Provenance
Scope and Content Note
Biographical Sketch
Preferred Citation:
Provenance
Publication Rights
Access Restrictions
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: David Starr Jordan papers
Identifier/Call Number: SC0058
Physical Description:
250.75 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1861-1964
Language of Material:
English .
Provenance
David Starr Jordan, the first president of Stanford University, and Orrin Leslie Elliott,
first registrar, used adjacent offices and later shared a common secretary in George A.
Clark during the early years of the institution. Under this arrangement their correspondence
files were intermixed, and although three separate categories were maintained--President's
Office, General Letters, and University Letters--these distinctions were so vague as to
prove meaningless. Thus, many hundreds of the letters of the letters in the combined files
were requests for catalogs or information about the institution by potential students. All
of the incoming letters and loose carbons and drafts of outgoing letters were copied into
letterpress books. It is assumed that these papers, official and unofficial, remained in the
custody of the University.
When Dr. Jordan retired in 1913, a new file was created for his correspondence as
chancellor, and later, chancellor emeritus. The manner of arranging this correspondence is
unknown.
In 1919, Dr. Jordan gave the Stanford Library a large amount of manuscript material of
which the exact nature has not been determined. Included in this gift were the Papers of the
Fur Seal Commission maintained by Dr. Jordan's and the Commission's secretary, George A.
Clark. In that same year, Dr. Jordan gave the Hoover Collection (now the Hoover Institution
on War, Revolution, and Peace) his award-winning Plan of Education for Peace. Further gifts
to the Hoover Collection followed in 1925-26, 1926-27, and 1928-29.
Dr. Jordan died in 1931, and in 1933-34, his widow gave the Stanford Main Library
manuscripts, journals, poems, and notebooks. In that same year, Mrs. Jordan gave Cornell,
Dr. Jordan's alma mater, books and student mementos, and other materials pertaining to
Jordan's student days.
In September 1934, the University registrar reported that he had employed an assistant to
file the Jordan papers. In reporting to the registrar, the assistant noted that she found so
much overlapping that it is impossible to make a clear segregation. I find that Mrs. Jordan
was arranging the materials in many miscellaneous packages which must all be arranged by
subject. It would be difficult to arrange materials chronologically because dates are
lacking... so the alphabetical arrangement is necessary. In addition to arranging the files,
the assistant segregated several thousand letters of interest to Dr. Elliott, who at this
time was writing a history of the University.
In 1941, the Hoover Library moved into a new multi-story building and assumed the custody
of all the Jordan papers except the official files stored in the President's vault. In
1943-44, Mrs. Jordan sent 36 files and three cartons of correspondence, a diary, and other
papers to Hoover, making a grand total of 107 boxes. In October, 1945, all the cartons
except 24 concerned with peace were returned to the Main Library.
At some unknown date, manuscript record books and some correspondence on fishes was turned
over to the Division of Systematic Biology. These have subsequently been delivered to the
Archives for inclusion in the Jordan files.
In 1965, the Stanford Board of Trustees established the Stanford University Archives, which
absorbed the Stanford Collection, a memorabilia collection long maintained by the Library.
At that time, the Stanford Collection contained 84 boxes of Jordan Papers arranged by
subject. Most of these papers dated after Dr. Jordan's retirement as President, or were his
personal correspondence.
Less than a year after its establishment, the Archives received the Jordan files from the
President's Office vault, of which three cartons were hopelessly damaged by mildew. A
careful search of accessible campus storage areas brought additional Jordan letters,
including those segregated for Dr. Elliott. After the microfilm edition of the Jordan Papers
was approved by the NHPRC, 59 volumes of Dr. Jordan's letter books (chronological files)
were turned over to the Archives by the Registrar's Office.
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists primarily of Jordan's correspondence relating to professional and
university matters, and also contains writings (published and unpublished), clippings,
journals and diaries, scrapbooks, financial papers, biographical and genealogical
information, and photographs. Materials in the collection reflect Jordan's embrace of and
advocacy for eugenics, including his leadership in 19th and 20th century eugenics
organizations.
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.
The David Starr Jordan Papers in the Hoover Institution Archives contain the majority of
Jordan's papers relating to politics and pacifism. A guide to that collection is available
in the reading room of the Department of Special Collections.
Biographical Sketch
David Starr Jordan was born at Gainesville, New York, on January 19, 1851. In March, 1869,
Jordan entered Cornell University to join the first freshman class (which had begun work in
the fall of 1868). Upon presentation of his thesis, "Wild Flowers of Wyoming County," Jordan
received an M.S. degree from Cornell in 1872.
After graduation, Jordan became professor of natural history at Lombard University,
Galesburg, Illinois, 1872-73. He spent the summer of 1873 at Penikese Island with naturalist
and eugenicist Louis Agassiz. He served as principal of the Collegiate Institute in
Appleton, Wisconsin, 1873-74, and was a teacher at the Indianapolis High School in
1874-75.
In March, 1875, Jordan married Susan Bowen, who died in 1885. In 1887, Jordan married
Jessie Louise H. Knight. The papers of Jessie Louise H. Knight Jordan are included in this
collection.
In 1875, Jordan received his M.D. from Indiana Medical College, and that same year, became
professor of biology at Butler University. In 1878, he received his Ph.D. from Butler. In
1879, Dr. Jordan moved to Indiana University as professor of natural history, and in
January, 1885, he became president of Indiana University.
During these early years, Jordan concentrated more and more on fishes. He spent his summers
collecting data for the U.S. Fish Commission, later Bureau of Fish and Fisheries, or the
U.S. Census Bureau. In the course of his career he studied and catalogued fish of the rivers
of the United States and Alaska; Pacific Coast salmon, fish of Japan, Sinaloa, Mexico,
Samoa, and Hawaii. He also served on numerous commissions, including the joint commission
investigating the Bering Sea fur seal.
In the Spring of 1891, Leland Stanford offered Jordan the presidency of the university
established in memory of the late son of Leland Stanford and Jane Lathrop Stanford. Jordan
accepted and in March began to recruit faculty for the soon-to-open institution. Jordan's
first choice was John Casper Branner, who became Stanford's second president. Faculty was
recruited (in large measure from Cornell and Indiana) and school commenced October 1,
1891.
In 1892, Jordan helped found the Sierra Club. Later in life he helped establish of Mr.
Rainier and Yosemite as national parks, and in conservation movements generally.
Leland Stanford died in June, 1893, and Stanford University faced an uncertain future. A
long probate period and a suit by the federal government for funds advanced to build the
Central Pacific Railroad tempered the growth of the University until 1899. Jane Stanford
expended great energy and the restricted resources available to her to keep the University
open. During this time Jordan continued his ichthyological work and served as president of
the California Academy of Sciences (1896-1904 and 1908-1912). In 1899 the University
received its inheritance and legal actions against the estate ceased.
During his later years as president of Stanford, Jordan served as a member of the
International Committee on Zoological Nomenclature (1904), president of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science (1909-1910), vice-president of the International
Congress of Zoologists (1910), and to receive honorary degrees from Johns Hopkins University
(1902), Illinois College (1905), and Indiana University (1909).
Jordan was a leader in the American Eugenics Movement. His support for eugenics impacted
many other areas of his life, including through informing his leadership in the world peace
movement which occipied much of his later life.
In 1913 he resigned as president and became chancellor of the University. Following his
retirement Jordan continued his travels in the interest of classifying fish and speaking
against war. Jordan died on September 19, 1931, after an illness of several years.
Preferred Citation:
David Starr Jordan Papers (SC0058). Department of Special Collections and University
Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Provenance
Personal papers given by Mrs. David Starr Jordan and others; official papers transferred
from the Stanford University President's Office.
Publication Rights
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.
Access Restrictions
The materials are open for research use.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Stanford University -- Presidents.
Stanford University -- Administration.
Eugenics.
Temperance
Naturalists
San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, Calif., 1906