(my PWR paper)
Why we're here: (Legal) Origins of Stanford University
A biased summary for the edification of anyone who might be interested (and wants to avoid studying?)
This quarter at Stanford —Spring '09— I was assigned into my third choice for the PWR (Program in Writing and Rhetoric) class requirement: Rhetoric of Stanford. Although I didn't think it would appeal to me so much, I am glad I had the chance to learn about and research early Stanford history. For my 13-page "researched-based argument" I was interested in understanding how the university came to be. I learned a lot about the Stanfords, about the legal basis of the university, and about a certain George E. Crothers (yes, Crothers Hall is named after him), and before I forget all my research, I'd like to share a bit of it.
A MEMORIAL
In case you haven't heard yet, Leland Stanford was a big, important dude in 19th-century California. He was California governor during the Civil War, and was one of the "big four" railroad tycoons in the area. Anyhow, Leland and his wife finally had the chance to start a family when their son Leland DeWitt Stanford was born in 1868. [Lewis]
(Little Leland would eventually insist that he wanted his father's name exactly —hence, he became Leland Stanford Jr. [Clausen 26])
Unfortunately, the prodigious young fellow died in Florence before his 16th birthday, on March 13, 1884 (during a trip to Europe). So, his parents decided to establish a big memorial in his honor. Funny thing is, after considering several options, they decided to contribute a technical school to UC Berkeley. But for some reason the state legislature wouldn't confirm his appointment to the UC Board of Regents. [Lewis 184]
Too bad for them. Stanford founded his own university.
AN ENABLING ACT AND A FOUNDING GRANT
But how do you found a university? Doesn't that involve a lot of legal stuff, building a campus, and then attracting students and educators? Well, yes. Which Leland and Jane did. They went to the East Coast to look at other campuses, came back, and hired Olmstead to build the main quad, and a certain ichthyologist named David Starr Jordan to become the first president. [Lewis, again] The university finally opened in 1891, and Jane was so touched that she couldn't even bring herself to read the address she'd written (but if you ever see a copy, read it —it's lovely).
So, after I learned about this, I was still wondering to myself: how exactly did they set this all up, in a way that satisfied all those government people who love paperwork? The eventual answer: a Founding Grant. It set up a trust that the Stanfords bequeathed their money to, and established a Board of Trustees to run the University using the trust.
But that wasn't so simple. Legally, they could not set up a trust with all the provisions they wanted (for example, they wanted to retain certain rights over the university while they were still alive). There was the option of an "educational corporation," but not even that would have worked. Therefore, the former Governor decided to take matters into his own hands, and wrote a piece of legislation and had it passed by the state legislature in early 1885. That law became known as the "Enabling Act."
The Enabling Act allowed the Stanfords to write the Founding Grant exactly the way they wanted, and on November 14, 1885, they signed a really fancy, 40-page copy of that grant. They were ready to start work on the Leland STanford Junior University.
A FEW PROBLEMS AND A MAN
Unfortunately, Leland Sr. was a business man, not a lawyer, and there was a slight issue with the Founding Grant: it didn't follow the Enabling Act that he had written for it! In a sense, the university was technically not legal! And while everyone was busy not noticing this, the Board of Trustees went on running the university, and in 1893, Leland Sr. died quietly. Jane inherited a lot of railroad stocks from her husband, and the university could really use the money. Unfortunately, the couple had never considered that they might want to donate any more money/proporty to the university, so she couldn't turn it over to the trustees! Even better, transferring her wealth to the university would have incurred so much taxes that it would have ended up ruining the university.
Oh, and Jane had issued a bunch of amendments to the Founding Grant. Technically, that wasn't legal either.
Enter George Edward Crothers. Although the rest of this text might make him sound like some sort of superhero (hey, that's essentially what I was arguing in my PWR paper!), he was a modest lawyer from Stanford University's "Pioneer Class" of 1895 —the first class to spend 4 years here. Conveniently, the guy looked a bit like Leland Stanford Jr., so Jane Stanford took a slight liking to him.
Crothers had studied law, and gladly contributed to his alma mater by offering his legal services throughout the years —for free. In fact, it's kinda ridiculous how much he did for Stanford. He discovered all the issues in the preceding paragraph, and helped resolve all of them, and more.
Crothers gained a lot of trust from Jane until her death in February 1905 (she was poisoned —a lovely mystery story in itself), and became her trusted advisor. He became her attorney, wrote her will, and carried out many of her intentions. A few highlights:
In order to help with the stocks, Crothers helped lead a movement to grant tax exemption to the university. This was done through an entire amendment —that Crothers wrote— to the California Constitution (i.e. they had to get the approval of the voters of the entire state). Seriously, "Stanford University" is still in the California Constitution: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/.const/.article_20
The section 10 of Article IX it refers to can be found on page 39 of http://wasc.stanford.edu/files/FoundingGrant.pdf
Basically:
- The Stanford Board of Trustees has the same powers as a corporation, which can be quite convenient.
- The Board can receive gifts. Yay for donors!
- Stanford land is tax-exempt. To this day, the university does not pay any takes on its campus property!
Anyhow, the Board could finally receive the much-needed stocks from Jane, legally, and tax-exempt. And guess how they did that? Jane vested the stock in George Crothers, who literally handed it to the Board upon her death.
Near the end of her life, Jane wanted to resign all her founding powers. George helped her do that, meanwhile reconciling her faulty amendments, and essentially rewriting the entire legal foundation af the university. This involved a lot of fancy paper work, including a 511-page petition (which, conveniently, has a 104-word title) prepared by George's brother Thomas. George sat next to Jane when she resigned her rights as a founder.
(In case you're wondering, Jane didn't disappear from the university. She immediately joined the Board and became its president. But technically, she became just another board member.)
Crothers did quite many things for Stanford. I've just covered the most important legal ones.
I have not yet mentioned that he actually served on the Board of Trustees for 10 years, where he allowed future US President Herbert Hoover to take his place.
He was a true Stanford graduate, and even served as president of the Alumni Association twice. In fact, here is a selection of his affiliations from an article I found in Special Collections:
- Temporary chairman and second President of the Pioneer Class ('96)
- San Francisco Opera Association
- anti-Communist propaganda
- reorganization of the Western States Life Insurance Company
- American Red Cross
- American Historical Association
- American Political Science Association
- Seismological Society of America
Crothers became a judge after his service as a trustee, and is sometimes affectionately known as "The Judge." Around the same time, he married his wife, Elizabeth Mills (a paleontologist and poet!). Unfortunately, she died in 1920, and Crothers does not have any descendants. However, he lived a peaceful life until he died in 1957, still helping the university in slightly less dramatic capacities.
Near the end of his life, in 1948, Crothers donated money to fund Crothers Hall, which opened in 1948. He soon added Crothers Memorial Hall, which is named after his mother.
So, if you ever find yourself ambling down the east of Stanford's campus, gaze at Crothers Hall and remember the model Stanford graduate who did so much for his university. It is hard to say exactly how much he did, but he probably saved the university from near-fatal dangers, and he is responsible for keeping the university safe & independent. Leland and Jane Stanford had lofty goals for the memorial university, and Crothers was a principal figure who rectified legal foundations with the founders' wishes, for the Leland Stanford Junior University.
SOURCES
I consulted a lot of sources for my paper, so I was trying to restrain myself here. The latter part has few citation because it blends many sources. Although some of the information is from original documents I perused in at Special Collections and University Archives (Green, Bing Wing), some of the information can be found in the following two links, which I highly recommend if the story of Crothers and the university's legal origins appealed to you:
Founding of the Leland Stanford Junior University, written by Crothers himself.
The actual text of the Founding Grant, Enabling Act, and more.
Oscar Lewis, The Big Four, 1938 Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. ( On SearchWorks )
Clausen, Henry C.. Stanford's Judge Crothers: the Life Story of George E. Crothers, Faithful Son, Loyal Citizen And Political Leader, Successful Lawyer, Jurist And Businessman, Wise Counselor And Kindly Benefactor. San Francisco: George E. Crothers Trust, 1967. ( SearchWorks )
( SearchWorks )
George Edward Crothers, a Friend of Stanford University. [Stanford: Stanford University Press], 1949. ( Here or there. )