corner 



stone 



i886] The New University 



after consultation with White, Eliot, Oilman, Walker, 

 and others, the bereaved parents decided to found 

 the Leland Stanford Junior University, located in 

 the country about thirty miles south of San Fran- 

 cisco, on the beautiful Palo Alto Ranch which the 

 boy had known and loved. 1 



The founding grant having been executed on Laying 

 November n, 1886, a board of trustees 2 was chosen, 

 mainly from Mr. Stanford's personal friends, and 

 the corner stone of the Inner Quadrangle was laid 

 on May 14, 1887, the anniversary of the boy's birth. 

 A formal address was then made by the founder, 

 setting forth the general purposes of the institution, 

 and from that time on construction of the first build- 

 ings - - the Inner Quadrangle, Engineering Shops, 

 Men's Dormitory, and Museum - - proceeded with 

 enthusiasm and vigor. 



By the winter of 1890 Mr. Stanford felt that he 

 could now prepare for the formal opening. Natu- 

 rally, also, he was anxious to see work started in his 

 own lifetime, and he had already begun to feel the 

 warnings of age. Moreover, as he told me, boards 

 of trustees are often dilatory in the execution of 

 trusts, but, a project once under way, they could 

 not do otherwise than support it. 



1 President Eliot had warned them that a university was a very expensive 

 thing; that they should not think of an endowment of less than five millions 

 of dollars. But as the Senator rated his property at over thirty millions, and 

 expected to devote it all, he thought the requirement could be easily met! 



From a personal letter from Dr. Eliot in response to my request for definite 

 information as to that interview, I quote as follows: 



" Mrs. Stanford looked grave; but after an appreciable interval Mr. Stan- 

 ford said with a smile: 'Well, Jane, we could manage that, couldn't we?' And 

 Mrs. Stanford nodded." 



2 As already stated, this body was not to function during the lifetime of 

 either Mr. or Mrs. Stanford, unless specially called upon to do so. 



C 367 3 



