The Stanford Mausoleum, located in the Northwest of the

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

campus in the Stanford University Arboretum, holds the remains of the university's namesake

Leland Stanford, Jr. Leland Stanford Jr. (May 14, 1868 – March 13, 1884), known as Leland DeWitt Stanford until he was nine, was the only son of American industrialist and politician Leland Stanford and his wife Jane Stanford, Jane. Following his death from typhoid ...

and his parents Leland and

Jane Stanford Jane Elizabeth Lathrop Stanford (August 25, 1828 – February 28, 1905) was an American philanthropist, co-founder of Stanford University in 1885 (opened 1891) along with her husband, Leland Stanford, as a memorial to their only child, Leland St ...

. Once per year, the

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

is opened to the public and a wreath laid (usually in October during the reunion weekend) as part of the annual Founders' Day activities.

History

The original intent of the Stanfords was to build a family mansion here. They had only gotten as far as planting a

cactus garden A cactarium or cactuario (from Latin, ''cactarium'') is a garden dedicated to the planting of cacti. While they generally specialize in collecting cacti, they can also include other desert plants such as sabla, agaves or Crassulaceae, although th ...

(still present) before the death of their only son. They changed their plans to building a university in his name instead. Nearby is a memorial (the ''

Angel of Grief ''Angel of Grief'' or the ''Weeping Angel'' is an 1894 sculpture by William Wetmore Story for the grave of his wife Emelyn Story at the Protestant Cemetery in Rome. Its full title bestowed by the creator was ''The Angel of Grief Weeping Over th ...

'') to Jane Stanford's brother, Henry Clay Lathrop. This memorial is a 1908 copy of a 1901 copy of an 1894 statue by the prominent American sculptor

William Wetmore Story William Wetmore Story (February 12, 1819 – October 7, 1895) was an American sculptor, art critic, poet, and editor. Life and career William Wetmore Story was the son of jurist Joseph Story and Sarah Waldo (Wetmore) Story. He graduated from H ...

Appearance

The mausoleum has

sphinxes A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...

on both the front and the back. The back ones are Greek and female with naked breasts. They were originally on the front but the Stanfords disapproved of them and replaced them with Egyptian style male sphinxes and moved the female sphinxes to the back.

Halloween Mausoleum Party

Stanford Mausoleum is also the site of the traditional Mausoleum Party, informally referred to as Maus, a student

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

party held each year at 10:00pm on the last Friday or Saturday of October. After being temporarily cancelled from 2002 to 2005, this tradition was revived in 2006. It is sponsored and planned annually by the Stanford Sophomore Class.

References

External links

*
Virtual Reality of Stanford Mausoleum
a QuickTime panorama by Erik Goetze
Stanford Mausoleum
at Stanford Buildings & Ground Maintenance
Founders' Celebration
by Stanford University, with information about the annual opening to the public of the Mausoleum {{Stanford Places Buildings and structures in Palo Alto, California Mausoleums in the United States

Mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

Monuments and memorials in California Cemeteries in Santa Clara County, California