The most generously endowed educational institution in the world, was opened for the reception of students in 1891.
It is situated at
Palo Alto, a short distance south of
San Francisco, and was founded by
Senator Leland Stanford as a memorial to his son,
Leland Stanford, Jr. The property which
Senator Stanford set apart for its maintenance was valued at $20,000,000. His widow has since increased the amount of endowment, and in 1899 it represented a total of $45,000,000. The buildings were constructed without regard to their cost, and are nowhere surpassed in beauty and fitness.
Many of them are of yellow sandstone, and the
Moorish style of architecture has been followed in their construction.
The courses of instruction embrace almost every department of study imaginable, and provide a complete system of education from the kindergarten to the postgraduate course.
There are not only schools of agriculture, machine-shops, and laboratories for the study of the applied sciences, but there are colleges of art, of law, of medicine, and of music.
The first president of the institution was
Dr. David S. Jordan, formerly president of the State University of
Indiana.
At the close of the school year 1900 the university had 131 professors and instructors; 1,400 students in all departments; 45,000
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volumes in its library; and 1,099 graduates.
