Stanford Memorial Church - History - Early History

Early History

Stanford Memorial Church is located at the end of the mile-long axis of Stanford University, visible from a distance; the main vista begins at the main entrance, continues to Palm Drive, traverses "the Oval" (a large oval lawn), enters the Main Quad (the core of the university), and finally crosses Memorial Court and the Inner Quad courtyard. The church was commissioned by Jane Stanford (1828–1905) as a memorial to her husband, Leland Stanford (1824–93). The Stanfords had intended that a church should become "the centerpiece of the university complex". They were deeply religious, and for their day and social standing, "open-minded ecumenicalists", so they included in the university's original charter that a church built on campus should be a "nondenominational—if essentially Protestant—house of worship". They had traveled Europe for many years, visiting churches, museums, and notable buildings and finding inspiration for the architecture of both the university and church. They received their greatest inspiration from the Piazza San Marco in Venice.

During one of the Stanfords' European trips they befriended Maurizio Camerino, an artist with a reputation for producing high-quality mosaics, who was managing the Antonio Salviati studios in Venice. After Leland Stanford's death in 1893, legal disputes tied up the Stanford estate and prevented the completion of the university for several years. When the disputes were settled in Jane Stanford's favor, she was finally able to put into motion her wish for a church. In 1898, she and the university trustees requested design submissions for the church. Once Stanford Memorial Church was ready for decoration, Jane Stanford visited Camerino, who had taken over the ownership of Salvati and Company in 1890, and commissioned him to produce mosaics for the church. Stanford spent two months in Venice, working closely with Camerino and selecting the watercolors he created that were eventually developed into the mosaics. The process of finalizing the designs took several months after Stanford returned home to California, as new paintings and modifications were shipped to her by boat. The art contained in the church "greatly occupied" Stanford; as former chaplain Robert C. Gregg put it, "The structure was to be without flaw". Stanford was determined that the quality of the church's workmanship would equal the medieval churches she had admired in Europe.

Groundbreaking for the church was held in 1899. After a delay of almost a year, Stanford Memorial Church was dedicated on January 25, 1903, with "impressive ceremonies". Demonstrating Jane Stanford's goal of ecumenicism, Rabbi Jacob Voorsanger of San Francisco's Congregation Emanu-El read the first Bible lesson. The church's pastor, Heber Newton, gave the sermon. A second service was held later that day, and D. Charles Gardner, the chaplain, gave the sermon. Stanford Memorial Church's first christening was held between the two services.

Jane Stanford once remarked: "While my whole heart is in the university, my soul is in that church". She died in 1905, and so did not live to see the damage caused by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Her funeral took place in the church, referred to as one of her most important accomplishments and "the truest reflection of her visionary leadership" in March 1905. Demonstrating her belief in ecumenicism, clergy from several religious traditions, including a Rabbi, a Presbyterian minister, a Methodist minister, an Episcopal bishop, and a Baptist minister, officiated at the service.

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