The William M. Tipton Papers, 1887-1978 (bulk 1893-1918), document the personal and professional life of William M. Tipton. The records consist of pamphlets, correspondence, Spanish vocabulary lists, photographs, land surveying tools, government documents, newspaper clippings, and various notes. This collection is arranged into three series: Series I. William M. Tipton's Personal Papers, 1887-1978 (bulk 1893-1918); Series II. Lists of Spanish Terms with English Translations, n.d.; and Series III. Surveyor Tools and "The Gift of Tongues" Manuscripts, 1915-1923 (bulk 1915-1917).

William M. Tipton was born in Dayton, Ohio on February 20th, 1857. His family moved to Brownsville, Nebraska the following year and his father Thomas Weston Tipton was elected to the United States Senate after the end of the Civil War. During Thomas Tipton's incumbency, the family lived in Washington, D.C. where William Tipton was educated at the Emerson Institute. William Tipton briefly taught in the Brownsville, Nebraska public schools before accepting a position in the office of the Surveyor General of the Territory of New Mexico in Santa Fe. In order to read old governmental documents from New Mexico from its time under the governance of Spain and Mexico, Tipton learned Spanish and began to develop skilled understanding of land grants and how to handle Spanish language documents specifically. Because of this self-taught expertise, he worked as a land surveyor and protected the U.S. government from fraudulent land claims in the New Mexico Territory. Santa Clara University was founded in 1851 by the Society of Jesus as Santa Clara College and is California's oldest operating institution of higher learning. It was established on the grounds of Mission Santa Clara de Asìs, the eighth of the original 21 California missions. The college originally operated as a preparatory school and did not offer courses of collegiate rank until 1853. The institution became known as the University of Santa Clara in 1912, when the schools of engineering and law were added. For 110 years, Santa Clara University was an all-male school. In 1961, women were accepted as undergraduates and Santa Clara University became the first coeducational Catholic university in California. The number of students and faculty tripled over the next decade and the university began the largest building program in school history with eight residence halls, a student union, and an athletic stadium. In the early 1970s, the Board of Trustees voted to limit the size of the undergraduate population, an action that was intended to preserve the character and ensure the quality of the university for generations to come. In 1985, the university adopted Santa Clara University as its official name. Bibliography: Santa Clara University. "About SCU – History." www.scu.edu/about/history.cfm (Accessed Nov. 23, 2010) McKevitt, Gerald, S.J. The University of Santa Clara: A History, 1851-1977. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1979.

1.79 linear feet (1 document box, 1 archival binder and 1 flat box)

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