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Classen (Willard J.) Papers
SC1629
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
Undetermined
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Willard J. Classen papers
Creator:
Classen, Willard J.
Identifier/Call Number: SC1629
Identifier/Call Number: 14701
Physical Description:
2.5 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1955-1991
This collection contains a reprint of an article by Classen and Joseph J. Graham, "A Lower
Eocene Foraminiferal Faunule from the Woodside Area, San Mateo County, California," 1955,
with the original illustrations; a letter from Rixford K. Snyder talking about Greystone
Quarry, the source of the sandstone used in building the first buildings at Stanford, 1991;
and a short article by Classen on the Stanford University seal.
Willard J. Classen was born October 3, 1899, in San Francisco of gold rush descendants, and
after the 1906 earthquake, his family relocated on the Peninsula to "Fair Oaks," now known
as Atherton. Willard attended Manzanita Hall, a private Palo Alto high school, and entered
Stanford University in the fall of 1917. With a major in geology and mining, he graduated
with the class of 1921. Willard's long career began as a geologist with Standard Oil Co. of
California. Working next with California Standard Oil, he was transferred to Guayaquil,
Ecuador, in 1923. He joined Tidewater (later Associated Oil Co.) and spent 1924 and early
winter 1925 in Alaska as a well-site geologist on the Tidewater 1 Grammer well. In 1926, he
moved to Utah for fieldwork. While there, he met his future wife, Zelda Ann Stark of Moab,
and they were married a short time later in the Stanford Chapel in July 1926. He was past
president of the Stanford Alumni Association, Stanford rugby coach for 12 years with a
salary of $ 1 per year, and with his wife, Zelda, a significant benefactor to the Stanford
University School of Medicine. He died on November 16, 1998 in Menlo Park.
[Identification of item], Willard J. Classen papers (SC1629). Department of Special
Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Geology.
Stanford alumni
Branner Earth Sciences Library and Map
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