Collection Guide
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Guide to the David Starr Jordan Papers
SC0058
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Table of contents
Description
The Jordan Papers span 1861-1951, although the bulk of the collection dates between 1891 and 1929. Very few items pre-date
Jordan's connection with Stanford University and there is very little material after the severe stroke he suffered in the
summer of 1929. The papers of Jessie Knight Jordan [Series I-F], cover the two years of Jordan's illness, her reminiscences
and the memoires of his old friends.
Background
David Starr Jordan was born at Gainesville, New York, on January 19, 1851. His father was a farmer of comfortable circumstances
who cared a great deal more for poets than for the current agricultural literature. Young Jordan developed a marked distate
for the routine labors of the farm, preferring to collect butterflies and flowers to hauling hay. Jordan's schooling provided
more freedom than was common for boys of his generation and offered him the opportunity to catalogue the plants of his native
country in addition to learning French, Latin, history, and poetry.
Extent
250 Linear feet
Restrictions
Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights reside with the creators of the documents or their heirs. To obtain
permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections and University
Archives.
Availability
The materials are open for research use.