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.

Cora Miranda Baggerly Older (more commonly known as Mrs. Fremont Older) was born in Clyde, New York, in 1875. She was a noted historian, author, and biographer with a keen interest in California history. At the age of 18, she married Fremont Older, a San Franciscan newspaperman whom she had met in Sacramento during her summer break from Syracuse University.

After moving to California, Cora worked as a reporter and literary editor at the San Francisco Call. She published The Socialist and the Prince, her first novel, in 1903. The book was followed by the publication of The Giants in 1905 and Esther Damon in 1911. During this time, she also wrote articles pertaining to social issues for McClure’s magazine. One of her most substantial projects, the biography of Senator George Hearst (George Hearst: California Pioneer), was published by a San Francisco printer in 1933. The book was written primarily by Cora, but her husband and William Randolph Hearst assisted in the editing process. A few years later in 1936, she released a biography of publisher William Randolph Hearst (William Randolph Hearst: American). She later cited this process as the “greatest experience” in her professional writing career. Her final major publication was San Francisco, Magic City, released in 1961.

After her husband passed away in 1935, she actively managed their estate, Woodhills Farm, in Cupertino. She passed away at the age of 93 in 1968.

Bibliography

Coffman, Taylor. “Mrs. Fremont Older: ‘The Pink Lady.’” August 2013. Coffmanbooks.com (Accessed 12 February 2018.)