The Stanford Legacy - Stanford University - Palo Alto, CA
N 37° 25.483 W 122° 10.056
10S E 573650 N 4142314
This totem pole resides in Canfield Court on the Stanford University
campus.
Waymark Code: WMTGCA
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 11/20/2016
Views: 0
Located in Canfield Court on the Stanford University campus is a totem pole that stands tall in the SE corner of the court. There's a nearby placard that reads:
DON YEOMANS
PRINCE RUPERT, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADAThe Stanford Legacy, 2002
Western red cedar and pigments
Gift of Marcia and Fred Rehmus Family
400-year-old cedar gift of the Weyerheauser (sic) Company, 2002.28
Clan or family crests and other forms of emblematic representation are pivotal cultural elements among the Native American Haida people. These symbolic ensembles are created to commemorate and honor families and their history.
In that spirit, this totem pole-conceived collaboratively by the donors and the artist-is dedicated to the University's founders, the Stanford family.
The figure of a chief holding a copper shield symbolizes power and (shared) wealth. Below him, a bear holds a half-human being that represents the unfulfilled; between its ears, a figure reaches up to accept the chief's gift. Above, a weeping woman-Mrs. Stanford grieving the loss of her son-is flanked by children climbing up her tears, which may also be interpreted as enlightenment and hope. Atop this figure, the artist includes Raven-the Creator-spirit-sharing one tongue (knowledge/creation) with a supernatural frog. The pole is crowned by a child with angel wings, a tribute to the young boy whose death inspired his parents' dream.
Leland Stanford was a railroad baron, Civil War governor, and, later, U.S. senator, and his wife, Jane Lathrop Stanford, were among California's most influential citizens with mansions in both Sacramento and San Francisco. Their country farm in Palo Alto was the centerpiece of more than 100,000 acres throughout the state devoted to experimental stock-breeding, viticulture and agriculture. The tragic death of the Stanfords' only child, Leland Jr., in 1884 at the age of 15, dramatically changed the direction of their lives."
In memory of their son, Leland and Jane Stanford established Stanford University, which opened its doors in 1891, and the Leland Stanford Junior Museum that opened in 1894. Their generous philanthropy also extended to a night school for farm employees, kindergartens, an orphanage and a shelter for working women and their children.
Don Yeomans is one of the most highly respected artists on the Northwest Coast of British Columbia.