Program Recordings
Many of the Society's past programs are now available as podcasts or videos via Stanford Digital Repository and YouTube. They address important topics including Stanford’s relationship with the Silicon Valley, the Stanford peace movement, the Stanford Prison Experiment, and the history of women at Stanford. Program recordings will be made available continuously. Our programs are mainly funded by membership dues. As you enjoy the recordings, we hope you would consider becoming a member or making a donation to support our programming.
*You may also access a collection of past podcasts via Apple Podcast.
June 23, 2021 | Video
On June 20, 1941, in conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of Stanford University, Hoover Tower was dedicated as the new home for the expansive special collections of the Hoover Library. Organized by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives, the Stanford Historical Society sponsors this online discussion of Hoover Tower and its continuing significance. In the conversation, Stanford University director of architecture Sapna Marfatia, University of Cincinnati architecture professor Jeffrey Tilman and Hoover Institution Library & Archives director Eric Wakin discuss Hoover Tower’s...
May 25, 2021 | Video
This is an interview of Leslie Kim, a 2021 recipient of the Karen Bartholomew Award for Exceptional Service to the Stanford Historical Society, conducted by Charles Junkerman.
May 14, 2021 | Video
An interview with the 2021 recipient Stanford Historical Society's Susan W. Schofield Oral History Award.
May 13, 2021 | Video
At the Stanford Historical Society's 45th Annual Members' Meeting, President Geoff Cox presented an annual report, board member Jennifer Cauble shared new logo designs, and Vice President Charles Junkerman announced the recipients of the Karen Bartholomew Award for Exceptional Service and the Susan W. Schofield Oral History Award, two of the awards given by the society annually.
May 13, 2021 | Video
The Stanford Historical Society tackles a difficult but appropriate question that many institutions (universities, city governments, and school districts) are facing: Why and how should the names of buildings, centers, streets and monuments be removed and, if so, what names should replace them? Rather than cancelling history, the question forces us to look more carefully into our past. In this panel discussion, law professor Bernadette Meyler, who chaired the University’s Advisory Committee on Renaming Jordan Hall and Removing the Statue of Louis Agassiz, shares how the process has worked...
April 6, 2021 | Video
In April 1971, a seemingly innocuous ad appeared in the classifieds of the Palo Alto Times: Male college students needed for psychological study of prison life. $15 per day for 1-2 weeks. In no time, more than 70 students volunteered, and 24 were chosen. Thus began the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE), conducted inside Jordan Hall on the Stanford campus. Originally scheduled to last two weeks, it was ended early over concerns regarding the behavior of both “prisoners” and “guards.” Still today, the SPE spikes enormous interest. Movies and documentaries have been made, books published, and...
January 26, 2021 | Video
Speaker: Elena Danielson, Hoover Institution Archivist, Emerita
While very aware of the obstacles she faced as a woman, Lou Henry succeeded in four careers beyond that of “First Lady”: writer, geologist, architect, and philanthropist. She adroitly used her management skills to promote and expand the Girl Scouts, a non-controversial fit as "First Lady" but with a lasting national impact on the welfare of women.
While very aware of the obstacles she faced as a woman, Lou Henry succeeded in four careers beyond that of “First Lady”: writer, geologist, architect, and philanthropist. She adroitly used her management skills to promote and expand the Girl Scouts, a non-controversial fit as "First Lady" but with a lasting national impact on the welfare of women.
December 1, 2020 | Video
The historical juncture of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the women’s suffrage amendment, the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the turbulent presidential election calls for a thoughtful exploration of the suffrage campaign and its relationship to other social justice movements in U.S. history. Recent scholarship highlights the ways that race and class influenced the fight for, and the effects of, enfranchisement. This panel, moderated by Stanford history professor Estelle B. Freedman, explores the contours and the complexity of the woman suffrage campaign...
October 29, 2020 | Video
Why is oral history special? What can we learn about the history of Stanford that the documents in the archives don’t always tell us? This listening tour of the Stanford oral history collections provides a compelling demonstration of the power of this most personal of historical methodologies.
Stanford Historical Society oral history program manager and Stanford alum Natalie Marine-Street describes the history of Stanford’s unique volunteer-driven oral history program. Through a series of specially curated audio-visual clips, Al Camarillo, a professor emeritus of history who is widely...
Stanford Historical Society oral history program manager and Stanford alum Natalie Marine-Street describes the history of Stanford’s unique volunteer-driven oral history program. Through a series of specially curated audio-visual clips, Al Camarillo, a professor emeritus of history who is widely...
May 19, 2020 | Video
Speaker: Paul V. Turner, Wattis Professor of Art, Emeritus, Stanford University
This 90-minute video, from an online talk delivered May 19, 2020, is about John Carl Warnecke, class of 1941, a Stanford football tackle who went on to become one of the most successful architects in America from the 1960s to the 1980s. Turner explained the importance of Warnecke’s work, especially his pioneering role in the development of “Contextualism” in architecture—as seen, for example, in his work in Washington, D.C., for John F. Kennedy. Warnecke was the president’s favorite architect, and his friendship...
This 90-minute video, from an online talk delivered May 19, 2020, is about John Carl Warnecke, class of 1941, a Stanford football tackle who went on to become one of the most successful architects in America from the 1960s to the 1980s. Turner explained the importance of Warnecke’s work, especially his pioneering role in the development of “Contextualism” in architecture—as seen, for example, in his work in Washington, D.C., for John F. Kennedy. Warnecke was the president’s favorite architect, and his friendship...
April 15, 2020 | Video
Author Roland De Wolk speaks about his new book, American Disruptor: The Scandalous Life of Leland Stanford.
From the publisher:
American Disruptor is the untold story of Leland Stanford – from his birth in a backwoods bar to the founding of the world-class university that became and remains the nucleus of Silicon Valley. The life of this robber baron, politician, and historic influencer is the astonishing tale of how one supremely ambitious man became this country's original "disruptor" – reshaping industry and engineering one of the greatest raids on the public treasury for America’s...
From the publisher:
American Disruptor is the untold story of Leland Stanford – from his birth in a backwoods bar to the founding of the world-class university that became and remains the nucleus of Silicon Valley. The life of this robber baron, politician, and historic influencer is the astonishing tale of how one supremely ambitious man became this country's original "disruptor" – reshaping industry and engineering one of the greatest raids on the public treasury for America’s...
February 18, 2020 | Video
Speaker: William D. Nix, Lee Otterson Professor of Engineering, Emeritus, Stanford University
Stanford’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering celebrated its centennial in the fall of 2019, having been founded as the Department of Mining and Metallurgy in 1919. Today, the department is at the forefront of nano-sciences and biosciences, with a special interest in environmental and medical applications.
In this talk, Professor Nix discusses the ever-changing needs of industry and society, scientific developments, as well as the evolving nature of the University itself and the...
Stanford’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering celebrated its centennial in the fall of 2019, having been founded as the Department of Mining and Metallurgy in 1919. Today, the department is at the forefront of nano-sciences and biosciences, with a special interest in environmental and medical applications.
In this talk, Professor Nix discusses the ever-changing needs of industry and society, scientific developments, as well as the evolving nature of the University itself and the...
