Stanford Mausoleum
Encyclopedia
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 persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
, located in the northwest of the Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
campus in the Stanford University Arboretum
Stanford University Arboretum
The Stanford University Arboretum is an arboretum located on the grounds of Stanford University in Stanford, California. It is open to the public daily without charge....
, holds the remains of the university's namesake Leland Stanford, Jr.
Leland Stanford, Jr.
Leland Stanford Jr. , Leland DeWitt Stanford until age nine, was the only child of Governor Leland Stanford of California and his wife Jane Stanford née Lathrop, and is the namesake of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, United States.Leland Jr...
and his parents Leland
Leland Stanford
Amasa Leland Stanford was an American tycoon, industrialist, robber baron, politician and founder of Stanford University.-Early years:...
and Jane Stanford
Jane Stanford
Jane Stanford was the co-founder of Stanford University with her husband, Leland Stanford, whom she wed in 1850. She was the daughter of a shopkeeper and lived on Washington Avenue in Albany, New York, before her marriage...
.
The mausoleum is opened and a wreath laid once a year (in either March or April) as part of the Founders' Day activities.
History
The original intent of the Stanfords was to build a family mansion here. They had only got as far as planting a cactus gardenArizona Cactus Garden
The Arizona Cactus Garden , also known as the Stanford Cactus Garden, is a botanical garden specializing in cactus and succulents. It is located on the campus of Stanford University , Stanford, California, USA, and open to the public daily without charge.-History:The garden...
(still present) before the death of their only son. They changed their plans to the building of a university instead. Nearby is a memorial (the Angel of Grief
Angel of Grief
Angel of Grief is an 1894 sculpture by William Wetmore Story which serves as the grave stone of the artist and his wife at the Protestant Cemetery, Rome....
) 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
William Wetmore Story was an American sculptor, art critic, poet and editor.-Biography:William Wetmore Story was the son of jurist Joseph Story and Sarah Waldo Story...
.
Appearance
The mausoleum has sphinxes 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 annual Mausoleum Party, a traditional student HalloweenHalloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
party that after being temporarily canceled from 2002 to 2005, was revived in 2006 by student group Absolute Fun.