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Ross (Edward Alsworth) Papers
SC0110
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Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Edward Alsworth Ross papers
Identifier/Call Number: SC0110
Physical Description:
1.25 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1892-1970
Summary: Correspondence about
Professor Ross' dismissal, including resignation letters of faculty departing in protest,
news clippings, pamphlets, and pamphlets by Ross.
Language of Material:
Undetermined .
This collection is open for research.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must
be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford
University Libraries, Stanford, California 94304-6064. Consent is given on behalf of Special
Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright
owner, heir(s) or assigns. See:
http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/pubserv/permissions.html.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of
digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.
Edward Alsworth Ross Papers (SC0110). Department of Special Collections and University
Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Biographical/Historical Sketch
In the late 1890s, sociology professor Edward A. Ross gained notoriety following several
years of political activism in favor of the free silver movement, municipal ownership of
utilities (including the railroads), and Japanese exclusion. While Mrs. Stanford found his
opinions personally objectionable, her main concern was the reputation of the univeristy
which, she felt, would be damaged by hasty espousal of political and social fads. The
founders had intended the university to be free from the pressures of political
partisanship; the apolitical nature of the university was now endangered by Ross's
activities. Publicly, Mrs. Stanford affirmed President Jordan's power as defined in the
Founding Grant to "remove professors and teachers at will," giving him full responsibility
for clearing up the matter; however, privately, she pressed for Ross's dismissal. She
disagreed with Ross's economic theories and was indignant about the idea of municipal
ownership of the railroads, but she was particularly shocked by his anti-Japanese stand.
Mrs. Stanford identified such attitudes with the earlier anti-Chinese movement instigated by
Dennis Kearny and its resulting "reign of terror" which had pervaded San francisco. Ross,
she felt, was a racist.
Mrs. Stanford wished Ross to go quietly, as a gentleman; President Jordan surmised that the
activist had little intention of doing so. A man whose administrative style had strongly
impressed the academic community, Jordan now vacillated between pleas ing Mrs. Stanford and
upholding his image. After several confused attempts at compromise, which engendered
misunderstandings between Jordan, Mrs. Stanford, and Ross regarding the latter's
reappointment to the faculty, Jordan finally asked Ross to resign in November 1900.
To ensure public sympathy, Ross promptly issued his version of the dismissal to the press
on November 14, 1900. He had been dismissed arbitrarily by Mrs. Stanford, he declared, over
the opposition of President Jordan. The actual roots of dissension were immediately blurred
by extreme public reaction to the touted issue of academic freedom. The entire matter proved
to be greatly embarrassing to the university, particularly to its President. Mrs. stanford
was thenceforth disturbed by the notoriety the university received from the incident. Having
assumed that in her absence (she was traveling in Europe) Jordan would handle the situation
discreetly and with dispatch, she failed to understand that Jordan had no control over
Ross's continuing press statements. Her trust in Jordan was shaken; following the incident,
she increasingly questioned his actions in the areas of salaries, hiring, planned growth of
the academic program, and faculty control of student conduct.
For more detail on the Ross Affair, see: Elliott, Orrin Leslie.
Stanford University the First Twentv-five Years; Mohr, James C. "Academic Turmoil
and Publ ic Opinion: The Ross Case at Stanford,"
Pacific Historical
Review
, v . 29, #1 (Feb. 1970) pp. 39-61.
Correspondence about Professor Ross' dismissal, including resignation letters of faculty
departing in protest, news clippings, pamphlets, and pamphlets by Ross.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Academic freedom
Pamphlets
Stanford University -- Administration.
Ross Affair.
Clippings.