Historical Photos and Trivia

Thank you for visiting this page. To continue receiving future Stanford historical trivia from the Stanford Historical Society (SHS), become an SHS member or join the SHS email list.

 

Leland Stanford Jr.

Question: What was Leland Stanford Jr.’s original name?
Answer: The name on Leland Jr.’s birth certificate was Leland DeWitt Stanford. He later took the name Leland Stanford Jr.

Searsville Lake. Two persons in a boat at center left, two persons sitting on a bench at center foreground, and a group of six people in the right foreground.

Question: Why did the Board of Trustees close Searsville Lake to public recreational activities in 1976?
Answer: Scroll to page 4 of the Stanford Historical Society Newsletter for the answer. Zoom in or download to read.

For background on the Searsville area, watch this video of University Archaeologist Laura Jones discussing the Indigenous People who first lived in the area.

Kintashe Mainsah, Caitilin Klauer, Sophia Susac, Abby Audet, Stephanie Houck, and Sommer DeRudder are ready for Wacky Walk in the 2021 Commencement.
Kintashe Mainsah, Caitilin Klauer, Sophia Susac, Abby Audet, Stephanie Houck, and Sommer DeRudder are ready for Wacky Walk in the 2021 Commencement. 

Read the history of Commencement and Wacky Walk.

Rosa Parks with Arroyo House residents
Rosa Parks at the Arroyo House reception, Feb. 18, 1990; From left: John R. Rickford, Angela Rickford, Eric Loh, Ashley Ryan, Rosa Parks (seated), Matt McLeod, and Parks’ assistant Elaine Steele. (Image credit: Courtesy John R. Rickford)

Question: What is the name of the civil rights activist (seated in the photo) who met with Arroyo House residents and attended a community event celebrating her legacy in 1993?

Answer: Rosa Parks.

There’s a common misconception that in 1955, when Rosa Parks wouldn’t give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery, Alabama bus, it was because she simply was tired. But as Stanford Professor Emeritus John Rickford explained, Parks was trained for the moment. She was involved in political activism, served as a senior adviser to the NAACP Youth Council, and, on that day in 1955, was standing up against racial segregation on the buses.

“She had a very strong political side that I don’t think people often recognize,” Rickford said.

Sources:
When Rosa Parks came to Stanford, Stanford Report, Feb. 14, 2023
Montgomery Bus Boycott. The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute

Rosa Parks at Stanford, 1990. Black @ Stanford, an Anthology of Black Activism and Community at Stanford, Stanford University Libraries.
Image of Rosa Parks. The Bob Fitch Photography Archive, Stanford University Libraries.
In 2013, the Stanford University Libraries acquired the photographic archive, including copyright, of activist photographer Bob Fitch of Watsonville, California. Fitch is best known for his work that captured iconic images of major figures of the Civil Rights Movement, and peace and social justice movements.
 

From left: Wilbur, Tresidder, Sterling, Levin

Question: What do these Stanford presidents have in common? 

Answer: They are all Stanford alumni. 

Photos (from left): Ray Lyman Wilbur (BA 1896, MA 1897), Donald B. Tresidder (AB 1919, MD 1927), J. E. Wallace Sterling (PhD 1938), Jonathan Levin (BA 1994, BS 1994). Curated by Sunny Scott.

Years of service: Ray Lyman Wilbur (1916-1943), Donald B. Tresidder (1943-1948), J. E. Wallace Sterling (1949-1968), Jonathan Levin (2024- )

Learn more: Before and After Wallace Sterling: Stanford Presidents and Changing Times (Stanford Historical Society program video on YouTube)

Felix Gutierrez

Question: Who is this Stanford Multicultural Alumni Hall of Fame inductee and one of the first Chicano administrators at Stanford?

Answer: Felix Gutierrez. In 1969, Felix Gutierrez was appointed Assistant Dean of Students. Among other achievements, Gutierrez helped students establish a campus Chicano newspaper. In 2002, Gutierrez was inducted into El Centro Chicano y Latino Hall of Fame and Stanford's Multicultural Alumni Hall of Fame.

Join us at the upcoming Stanford Historical Society program on the diversity of the Latino community at Stanford. 

Question: Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was the speaker for the Stanford Commencement in 2005. In a stirring and prophetic address, Jobs touched upon three major areas: Connecting the Dots; Love and Loss; and Death. What were his marching orders to the 2005 graduates? 

Answer: “Stay hungry. Stay foolish. I always wished that for myself.”

Stanford Report article which contains a prepared text and the video of Steve Jobs' commencement speech in 2005: 
https://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/12/youve-got-find-love-jobs-says/

Question: On April 14, 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke at the Memorial Auditorium about racism and civil rights in American society. He touched on many of the issues that resonate today: racism, poverty, and violence versus nonviolent social activism. 

What famous phrase comes from this speech?

Answer:  “…. to deal with this problem of the two Americas. We are seeking to make America one nation, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”

Entire speech: https://news.stanford.edu/2021/01/14/martin-luther-king-jr-s-speech-stanford-genuine-equality/

Excerpt that includes above quotation: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=438837863921124

Question: How many U.S. Supreme Court Justices are Stanford alums?

Answer: Four -- Stephen Breyer, Sandra Day O'Connor, Anthony Kennedy, William Rehnquist.

Question: Can you name these Stanford presidents?

Answer: (top row from left) J. E. Wallace Sterling, Donald B. Tresidder, John Casper Branner, Ray Lyman Wilbur, Donald Kennedy, David Starr Jordan; (bottom row from left) Richard Saller, Kenneth S. Pitzer, Richard W. Lyman, John L. Hennessy, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Gerhard Casper 

*Years of service are available here.

Image credit: Photo montage by Sunny Scott