored by the Stanford Historical Society and Stanford Continuing Studies and the Stanford Creative Writing Program. Location: Cubberley Auditorium, School of Education FREE: Open to the public. No registration required
February 11, 2013 Monday 7:30 pm Location: CEMEX Auditorium, Knight Management Center (Map)	Stanford Women in Space Eileen Collins, MS ’86, First woman to serve as a Shuttle commander Barbara Morgan, A.B. '73, First teacher to become an astronaut Ellen Ochoa, MS ’81, PHD ’85, First Hispanic woman in space Scott Hubbard, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Former Director, NASA Ames Research Center (moderator) The term "astronaut" derives from the Greek words meaning "space sailor," and refers to all who have been launched as crew-members aboard NASA spacecraft bound for orbit and beyond. In the 50-year history of the NASA space program, only 45 of the 525 astronauts have been women. Seven of these women have degrees from Stanford – a truly impressive record from a single school.   The first US woman in space, the late Sally Ride, took all of her degrees at Stanford, from B.S. to PhD. Eileen Collins, the first woman to serve as a Shuttle commander, is a Stanford graduate. The first African-American woman in space, Mae Jemison; and the first Hispanic woman, Ellen Ochoa, are both from Stanford. Barbara Morgan, a Stanford alumna, trained with the Challenger space shuttle crew as backup to Teacher in Space Christa McAuliffe, and later became an astronaut, serving on the space shuttle Endeavor on a mission to the International Space Station.   Please join us for a truly extraordinary evening with Eileen Collins, Barbara Morgan, and Ellen Ochoa as they discuss their experiences in space with Stanford professor Scott Hubbard, former Director of NASA’s Ames Research Center. This program is cosponsored by the Stanford Historical Society and Stanford Continuing Studies. Location: CEMEX Auditorium, Knight Management Center
January 10, 2013 5:30 - 7:00 pm	"No proven communist should hold a position on our faculty" (Wallace Sterling): Victor Arnautoff, the House Un-American Activities Committee, and Stanford Robert Cherny, Professor of History, San Francisco State University Robert Cherny's Notes Robert Cherny's Slides Victor Arnautoff rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the White armies opposing Bolshevisim during the Russian Civil War. He later studied art in San Francisco, created spectacular public murals during the 1930s, joined the Communist Party in 1937, and joined the Stanford art faculty in 1938. He was brought before HUAC in 1956 and took the 5th Amendment. Given President Wallace Sterling's dictum that "No proven communist should hold a position on our faculty," a special committee was appointed to make a recommendation regarding Arnautoff's continued employment at Stanford. This talk will explore, through Arnautoff's fascinating story, a little known aspect of Stanford's history, and how the University handled the volatile situation. Location: History Department Conference Room (Building 200, Lane History Corner, Room 307)
December 11, 2012 Tuesday 5:00 - 7:00 pm	The Program in Human Biology at 40 years: What made this start-up so successful? Sandy Dornbusch, Reed-Hodgson Professor in Human Biology and Professor of Sociology, Emeritus Paul Ehrlich, Bing Professor of Population Studies and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment Shirley Feldman, Former Associate Director, Program in Human Biology, Senior Research Scientist, Division of Child Psychiatry Herant Katchadourian, Professor of Human Biology, Emeritus Don Kennedy, President, Emeritus, and Bing Professor of Environmental Science, Emeritus Carol Boggs, Bing Director in Human Biology (moderator) Early faculty from the Program in Human Biology will discuss the idea behind the founding of Stanford's largest interdisciplinary, inter-school program, the process that led up to the founding and their view of the reasons why HumBio has been so successful over the past 40 plus years. Come join Profs. Sandy Dornbusch, Paul Ehrlich, Shirley Feldman, Herant Katchadourian and Don Kennedy in a panel discussion moderated by Prof. Carol Boggs. The evening will also feature clips from a video about the history of the program, including other faculty founders. There will be time for audience questions and discussion. Location: Oak West Lounge, Tresidder Union
October 11, 2012 Thursday 5:30 - 7:00 pm	Women's Sports at Stanford: 40 Years of Title IX Marlene Bjornsrud, CEO of the Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative Frank Brennan, Coach of 10 Stanford national championship women's tennis teams Anne Cribbs ’79, 1960 Olympic swimming gold medalist and Co-Founder of American Basketball League Julie Foudy ’94, Two time Olympic soccer gold medalist and ESPN analyst Angela Taylor ’93, Member of two Stanford national championship basketball teams and former VP of two WNBA teams Gary Cavalli ’71, Executive Director of Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, Co-Founder and CEO of American Basketball League (moderator) An all-star panel discusses the impact of Title IX on women's sports in general, and Stanford sports in particular, since the passage of this groundbreaking legislation 40 years ago. The just-completed 2012 Olympiad provided ample evidence of the growth of women's sports in America since 1972. Stanford has fielded the best overall women's sports program in the country for the past three decades, and representatives from four marquee sports - basketball, soccer, swimming and tennis - will weigh in on how Title IX has helped make that possible. Location: Kissick Auditorium
October 7, 2012 Sunday 2:00 - 5:00 pm	Founders' Celebration The day's program will include remarks by President Hennessy, exhibits of Stanford family ephemera, period music and light refreshments. The Mausoleum will also be open to visitors on this special occasion. More at http://founders.stanford.edu. Location: Cantor Arts Museum and Stanford Mausoleum

2012

• Thursday, May 10, 2012

  SHS 36th Annual Meeting and Reception
  Featured Program: Fifty Years on the Science Frontier: The Scientific and Technology Evolution of SLAC

  Burton Richter
  Director Emeritus, SLAC
  Paul Pigott Professor in the Physical Sciences, Emeritus
  Nobel Laureate (Physics, 1976)

  In 1962, the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (now SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory) began with the Congressional authorization of its 2-mile-long linear accelerator, the first $100 million science project. The science mission was the examination of the interaction of the high-energy electron with matter, a study that had brought Robert Hofstadter his 1961 Nobel Prize for his work at the much smaller linear accelerator at the Hanson lab on the main Stanford Campus. The first beam was delivered in 1966, a remarkably short construction time for such a large project. The era of what is called High Energy Physics had begun at Stanford.

  A combination of advances in accelerators, detectors and scientific breadth has kept SLAC at the frontier of science ever since, though the areas of research have changed greatly, now including chemistry, materials, biology, cosmology and many other sciences - as well as the original high-energy physics. Four Nobel Prizes have been awarded for work at SLAC, and today it is generally regarded as the world's leading laboratory for photon science because of it X-ray laser. Professor Richter will discuss both the science and technology evolution that made all this possible.
  
  4:30 - 6:00 p.m.
  Panofsky Auditorium, SLAC, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025-7015 (map or directions)
  Free parking available; photo ID required.

  Photo highlights of the event

  SHS board members Pat Devanet (C) and Sandy Dornbusch (R) (Photo Credit: Marian Adams)	SHS President Charles Junkerman (Photo Credit: Marian Adams)
  SHS board member Dave Daly with Barbara Wilcox, winner of the Prize for Excellence in Historical Writing (Photo Credit: Marian Adams)	Peter Stansky, SHS board member and recipient of the Karen Bartholomew Award for Exceptional Service to the Stanford Historical Society (Photo Credit: Marian Adams)
  Sidney D. Drell, Deputy Director Emeritus, SLAC and Professor at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Emeritus (Photo Credit: Marian Adams)	Burton Richter, Director Emeritus, SLAC and Paul Pigott Professor in the Physical Sciences, Emeritus (Photo Credit: Marian Adams)
  Margaret McKinnon, Karen Bartholomew, Susan Schofield, Peter Stansky, Marian Adams, Susan Sweeney, current and previous recipients of the Karen Bartholomew Award for Exceptional Service to the Stanford Historical Society (Photo Credit: Marian Adams)

• Sunday, April 22, 2012

  Eighth Annual Historic House and Garden Tour, 1 - 4 pm

  Eclectic Houses of Lower San Juan Neighborhood

  Architects include Birge Clark, Theodore W. Lenzen, Charles K. Sumner and Henry C. Collins
  Download the flyer/registration form (pdf) and map. See also: 2012 House Tour, Media Copy and 2012 House Tour, Press Release

  Video Preview
  

• Student Essay Contest - 2012 Prize for Excellence in Historical Writing

  Deadline April 9, 2012 at 5:00 pm

  Read the linked flyer for all the details.

• Tuesday, April 17, 2012

  Finding Its Place: The Catholic Community at Stanford

  Moderator: Nancy Greenfield, Chaplain
  Foundations: Fr. Nathan Castle, O.P., Pastor/Director, 2010-
  Reflections of a long-time community member:  Barbara Gelpi, Professor, English Department
  The Role of Liturgy and Music: Teresa Pleins, Chaplain/Liturgy and Music
  Student Perspective: Peter Salazar, class of '14

  Nancy Greenfield, long term chaplain and program organizer, will introduce and moderate a program with fellow Catholic Community leaders, each highlighting a different aspects of a common history, followed by further discussion with the audience.
  Fr. Nathan Castle will comment on early decades when Catholic students formed clubs and University-Church relations developed in a relative harmony that was to be undermined as Catholics and other denominations faced strict limits on their campus activities. The slow resolution of those difficulties and the establishment of St. Ann’s/Newman Center in Palo Alto coincide with Prof. Barbara Gelpi’s arrival at Stanford, where she and her family found St. Ann's to be flourishing center of spirituality, service, and social conscience. It gradually became clear that a move to the central campus would allow greater numbers of students to participate. Because liturgy and music have always been at the core of the Community no matter which place served as home, no historical reflections would be complete without Teresa Pleins, who will focus on the development of creative liturgies, choral programs, and her corresponding work as a chaplain since 1995. Peter Salazar will end with comments on how the past meets the present in the life of an undergraduate member of the Catholic Community.
  
  4:30 p.m. at The Sanctuary, Old Union

• Wednesday, February 15, 2012

  Press Past: The Life and Times of the Stanford Daily

  Moderator:

  • Gary Cavalli ’71, Co-founder and Executive Director, Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl; author, Stanford Sports; former Stanford Daily Sports Editor

          Panelists:

• Helen Pickering ‘47, one of the first women editors of the Daily and editor-in-chief during World War II
• Felicity Barringer ‘72, New York Times national environmental correspondent and former United Nations Bureau Chief; Stanford Daily editor-in-chief whose lawsuit against the Palo Alto police went to the Supreme Court
• Rich Jaroslovsky ‘75, technology columnist at Bloomberg News/Businessweek and former managing editor of Wall Street Journal Online; Stanford Daily editor-in-chief after the Daily went independent from the University

The Stanford Daily has been the voice of the student body and a mirror of the most important moments in Stanford history. Founded in 1892 as the Daily Palo Alto, the paper’s own story is in many ways as exciting and memorable as the university’s itself. From a bland mouthpiece for the administration, the Daily evolved over the years into an influential journal and champion of freedom of the press. Former Daily editors-in-chief, two of whom served during the most turbulent times in the newspaper’s history, will discuss the life and times of the Daily, its place in university and journalistic annals, their experience at the paper and how it helped shape their careers in the industry.

5:30 p.m. at the Oak East Lounge, Tresidder Union

• Wednesday, January 11, 2012

  Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of America
  (Co-sponsored by Continuing Studies and the Bill Lane Center for the American West)

  Join us for an evening with prize-winning historian Richard White, who will talk about his eagerly-anticipated and now celebrated big book on the epic construction of the railroads that spanned the American continent in the 1870’s and 80’s. The story of how the railroads were built, and how they transformed life radically, rearranging forever our sense of space and time, has become one of the nation’s inspiring myths. But the fable version of the story overlooks the darker and more intriguing details: the corporate profits, the political corruption, and the monopolistic practices of men known to their own age and ours as “Robber Barons.”

  Nobody tells this story better than Richard White in Railroaded. Fellow American historian Patty Limerick writes, “Railroaded offers flabbergasting views of the human talent for self-justification and contradiction, provides a valuable – if unsettling – comparison to the financial troubles of our times, and shows why the best historians are compared to detectives.” And Geoffrey C. Ward says the book is “fresh, provocative, and witty” and is told “with the narrative force of a locomotive roaring across the empty plains.”
  
  Richard White, Margaret Byrne Professor of American History
  Richard White is an American historian specializing in environmental and Native American history. He is a past president of the Organization of American Historians, and is currently Faculty Co-Director of the Bill Lane Center for the American West and principal investigator for ‘Shaping the West’, a project in the Stanford Spatial History Lab which explores the construction of space by transcontinental railroads during the late nineteenth-century.

  He is the author of seven books including, The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and won the Francis Parkman Prize for the best book on American History. He is the recipient of a MacArthur fellowship in 1995, and was awarded a Mellon Distinguished Professor grant in 2007.

  Books will be available for purchase and inscription.

  7:30 pm
  Cubberley Auditorium, School of Education, FREE; no registration required

2011

• Tuesday, November 15, 2011

  International Students at Stanford
  (Co-sponsored by Bechtel International Center)

  John Pearson, Assistant Vice Provost & Director of Bechtel International Center

  5:30 p.m.
  Bechtel International Center Assembly Room

• Friday, October 21, 2011

  Rose Bowl Retrospective
  (Co-sponsored by Stanford Alumni Association)

  Moderator: Gary Cavalli ‘71
  Panelists: Benny Barnes ‘73, Bob Moore ‘70, JD ‘83, Bob Murphy ‘53, Jim Plunkett ‘71, Jack Schultz ‘71
  

  
  An all-star panel looks back at Stanford’s 1971 and 1972 Rose Bowl victories over Big Ten powers Ohio State and Michigan. Gary Cavalli ’71, former Stanford Sports Information Director and Associate Athletic Director, will moderate the panel. Panelists include Bob Murphy ’53 (the voice of Stanford sports), Jack Schultz ’71 (co-captain of the 1971 Rose Bowl team whose interception set up clinching touchdown against Ohio State), Bob Moore ’70, JD ’83 (who caught the famous “mad dog” pass against Ohio State), 1970 Heisman Trophy winner and 1971 Rose Bowl MVP Jim Plunkett ’71, and standout defensive back Benny Barnes ’73, who made several key plays in both games. Stanford football coach David Shaw ‘95 will make a guest appearance.
  
  3:15 pm
  Location: Annenberg Auditorium, Cummings Art Building (next to Hoover Tower), 435 Lasuen Mall, Stanford, California 94305 (view map or Google Maps)

• Saturday, October 15, 2011

  Writing Local History

  A Saturday workshop (Co-sponsored by Continuing Studies and the Palo Alto Historical Association)

  This workshop will examine local history, exploring the tools and procedures used by local historians to compile the stories of local communities, family genealogies, and oral histories. We will start with an overview of local history (just what is it?) and then dive into the tools and techniques. As the day unfolds, you will learn how to create family histories using local government records, national census documents, and other resources; how to write the history of a house using city directories, building permits, and newspaper obituaries; and how to prepare for and conduct an oral history of a family member or neighbor. And you will also learn how to use the riches around you to create your own local history archive, from recording oral histories of friends and relatives, to writing and publishing your own histories. All along, we will use Bay Area cities and towns (e.g., Palo Alto) as case studies. But this course will prove useful no matter what local history you want to write.
  

  Steven Staiger
  Historian, Palo Alto Historical Association Steve Staiger has been sharing his passion for local history with Peninsula residents since 1984. He has written numerous articles on local history; regularly speaks to students and interested groups; and assists researchers at the Guy Miller Archives at the Palo Alto Main Library. He received a BA in history from UC Davis and an MLS from UC Berkeley.
  
  10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
  History Corner -- Building 200, Room 202

• Tuesday, May 17, 2011

  35th Annual Meeting and Reception
  When the World Changed: The Impact of WWII on Women at Stanford

  What was it like to be a female student at Stanford during World War II?  Professor Estelle Freedman, Edgar E. Robinson Professor in United States History, moderates as six extraordinary women share poignant and often humorous stories of how they helped rewrite the rules about gender roles on campus during a period of profound change.

  Panelists

  • Janet McClanahan Morris, '44
  • Merlon Albrecht Howard Williamson, '46
  • Marie Wagner Krenz, '47
  • Olive (Babs) Wilbur Waugh, '48
  • Jeanne Rogers Moffatt, '50

  
  4:30 – 5:00 p.m. Business Meeting
  5:00 – 6:30 p.m. Panel Presentation
  Reception to follow

  Location: McCaw Hall, Arrillaga Alumni Center, 326 Galvez Street, Stanford

  The program and reception are jointly presented by the Stanford Alumni Association and the Stanford Historical Society.

• Sunday, May 1, 2011 from 1 - 4 pm

  Seventh Annual Stanford Historical House & Garden Tour

  The annual tour by the Stanford Historical Society’s Historic Houses Project offers a rare glimpse into the history and architecture of Old Campus.

  Download flyer/registration form (pdf) and map. See also: 2011 House Tour, Media Copy and 2011 House Tour, Press Release

  Take a video preview of the tour!

   

• Thursday, April 21, 2011

  Psychology at Stanford: A History
  Professor Al Hastorf, Benjamin Scott Crocker Professor of Human Biology, Professor of Psychology, and, by courtesy, in the Graduate School of Business, Emeritus

  Professor Hastorf’s talk will cover the history of the Psychology Department at Stanford from its founding in 1892 until the present. Topics that he will address include:

  • 1892-1922, with Frank Angell as chair
  • 1922-1942, with Lewis Terman as chair
  • the war years and immediately after, with E. R. Hilgard as an active professor
  • 1950-2000, with Robert R. Sears coming from Harvard in 1953 to lead the department
     

  He will also offer his views as to how the department became significant in American psychology.

  Location: 5:30 pm in Kissick Auditorium, Arrillaga Family Sports Center (next to Maples Pavilion)

• Thursday, March 10, 2011

  The Railroad King at Court: The Stanfords in the 1870's
  Diana Strazdes

  Note: In honor of University founders Jane and Leland Stanford Sr., the Mausoleum will be open 4 p.m. - 5:15 p.m., March 10. (parking at Medical Center lot on Quarry Rd. opposite Welch Rd. or at the Cantor Arts Center)

   

  Entrance to the Stanford Mansion in Sacramento, circa 1872. Photograph by Eadweard Muybridge. Stanford University Libraries, Special Collections.

  Between 1870 and 1876 Leland Stanford redesigned his Sacramento residence and built a vast new residence in San Francisco, both of which incorporated the visual vocabulary of European Baroque palaces. That courtly vocabulary extended from the architecture itself to such gestures of hospitality as the ball staged in Stanford’s Sacramento mansion in February 1872. These not only reinforced Stanford’s image as “railroad king,” they explicitly promoted the benefits of Stanford’s enterprise, the railroad.

  Diana Strazdes is a specialist in the history of nineteenth-century American art and material culture. She received her B.A. from Vassar College and her Ph.D. in the history of art from Yale University. She was formerly a curator at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and at the Stanford University Museum of Art. She is currently a professor of art history at the University of California, Davis, where she teaches a well-attended course called “The American Home.” There will be new registration and parking arrangements. Please check this web page regularly for further details.

  Time and Location: 5:30 p.m. at Oak Lounge East, Second Floor, Tresidder Union
  (parking at Tresidder lot)

• Thursday, January 13

  Stanford Historical Society and Hillel at Stanford jointly present

  Jewish Life at Stanford

  Moderator

  • Robin Kennedy, Stanford alumna, attorney, and former President of the Hillel Directors
     

  Board of Panelists

  • Steve Zippestein, The Daniel E. Koshland Professor in Jewish Culture and History
  • Rabbi Patricia Karlin‐Neumann, Senior Associate Dean, Office for Religious Life
  • Joe Gettinger, Stanford student and former President, Jewish Students Association Board

  
  Remember when campus religious services of any kind could take place only in Memorial Church, and the Hillel office consisted of a few small rooms in the dingy basement of the since renovated Old Union Clubhouse? Today Hillel is in the beautiful Dunn‐Bacon House at 565 Mayfield Avenue. Remember when there were comparatively few Jewish students and faculty and not much in the way of Jewish programs and activities, and Jewish Studies courses, let alone a program and faculty, hardly existed?

  Much has changed over the last few decades. The Stanford Historical Society and Hillel at Stanford invite you to learn what Jewish life in all its facets and complexities is like today. Steve Zipperstein, The Daniel E. Koshland Professor in Jewish Culture and History; Rabbi Patricia Karlin‐Neumann, Senior Associate Dean in the Office for Religious Life; Joe Gettinger, current undergraduate; and Robin Kennedy, a two degree Stanford alumna, former Stanford attorney and former board chair of Stanford Hillel, will share their knowledge, thoughts and perspectives in a fascinating program on Jewish life at Stanford. This program should be of interest to all members of the Society as well as others in the community.

  Come early and tour Hillel’s beautiful home, the Ziff Center for Jewish Life, consisting of the Taube Hillel House, formerly the Dunn‐Bacon House, and the Koret Pavilion, the new building with wonderful stained glass windows.

  Location: Kehillah Hall, Koret Pavilion at the Ziff Center, 565 Mayfield Avenue at 5:30 pm

• Wednesday, November 10, 2010

  Native American Life at Stanford

  Winona Simms, Associate Dean and Director of the American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Program; and of the Native American Cultural Center

  C. Matthew Snipp, Burnet C. and Mildred Finley Wohlford Professor of Humanities and Sciences in the Department of Sociology; Director, Center for Comparative Studies of Race and Ethnicity; Director, IRiSS Secure Data Center

  Denni Woodward, Associate Director of the American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Program; and of the Native American Cultural Center

  As a way of sharing in the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Stanford American Indian Organization (SAIO), the Historical Society has invited Winona Simms, C. Matthew Snipp and Denni Woodward to speak about the history and contemporary experience of Native Americans at Stanford, as well as Native American Studies at Stanford. When did the first Native American student enter the University? From what tribe? How many tribes have been represented over the years? How many Indian students are currently enrolled and from what tribes? How does Stanford compare in its enrollment of Native Americans with other universities? What is the current status of Native American Studies as an academic discipline at Stanford?

  From 1930 to 1972 the Stanford “Indian” was the mascot of the University. Today, that stereotype is belied by a diverse population of native students, staff, and faculty including Alaska natives and Native Hawaiians, a vibrant theme house dormitory (Muwekma-Tah-Ruk), an activity center, and an energetic calendar of public events that culminates each spring in the largest Pow-wow on the West Coast attracting more than 30,000 participants every year.

• Wednesday, October 13, 2010

  We invite you to the Society’s first public program of the 2010-2011 year

  Watering the Farm: Stanford’s Water Systems Old and New, Near and Far

  David L. Freyberg, Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Senior Fellow, by courtesy, at the Woods Institute and FSI

  Ever since the Farm was a farm, managing water on Stanford’s lands has been a challenge and adventure. Today, Stanford University operates a complex water source, distribution, and management system that typifies the challenges of managing water resources in a densely-populated, semi-arid environment. Stanford operates old dams and new fish passageways, pumps ground water from wells and diverts water from streams both local and distant, reclaims used water for further use and discharges storm water to local creeks and the Bay. We’ll take a look at Stanford’s water resources and systems, looking both to the past and to the future.

2010

• Tuesday, May 25

  Stanford Historical Society 34th Annual Meeting & Reception
  The History of Lasers at Stanford
  Robert L. Byer, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Applied Physics

  Laser scientists and engineers around the world are celebrating in 2010 the 50th anniversary of the first successful laser device: the pulsed ruby laser invented and operated by Stanford graduate Theodore H. Maiman in May 1960, only a few years after he received Stanford MS and PhD degrees in electrical engineering and physics. Since then numerous Stanford faculty members and alumni have made noted contributions to basic laser physics, laser device development, and Nobel-Prize winning scientific applications of lasers.

  Today, lasers of many different types play an important role in our everyday lives. Tiny laser devices are in our CD players, DVD burners, barcode readers, printers and scanners, while the light from slightly more powerful lasers carries our Internet communications all around the globe through a world wide web of optical fibers. Medium power lasers make possible astounding scientific experiments, perform surgery on cancers, and repair human eyeballs, while larger high-power lasers cut steel plates in shipyards and weld auto bodies -- and then laser radars give us traffic tickets if we drive those cars too fast.

  Professor Byer will give an illustrated overview of this technological revolution and Stanford's role in helping to bring it about. He has conducted research and taught classes on lasers and nonlinear optics at Stanford University since 1969 and has made extraordinary contributions to laser science and technology, as well as helping to found several laser firms. He has served as Vice Provost and Dean of Research at Stanford as well as Chair of the Department of Applied Physics, Director of the Edward L. Ginzton Laboratory, and Director of the Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory.

• Wednesday, May 12 / Stanford Pioneers in Science

  Stanford Historical Society co-sponsors this lecture series with the Continuing Studies Program

  Roger Kornberg, Mrs. George A. Winzer Professor in Medicine
  The biochemist who won a 2006 Nobel Prize in chemistry for discovering how DNA is converted in RNA. His work showed how genes communicate the information needed to make proteins, how cells express all of the information in the human genome, and how that expression sometimes goes awry, leading to cancer, birth defects, and other disorders. (Forty-seven years earlier his father, Arthur Kornbeg, also won a Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work with DNA). Presentation by Paul Berg, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Nobel Laureate who was honored in last year’s Pioneers series.

• Wednesday, April 21 / Stanford Pioneers in Science

  Stanford Historical Society co-sponsors this lecture series with the Continuing Studies Program

  Patrick Suppes, Lucie Stern Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus
  The philosopher, educator, and statistician who won the National Medal of Science for his contributions to the philosophy of science, theory of measurement, foundations of quantum mechanics, decision theory, psychology, and educational technology. The “father of distance education,” Suppes’ research in the 1960’s using computers to teach math and reading to schoolchildren around the world led to his creation of Stanford’s Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY) that has taught multi-media courses to some 50,000 K-12 students from 35 countries. Presentation by Economics Professor Emeritus and Nobel Laureate Kenneth Arrow who was honored in last year’s Pioneers series. (more info)

• Sunday, April 25

  Sixth Annual Stanford Historic House & Garden Tour, 1 - 4 pm

  Anticipating National Preservation Month in May, the annual tour by the Stanford Historical Society’s Historic Houses Project offers a rare glimpse into the history and architecture of Old Campus. The tour takes place on Sunday, April 25, from 1 to 4 p.m.

  A Study in Contrasts—the theme of the 2010 tour—features three 1920s houses and two fascinating modern residences that blend houses and gardens. The pre-1930 houses are featured in the book Historic Houses V: Southeast San Juan Neighborhood, Stanford University, available for purchase in advance and on the day of the tour. The book focuses on 21 houses in the southeastern part of the San Juan neighborhood.

  Two of the houses were designed by Charles K. Sumner, with elegant detailing, including one in 1923 colonial revival style and a 1929 stucco-and-tile one in Spanish eclectic period style. The tour will also include a stately 1924 Mediterranean period style house designed by John K. Branner, which has many more recent additions, including an indoor swimming pool and a home theater. Also featured are two houses designed in 1936: one by influential modernist architect William Wurster, with extensive gardens by Thomas Church, and the other the innovative Hanna House, acclaimed as one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most original and important works.

  Proceeds from the tour support the Stanford Historical Society’s Historic Houses Project, which won a 2007 Governor’s Historic Preservation Award.

  For tickets, mail a check (payable to Stanford Historical Society) to Stanford Historical Society, c/o Sweeney, P.O. Box 19290, Stanford, CA 94309. Tickets purchased by April 16 will cost $20 per person, or $35 for a ticket plus a copy of Historic Houses V; these tickets will be mailed. After April 16 and on the day of the tour, tickets cost $25, book $20. Pick up tickets and books at the registration desk, 593 Gerona Road, Stanford.

  For additional information, call 650-725-3332 or 650-324-1653. You may also e-mail questions to cglasser@stanford.edu or susan.sweeney@stanford.edu.

  Print out the tour flier and ticket order form, tour preview, map and driving directions, and/or press photos for further details.

• Wednesday, April 14

  Health Care in the U.S.: A Work in Progress

  Co-sponsored by the Emeriti Council and the Stanford Historical Society, this panel discussion of problems and prospects of our country's health care system addresses an obviously important and timely topic. Among the topics the panel will consider are the strengths and weaknesses of Congressional legislation; tradeoffs involving coverage, cost, and quality of care; how to limit the spiraling costs of health care; the political feasibility of various proposals for health care reform; and what the private sector and individuals can do regardless of what happens in Washington. Ample time will be set aside for audience participation.

  Moderator: Philip Pizzo, Dean of the Stanford School of Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics and of Microbiology and Immunology

  Panelists:

  • Alain Enthoven, Marriner S. Eccles Professor of Public and Private Management in the Stanford Business School, Emeritus, and a member of the Center for Health Policy and the Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research
  • Victor Fuchs, Henry J. Kaiser, Jr. Professor of Economics and of Health Research and Policy, Emeritus, and Senior Fellow at the Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Studies
  • Alan Garber, Henry J. Kaiser Jr. Professor and Professor of Medicine and, by courtesy, of Economics and of the Graduate School of Business; Director, Center for Health Policy and Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research; Senior Fellow, Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Studies and Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
  • Arnold Milstein, Medical Director, Pacific Business Group on Health and faculty member, UCSF Institute for Health Policy Studies

• Thursday, April 1

  Time of Realization: The Roots of the Stanford Peace Movement in the 1960s and 1970s
  Lenny Siegel, Jeanne Friedman, Georgia Kelly, David Pugh

  The movement at Stanford University against the Vietnam War emerged as a significant force in 1965 and continued through the end of the war in 1975. It overlapped with the Civil Rights/Third World liberation movement, women's liberation, the counter-culture, gay rights, labor organizing, university reform, anti-draft work, anti-imperialism, and several version of socialism to form what was called The Movement, but anti-war activity was the largest and most sustained thread. 

  The students, faculty, staff, and their family members who made up the Movement linked their opposition to the war in Southeast Asia to the roles that they perceived Stanford and associated institutions played in conducting that war. They researched those connections, wrote pamphlets, led classes, held teach-ins, and organized dorm meetings. They took actions that included peaceful picketing, campus elections, class boycotts, guerrilla theater, civil disobedience, trashing, and street warfare. And they had many meetings, large and small. 

  The panelists will explain why they believe the Stanford Movement was particularly effective and persistent, and they will discuss how their days in the Stanford Movement affected their lives.

• Wednesday, March 10

  As Old as the University Itself: The History of Asian Americans at Stanford
  Gordon Chang, Professor of History, Stanford University

  The presence of persons of Asian ancestry has been at Stanford since  its earliest days. As students, staff, and faculty, Asian Americans have played an important role in the life of the University, but they  have often been overlooked and their experiences ignored. Given that the wealth of the University's founders came in large part from the labor of Chinese, such an oversight is striking. Today, when the undergraduate student body is some 24% Asian American, this history is especially important to reclaim.

  A professor of American history, Gordon Chang is particularly  interested in the historical connections between race and ethnicity in America and foreign relations, and explores these interconnections in  his teaching and scholarship. He is affiliated with the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, the American Studies Program, International Relations Program, and the Center for East  Asian Studies. He is a recipient of both Guggenheim and ACLS fellowships, and has been a two-time fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center.

• Wednesday, March 10 / Stanford Pioneers in Science

  Stanford Historical Society co-sponsors this lecture series with the Continuing Studies Program

  Stanley N. Cohen, Professor of genetics and the Kwoh-Ting Li Professor in the School of Medicine
  The geneticist who was awarded both the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology for co-inventing the technique of DNA cloning that allowed genes of different biological species to be transplanted and replicated in their newly combined states. This work was revolutionary, signaling the birth of genetic engineering and fueling the creation of the entire biotech industry. Presentation by Stanford Professor of Developmental Biology Lucille Shapiro. (Stanford Event Calendar)

• Wednesday, February 17

  From Greystone Quarry to Stone River: A History of Stanford Sandstone
  Charles Junkerman, Associate Provost and Dean of Continuing Studies

  In 2001, when British artist Andy Goldsworthy was invited to Stanford to build a sculpture he was immediately drawn to the warm yellow sandstone of the campus’ oldest buildings. He designed "Stone River" as an expression of what he saw in the stone – that it was mobile and alive, on a trajectory through time, flowing like a river.

  In this talk – accompanied by more than 300 photographs – Charlie will follow the fluid biography of Stanford's sandstone: scoured out of the Sierras by great rivers, sedimented along the ancient ocean shore, upthrust by colliding tectonic plates, blasted out of Greystone Quarry, and brought by railroad to Palo Alto where it was dressed and carved by stone-workers into some of the most distinguished academic architecture in the county. But the story continues. The great earthquake of 1906 brought down many of the buildings just completed, and the rubble was scattered: into garden walls on campus and in Palo Alto, dumped into creeks, and gathered in the "boneyard" on Old Page Mill Road, where Andy Goldsworthy resurrected it and built something beautiful again.

• Wednesday, February 3 / Stanford Pioneers in Science

  Stanford Historical Society co-sponsors this lecture series with the Continuing Studies Program
  Douglas Osheroff, J.G. Jackson and C.J. Wood Professorship in Physics
  The physicist who won both a MacArthur “Genius” Award and a Nobel Prize for his ground-breaking research into the remarkable world of quantum fluids, solids, and glasses that exist at ultra-low temperatures hovering around near “absolute” zero. He discovered the superfluidity in helium-3 at a temperature of two thousandths of a degree above absolute zero. Presentation by Stanford Professor Emeritus of Physics and Applied Physics Alexander Fetter.

• Thursday, January 7

  From the Stanford Museum to the Cantor Arts Center: A Curatorial Perspective
  Betsy Fryberger, Burton and Deedee McMurtry Curator of Prints and Drawings, Emerita

  Betsy Fryberger has recently retired after many years as the Burton and Deedee McMurtry Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Cantor Arts Center. She played a vital role in the recreation of the museum during its heroic age of rebirth under the dynamic leadership of Lorenz Eitner and the years of rebuilding and expansion since. She will regale us with the tale of the history of the museum with particular attention to the exhibitions she curated and the acquisitions she acquired. After her talk, there will be an opportunity to view two small yet exquisite exhibitions that commemorate Lorenz Eitner's achievements.

2009

• Thursday, December 3

  Gay at Stanford: Past, Present and Future
  Gerard Koskovich, Gay Historian, Editor and Book Dealer
  Heather Hadlock, Director of Feminist Studies and Associate Professor of Music, Stanford University
  Paul Robinson, Richard W. Lyman Professor in the Humanities, Emeritus, Stanford University

  We will hear presentations by the historian of gay life at Stanford, Gerard Koskovich, about the past; Heather Hadlock of the Feminist Studies Program on the curricular offerings in LGBT and Queer Studies; and the intellectual historian Paul Robinson about his course on Gay Autobiography. It should be a fascinating discussion of an important part of Stanford in its earlier days and today. And our speakers may venture some predictions about what may happen in the future.

• Wednesday, November 4 / Stanford Pioneers in Science

  Stanford Historical Society co-sponsors this lecture series with the Continuing Studies Program

  William H. Durham, Bing Professor in Human Biology; Yang and Yamazaki University Fellow in the Department of Anthropology
  The anthropologist and human biologist who won a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship for his contributions to the theory of evolution in human population. His teaching and research are in the fields of ecology and evolution, interaction of genetic and cultural change in human populations, and the challenges to conservation and community development in the Third World. Presentation by Stanford Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Human Biology Russell Fernald. (more info)

• Tuesday, October 27, 2009

  What Does the Board of Trustees Actually Do?
  Leslie Hume and Burt McMurtry

  The Board of Trustees of Stanford University is the supreme authority of the University. Among its duties, it appoints the President, has final approval of all faculty appointments, decides about new buildings and modifications to old and makes final decisions about the University investments. It consists of 30 extremely prominent people with Stanford connections. Yet its history and how it operates are largely unknown by the community it rules.

  This program will provide a rare opportunity to discover that history and how the Board operates through presentations and discussion by Leslie Hume, the present Chair of the Board and the first woman to head the Board since Mrs. Stanford as well as former chair Burt McMurtry. It promises to be a fascinating and highly informative meeting. The presentations will be followed by a reception in the Annenberg Patio.

• Wednesday, October 7 / Stanford Pioneers in Science

  Stanford Historical Society co-sponsors this lecture series with the Continuing Studies Program

  William F. Sharpe, STANCO 25 Professor in the Graduate School of Business, Emeritus
  The economist who won the Nobel Prize for his pioneering work in the theory of financial economics, including price formation for financial assets. A stock market guru and pioneer in the field financial economics and index funds, he originated the “Capital Asset Pricing Model” and developed the “Sharpe Ratio” for investment performance analysis. A presentation about Professor Sharpe’s contributions will be made by Stanford Professor Emeritus of Banking & Finance James Van Horne.

• Thursday, May 21, 2009

  Stanford Historical Society 33rd Annual Meeting & Reception
  Please join your fellow Stanford Historical Society members, volunteers and friends of the Society, to celebrate another year of accomplishments at the Historical Society's Annual Meeting & Reception

  Dean Philip Pizzo, the Carl and Elizabeth Naumann Dean, School of Medicine, will give a talk on One Hundred Years of Medicine at Stanford.

• Wednesday, May 20, 2009 / Stanford Pioneers in Science

  Stanford Historical Society co-sponsors this lecture series with the Continuing Studies Program

  Paul Berg, Robert W. and Vivian K. Cahill Professor of Cancer Research, Emeritus, Department of Biochemistry
  A biochemist who won a Nobel Prize for his work in gene splicing and development of methods to map the structure and functions of DNA, laying the groundwork for recombinant DNA technology and the biotech revolution that followed. Presentation by Developmental Biology Professor Lucy Shapiro.

• Friday, May 8, 2009

  Arizona Garden: Lecture and Tour
  Julie Cain and Christy Smith
  5:00 - 6:30 p.m., Arizona Garden
  (near the Mausoleum between Palm Drive and Quarry Road north of Campus Drive)

  The Arizona Garden, also known as the Cactus Garden, was designed for Leland and Jane Stanford by Rudolph Ulrich, a noted 19th-century landscape gardener. It was created sometime between 1881 and 1883 in a formal Victorian style, as part of the elaborate landscaping of a new home planned by the Stanfords'. Today, the Arizona Garden and the surrounding Arboretum are the only surviving remnants of these ambitious landscaping plans.

  The Arizona Garden received a design award from the California Preservation Foundation in 2008. The award program “honors exceptional historic preservation projects for excellence in design, construction, planning and technology.”

  View an overall map of special sites and details about the Arizona Garden.

• Sunday, April 26, 2009

  Annual Historic House and Garden Tour: Reimagining the Clark Legacy
  The annual tour will offer a rare glimpse into four pre-1930 houses on the Stanford campus designed or influenced by architects A. B. Clark and his son Birge Clark. All four houses will be featured in a new book, Historic Houses V: Southeast San Juan Neighborhood, Stanford University, available for advance purchase and on the day of the tour. Proceeds from the tour support the work of the Stanford Historic Houses Project, whose members are documenting pre-1930 campus houses. Their recent work was awarded a Governor’s Historic Preservation Award for 2007.

  For tickets, mail a check (payable to Stanford Historical Society) to Stanford Historical Society, c/o Sweeney, P.O. Box 19290, Stanford, CA 94309. Tickets purchased by April 17 will cost $20 per person, or $35 for a ticket plus a copy of Historic Houses V. After April 17 and on the day of the tour, tickets cost $25. All tickets will be distributed on the day of the tour at 669 Mirada Avenue.

  Print out the tour flier, tour preview, map and driving directions, press release and/or press photos for further details.

  Also Available: campus parking map.

• Monday, April 13, 2009

  Founders' Celebration

  The Founders' Celebration is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. in Memorial Church. It will feature speeches by President John Hennessy and the two winners of the student speaker contest, as well as a performance by a campus a cappella group. The Mausoleum, located in a grove on the north side of campus, will be open to visitors from noon until 5 p.m.

• Wednesday, April 15, 2009 / Stanford Pioneers in Science

  Stanford Historical Society co-sponsors this lecture series with the Continuing Studies Program

  Kenneth Arrow, Joan Kenney Professor of Economics; Professor of Operations Research, Emeritus
  A pioneer who applied mathematics to the science of economics, his theory of economic equilibrium and his welfare theory provided the foundations for much of the practice of economics today. He won the Nobel Prize for his contributions to economic equilibrium theory and welfare theory. Presentation by Economics Professor John Shoven.

• Thursday, March 12, 2009

  Stanford in Turmoil: Campus Unrest 1966-1972
  Talk and Book Launch

  Richard W. Lyman, President Emeritus, Stanford University
  Introduced by Paul Robinson, Richard W. Lyman Professor Emeritus

• Wednesday, March 4, 2009 / Stanford Pioneers in Science

  Stanford Historical Society co-sponsors this lecture series with the Continuing Studies Program

  Burton Richter, Paul Pigott Professor in the Physical Sciences, Emeritus; Senior Fellow in Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies; Director, Emeritus, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
  A physicist who won the Nobel Prize for discovering a new subatomic particle, taking us a step closer to understanding the composition of the universe. He was a leading pioneer in the design and construction of experimental facilities for high energy physics and has been an advocate for promoting public understanding of science. His Nobel Prize was awarded for his discovery of a new elementary particle using equipment he had designed. Presentation by SLAC Director Persis Drell.

• Tuesday, February 17, 2009

  Reflections on Latinos at Stanford Over Three Decades

  Al M. Camarillo, Miriam and Peter Haas Centennial Professor in Public Service

• Wednesday, February 11, 2009 / Stanford Pioneers in Science

  Stanford Historical Society co-sponsors this lecture series with the Continuing Studies Program

  Daphne Koller, Professor of Computer Science
  A computer scientist and leader in the renaissance of artificial intelligence, she won a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship for her extraordinary advancements in the next generation of computer technology.  She has developed new computational methods for representing information from “noisy” data that help unify a type of probability theory called Bayesian methods with relational logic.  These contributions can be applied to very complex tasks and have important potential applications in such fields as biomedical research, commerce, and security. Presentation by Computer Science Professor Sebastian Thrun.

• Wednesday, January 14, 2009 / Stanford Pioneers in Science

  Stanford Historical Society co-sponsors this lecture series with the Continuing Studies Program

  Carl Djerassi, Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus
  A chemist known as the “father of the birth control pill,” he also invented novel forms of insect controls, developed a broad class of antihistamines, founded and directed several biomedical companies, and later went on to become an internationally renowned author of fiction, plays, and poetry. He won the National Medal of Science for inventing the birth control pill and the National Medal of Technology for his novel and environmentally friendly approaches to pest control. Presentation by Chemistry Professor Paul Wender.

• Monday, January 12, 2009

  The King Legacy at Stanford
  This program is co-sponsored by the Black Community Services Center.

  Clayborne Carson, Professor of History
  Director, Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute

  Professor Carson will talk about the founding of the King Papers Project at Stanford and its evolution into the current Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. He will discuss the following: Why Stanford? What were the initial aspirations of the "papers" project? What has it accomplished? What are the current mission and objectives of the expanded "Research and Education Institute?" What is the Institute's relation to the King Center in Atlanta? And, what are its goals over the next five years?

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2008

• Wednesday, November 12, 2008 / Stanford Pioneers in Science

  Stanford Historical Society co-sponsors this lecture series with the Continuing Studies Program

  Robert Sapolsky, The John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor of Biological Sciences and Neurology
  A biologist who studies the relationship of stress to neurological disease and the means by which stress causes damage to the brain of primates and humans. He won a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship for his research that revolutionized our understanding of physical and emotional stress. Presentation by former Stanford President and Biology Professor Donald Kennedy.

• Wednesday, November 5, 2008

  The Mayfield Brewing Company and the History of Palo Alto

  5:00 - 6:30 p.m., Oak West Lounge, Tresidder Union
  John P. Alderete, CBO of Mayfield Brewing Company, will talk about the history of the company and host a beer and ale tasting after the talk.

  Alsace native Michel Klineclaus founded the original Mayfield Brewing Company in 1868. The brewery’s first location was on the corner of College and Yale Streets in the College Terrace Neighborhood of the unincorporated community of Mayfield, now Palo Alto. The brewery was later moved to the corner of Lincoln and Second, which are the modern-day California and Birch Streets. In 1871, Christopher Ducker bought the brewery from Klineclaus and ran it for 35 years. In 1906, Ducker retired and sold the Mayfield Brewing Company to Ernest Klevesahl, who ran it with his son Carl until Prohibition forced the brewery’s closure in 1920. At its peak, the brewery produced 1000 barrels of beer a month and supplied a steam beer to the communities of Woodside, Portola, Redwood City, San Mateo and South San Francisco. Eighty-seven years after the original Mayfield Brewing Company closed its doors, it has emerged once again to serve Palo Alto and its surrounding communities.

• Tuesday, October 21, 2008 / Stanford Pioneers in Science

  Stanford Historical Society co-sponsors this lecture series with the Continuing Studies Program

  Sidney Drell, Professor of Physics, Emeritus, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center; Hoover Institution Senior Fellow

  A physicist who has been one of America’s most influential scientists in insuring nuclear peace throughout the world. Drell play crucial – but relatively unknown – roles advising U.S. presidents over the past 45 years about nuclear threats and disarmament, as well as pioneering development of space-based intelligence technologies He won a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship for his contributions to theoretical physics and international arms control. Presentation by Philip Taubman.

• Wednesday, October 15, 2008

  A Sustainable Stanford in a Sustainable World: Lecture and Tour

  Professor Jeffrey R. Koseff, MS ‘78, PhD ‘83, William Alden Campbell and Martha Campbell Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Michael Forman University Fellow of Undergraduate Education and the Perry. L. McCarty Director of the Woods Institute for the Environment.

  Koseff will describe the Initiative on the Environment and Sustainability at Stanford, focusing on the role of the Woods Institute for the Environment in the Initiative. He will also talk briefly about some of the programs Stanford is embarking on to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and to make it a more sustainable entity. A tour of the Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building (Y2E2) following Koseff‘s talk will begin at approximately 6 p.m.

• Tuesday, May 13, 2008

  Stanford Historical Society 32nd Annual Meeting & Birthday Celebration
  4:15 - 6:45 p.m., Oak Lounge, Tresidder Union.

  The featured program is Back To The Future: Revisiting Stanford's Agenda For 2010 After 20 Years. Panelists include Donald Kennedy, President Emeritus and Bing Professor of Environmental Science, Emeritus; Frederick Biedenweg, former Assistant Vice President for Information Resources; Patricia P. Jones, Vice Provost for Faculty Development.

  In winter quarter 1987, then President Donald Kennedy initiated a planning process with four Stanford faculty/staff members to try “to generate a picture of what the University would be like in the year 2010 if we did nothing to change its course; and then, having examined that picture, to decide upon a few especially promising points of current intervention that could improve it.” Eventually, his group put together a scenario called Stanford in 2010 and developed a list of priority items for the University to concentrate its efforts. At the annual meeting of the Stanford Historical Society, President Emeritus Kennedy and his associates will revisit Stanford in 2010 and share their thoughts on the future of the University.

  Following the program, please join us for a special celebration to toast Leland Stanford, Jr.'s 140th birthday.

• Sunday, April 27, 2008

  Annual Historic House and Garden Tour
  The Stanford Historical Society will be showing four grand old houses built between 1905 and the mid-1920s. Three of these were built by members of the university’s founding faculty, while the fourth was built by a member of the first graduating class who returned to teach. Proceeds from the tour support the work of the Stanford Historic Houses Project, whose members are documenting pre-1930 campus houses. Their recent work was awarded a Governor’s Historic Preservation Award for 2007.

  Tickets purchased by April 18 will cost $20 per person. After that date and on the day of the tour, tickets cost $25. Make checks payable to the Stanford Historical Society and send to: Sweeney, Box 19290, Stanford, CA 94309. All tickets will be distributed on the day of the tour at 607 Cabrillo Avenue (entrance on Santa Ynez Street). Parking will be available at the Tresidder Union lot, with shuttle service from the front of the nearby Stanford Faculty Club.

• Monday, April 7, 2008

  Founders' Celebration
  Noon-5:45 p.m.
  The Stanford Family Mausoleum will be open to the public at noon and will close at 5 p.m. A celebration will begin at the Memorial Church at 5:15 p.m. Speeches will be given by President John Hennessy and two Stanford students.

• Wednesday, March 12, 2008

  Gym Dig: Visit the excavation of the ruins of the Men's Gymnasium with University Archaeologist Laura Jones
  5:00 - 6:30 p.m., at the intersection of Lasuen and Museum Way (Alumni Center in case of rain)

  This monumental structure collapsed in the Great Quake just months before its completion. The ruins of its massive concrete foundations lay forgotten in an open field next to Frost Amphitheater. Now, an archaeological dig is taking place at the site in preparation for construction of the new Performing Arts Center which will cover a portion of the ruin. This is a unique opportunity to visit a dig in progress, and a rare opportunity to see beneath the surface of this fascinating site.

  Please wear sensible walking shoes and be prepared for muddy conditions if it keeps raining. The surface is uneven, so you may want to bring your walking stick as well. Cameras welcome.

• Tuesday, February 26, 2008

  Haas Center and the Tradition of Public Service at Stanford
  5:00 - 6:30 p.m. in Building 320, Room 105 (Geology Corner). The speaker is Catherine Milton, Founding Director, Haas Center; currently Visiting Fellow, John Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities, the School of Education.

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2007

• Monday, October 29, 2007

  The Legendary Wayne Vucinich: Growing Up in Yugoslavia
  Larry Wolff, Editor, Memoirs of My Childhood in Yugoslavia, and Professor of History, New York University. Introduction by Norman Naimark, Robert & Florence McDonnell Professor of Eastern European Studies, Stanford University. Co-sponsored by the History Department, a reception and book signing will follow the talk. Copies of the book will be available for purchase by check or cash at the event and at The Society for the Promotion of Science and Scholarship.

  Wayne S. Vucinich was a founding father of Russian and East European scholarship after World War II and a beloved mentor to thousands of students during his five decades at Stanford. He was instrumental in founding and securing permanent funding for the Center for Russian and East European Studies, which he directed from 1972 to 1985. Vucinich also was curator of the Russian and East European Collections at the Hoover Institution from 1974 to 1977 and developed and edited its well-regarded series, Studies of Nationalities in the USSR. From 1981 to 1982, he was president of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, which established the Vucinich Book Prize in his honor in 1982.

• Friday, September 28, 2007

  Reminiscences on Student Life
  Panelists: John Bunnell, former Director of Undergraduate Admissions; Jon Erickson, former University Bursar; Larry Horton, Director, Govt. & Community Relations; Sally Mahoney, former Acting Vice President for Student Resources. Moderator: Pat Shea.

• Tuesday, September 25, 2007

  The “New” Union: Lecture and Tour
  Laura Jones, Director of Heritage Services

• Wednesday, May 2, 2007

  Annual Meeting and Reception
  4:15-6:45 p.m. Stauffer Auditorium, Hoover Institution. The Stanford Historical Society will present "Reflections: Stanford in the 1990's, President Emeritus Gerhard Casper in Conversation with Alan Acosta." President Emeritus Gerhard Casper is Peter and Helen Bing Professor in Undergraduate Education, Professor of Law, and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Alan Acosta is Associate Vice President and Director of University Communications.

• Sunday, April 29, 2007

  Annual Historic House and Garden Tour
  The Stanford Historical Society will be showing homes and gardens in the historic lower San Juan district, featuring some of the lovely 1908-10 "double houses", which were built in response to so many faculty members choosing to build off campus in the area that became Professorville. This tour also launches Book IV in the Historic House series: Historic Houses IV: Early Residential Communities of the Lower San Juan District, Stanford University. Admission tickets purchased by April 20 will cost $20 per person. A ticket and book can be pre-ordered for $35. After that date, tickets can be purchased at the door for $25 and books for $20.

• Sunday, April 15, 2007

  Founders' Celebration
  The celebration will begin with a procession at the top of the Oval on Serra Street at 11:00 a.m. that will end at the Stanford Family Mausoleum. Speeches will be given by President John Hennessy and two Stanford students at the Mausoleum. The Mausoleum will be open after the ceremony until 4:00 p.m. to allow visitors inside for this special occasion.

• Wednesday, March 14, 2007

  Stanford Grounds and Plants: 30 Years of Changes and Beyond
  5-6:30 p.m. Oak West Lounge, Tresidder Union. Herb Fong, University Grounds Manager, will talk about the campus grounds, trees, animals, natural habitat, and how the campus has evolved over the years.

• Tuesday, January 30, 2007

  'A Snapshot in Time'....Stanford University Campus Planning
  David P. Lenox, University Architect, will share his vision on the future development of the Stanford campus.

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2006

• Sunday, December 10, 2006

  Palo alto Stanford Heritage 19th Annual Holiday House Tour
  Tickets will be limited. The price is $20 before December 1 and $25 on the day of the tour, if space remains available. Checks should be made out to PAST Heritage and sent to P.O. Box 308, Palo Alto, CA 94302. Tickets will be mailed in late November. For more information, please call 650- 327-4977.

• Monday, November 6, 2006

  Stanford Stadium: Lecture and Tour
  5 - 7 p.m. in Kissick Auditorium, Arrillaga Family Sports Center at 641 Campus Drive.
  Stanford Historical Society invites you to a lecture on the history of the old Stanford Football Stadium and a tour of the new stadium on Nov. 6. Speakers are Jon A. Erickson and Ray M. Purpur.

• Wednesday, October 4, 2006

  How Stanford Spawned Silicon Valley: An Historical Perspective
  Speaker: Henry Lowood, Ph.D. Curator for Germanic Collections and Curator for History of Science and Technology Collections Stanford University.
  Is Stanford the engine that keeps Silicon Valley running? If so, in what sense did its spirit of innovation, management styles, and entrepreneurial spirit all have roots on campus? A close look at the history of this relationship can tell us more about what Stanford has meant for Silicon Valley ? and what the Valley has meant for Stanford.
  Featured speaker is Henry Lowood, Curator for the History of Science/Technology Collections, Stanford University Libraries. He will be introduced by Ed Feigenbaum, Kumagai Professor in the School of Engineering, Emeritus.

• Friday, September 29, 2006

  The Renovated Knoll: Presidents, Precedents and Computer Music
  Talks on the history of the Knoll and its renovation, musical performance, and tour.
  Featured speakers are Chris Chafe, Duca Family Professor, Department of Music, and Margaret J. Kimball, University Archivist.

• Wednesday, May 10, 2006

  Annual Meeting and Reception
  The annual meeting of the Stanford Historical Society will begin at 4:15 p.m. at the Bishop Auditorium in the Graduate School of Business. It will feature David Kennedy, Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History and Director of the Bill Lane Center for the Study of the North American West, as the guest speaker. The title of his talk is "Stanford and the West." There will be a reception after the meeting.

• Sunday, April 30, 2006

  Stanford Historic Houses Tour Four houses by Bay Area architects of the early 20th century, A. W. Smith. Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr., and Charles Sumner, and their gardens will be open to the public.
  1-4 p.m. Registration at 622 Cabrillo Avenue. Print out tour flier and see map and/or press release for further details.
  Driving directions

• Saturday, April 22, 2006

  A Company of Authors -- Sponsored by The Associates of the Stanford University Libraries

• Sunday, April 9, 2006

  Commemoration of 1906 Earthquake Centennial

• Monday, April 10, 2006

  Founders' Day.

• Saturday, March 11, 2006

  Tour of Stanford Mansion, Capitol, and Old Sacramento.

• Wednesday, February 8, 2006

  Bright Ideas that Make a Difference: Stanford Patents that have Changed the World. Panel Discussion with: John Chowning, Professor of Music Emeritus; Leonard Herzenberg, Professor of Genetics Emeritus; Cal Quate, Professor of Applied Physics Emeritus; Kathy Ku, Director, Office of Technology Licensing; Niels Reimers, Emeritus Director of Technology Licensing.

• Tuesday, January 17, 2006

  Restrain, Respect and Rehabilitate: A Tale of Three Seismic Projects at Stanford - Chris D. Poland, Quake '06 Centennial Lecture Series. Sponsored by Stanford University and UC Berkeley. (See http://quake06.stanford.edu for more information.)

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2005

• Wednesday, November 16, 2005

  Collegial Capital: The Organizations Research Community at Stanford 1970 - 2000. By Dick Scott, Professor of Sociology, Emeritus. Introduction by Ray Bacchetti, University Vice Provost, Emeritus.

• Wednesday, October 19, 2005 

  Reflections on a Zillion Years of College Admissions Decisions The insights and musings of Fred Hargadon, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Stanford 1969-1984, in conversation with Bill Stone of the Society's Board of Directors.

• Wednesday, September 13, 2005

  What Goes On In There, Anyway? An Architectural Tour.
  Join us for an insider's VIP look at the architecture, design, and purposes of the James H. Clark Center and the Center for Clinical Sciences Research, both designed by Architect Lord Norman Foster. Also on the tour will be the Fairchild Science Building and the Beckman Center.

• Monday, February 28, 2005

  The Globalization of the Stanford Student: Overseas Studies 1973-1985
  A conversation with Professor Mark Mancall, Former Director of Overseas Studies and Mike Hudnall, Former Deputy General Counsel.

• Wednesday, January 26, 2005

  Through the Dean's Open Door: A conversation with former student affairs deans James W. Lyons and Norman W. Robinson.

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2004

• Sunday, December 12, 2004, 2:00-5:00 pm

  Holiday House Tour:   Five nearly century-old campus houses will be open for the 17th Annual Holiday House Tour sponsored by Palo Alto Stanford Heritage (PAST). The Stanford Historical Society is co-sponsoring this first-ever campus holiday tour. The following houses will be open from 2 to 5 p.m.:

  • 739 Santa Ynez Street. Architect, A.W. Smith. Built 1908.
  • 747 Santa Ynez Street. Architect, Bakewell & Brown. Built 1909.
  • 755 Santa Ynez Street. Architect, John K. Branner. Built 1915.
  • 618 Mirada Avenue. Architect, Arthur B. Clark. Built 1909.
  • 773 Dolores Street. Architect, Henry Gutterson. Built 1909.
• Wednesday, October 13, 2004, 4:30pm

  Leland Stanford: The Man and the Book by Norman Tutorow. Tressidder Memorial Union - Oak West Lounge.

• Wednesday, September 29, 2004, 5:30pm

  Seven Decades of Stanford Sports: Triumphs, Setbacks and the Inside Scoop, by Bob Murphy '53, The Voice of the Cardinal. Kissick Auditorium at Arrillaga Sports Center.

• Wednesday, May 12, 2004, 4:15pm

  Annual Meeting. In Bishop Auditorium at Graduate School of Business. Program will feature Richard W. Lyman, President of Stanford University, Emeritus, in conversation with Nancy Packer, Professor of English, Emerita.

• Tuesday, April 13, 2004, 4:30pm.

  One Cool Cop: Marv Herrington Tells All (Almost!) A Conversation with Marvin L. Herrington, Emeritus Chief of Stanford University Police and Bill Stone, SHS Board of Directors. Tressider Memorial Union - Oak East Lounge.

• Sunday, April 4, 2004, 10am-4pm

  Founders' Celebration and Community Day

• Thursday, January 22, 2004, 4:30 pm.

  Campus and City Plans: The Design and Influence of Stanford's Land Developments, by Dr. Margaret O'Mara, Program for the Study of the North American West, Stanford History Department. Tresidder Memorial Union, Oak West Lounge

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2003

• October 21, 2003

  The Stanford Chapel: From Non-Denominational to Multi-Faith
  Robert Gregg, Moore Professor in Religious Studies;
  Patricia Karlin-Neumann, Senior Associate Dean for Religious Life; and
  Imran Arif Maskatia, Islamic Students of Stanford University.

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