William Thomas Reid was born on November 8, 1843 on a farm near Jacksonville, Illinois. After graduating from Harvard in 1868, he taught at the Newport, Rhode Island High School and the prestigious Boston Latin School before accepting a job at the Boys' High School in San Francisco, California in 1875. Elected to the presidency of the University of California in 1881, Reid served until 1885, when he retired to found the Belmont School in Belmont, California on August 5, 1885. In May 1893, Hopkins Academy merged with the Belmont School and the two schools were incorporated as Belmont School, W. T. Reid Foundation. In April 1900, the control and ownership again reverted to Mr. Reid who ran the school until August 1918, when it was sold to the Most Rev. Edward J. Hanna, D.D., Archbishop of San Francisco.

Number of containers: 5 cartons, 2 boxes, 1 oversize folder, 1 volume, 1 oversize box Linear feet: 7.05

Copyright has been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of the Manuscripts Division. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Collection is open for use.