The de Saisset family was a prominent pioneer family in San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley in the late 1800s. The de Saisset family was headed by Pedro who was born in Paris, France, served as the Vice-Consul for the French government in San Francisco, and started the Brush Electric Company in San Jose, which lighted the San Jose City Light Tower. Maria, the mother, was a California native. They had two sons, Ernest (1864-1899), artist and Santa Clara College student, and Peter (1870-?), a musician; and two daughters, Henriette (1859-1947), a teacher, and Isabel (1875-1950), who donated the family estate to establish the de Saisset Museum in honor of Ernest de Saisset.

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.