Visionary Mentor, Loving Mother

Introduction

The Stanford University story begins with a couple so distraught and bereaved over the loss of their son that they could not bear to have his memory forgotten.

Jane and Leland Stanford lost their only son, Leland, Jr., a 16-year-old young adult with boundless energy and curiosity, to illness while traveling abroad. The Stanfords resolved to give other young adults the opportunity that their son never had. Shortly after the opening of the University, Jane Lathrop Stanford was widowed and the Stanford dream rested solely in her heart and on her shoulders. She was an indefatigable advocate for educating youth and building a prominent university for them; so much so that she was willing to sell her personal jewelry to fund the University.

No other university was born out of as great love and determination as that of Jane Stanford.

Jane Stanford: Biography

Jane Elizabeth Lathrop was born August 25, 1828 in Albany, New York, to Dyer and Jane Ann Shields Lathrop. "Jennie," as her husband would call her, was raised and educated at home, as were most young women of her generation...

Jane Stanford: Timeline

Adapted from A Chronology of Stanford University and Its Founders by Karen Bartholomew, Claude Brinegar, and Roxanne Nilan (Stanford Historical Society: Stanford, CA, 2001).

[Photo - Cornerstone from Stanford Memorial Church]

Jane Stanford: Her Values and Impact

"I hope your lives will be truly earnest, not in the sense of going forth to acquire great wealth and great names; but to be conscientious workers, to be helpful to others, to send cheer and goodwill to those who need lifting up, and always follow the Golden Rule, 'to do unto others as you would have others do unto you.'" From an address prepared but not delivered for Stanford University's opening ceremony, October 1, 1891.

Visionary Mentor, Loving Mother

Introduction

Jane Stanford: Biography

Jane Stanford: Timeline

Jane Stanford: Her Values and Impact

See Also

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