Who Killed Jane Stanford?: A Gilded Age Tale of Murder, Deceit, Spirits and the Birth of a University
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- Create Date：2022-05-15 17:21:36
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Richard White
- ISBN：B09KMC7PBT
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Reviews
Casey Gale
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Who Killed Jane Stanford？ By Richard White ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️In San Francisco Gilded Age corruption and conspiracy surround the murder of Stanford University co-founder Jane Stanford。Jane and Leland Stanford founded Stanford University in 1885 to honor their teenage son who died suddenly。 Years later in 1893 Leland dies and Jane Stanford continues her eccentric spiritualist ways for many years imposing her beliefs on the University and key educators。 In 1905 she was murdered in Hawaii by strychnine poiso Who Killed Jane Stanford？ By Richard White ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️In San Francisco Gilded Age corruption and conspiracy surround the murder of Stanford University co-founder Jane Stanford。Jane and Leland Stanford founded Stanford University in 1885 to honor their teenage son who died suddenly。 Years later in 1893 Leland dies and Jane Stanford continues her eccentric spiritualist ways for many years imposing her beliefs on the University and key educators。 In 1905 she was murdered in Hawaii by strychnine poisoning。 The trustees at Stanford University and many associates look to create a story of a death by natural causes。 With Janes large fortune necessary for the success of Stanford， her suspicious death cover-up penetrated the wealthy， powerful circles of San Francisco。 No one pursued Jane Stanford’s killer。 An exciting， extensively researched story of what really happened to Jane Stanford。 Perusing documentary evidence author Richard White expertly dissects conflicting witness statements， political corruption and other evidence that tells the story of Janes death during the San Francisco Gilded Age。 White finds many people who wanted Jane dead and one person who could make it happen。 As one of my favorite Universities the history of Stanfords creation and the story of the killing of its founder was shocking non-fiction。Do you like non-fiction？ This one is as good as any fiction bestselling thriller。 。。。more
Krista
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"Who Killed Jane Stanford？" is Richard White's effort to transition a class on the Gilded Age origins of Stanford University into a true crime narrative。 What's good: White has definitely landed on a great mystery to feature。 The death of the Stanford University founder is a compelling question， and there are many excellent themes to address here。 （The story of a university being founded， and the inter-faculty/faculty governance squabbles， alone is both fascinating and hilarious to anybody with "Who Killed Jane Stanford？" is Richard White's effort to transition a class on the Gilded Age origins of Stanford University into a true crime narrative。 What's good: White has definitely landed on a great mystery to feature。 The death of the Stanford University founder is a compelling question， and there are many excellent themes to address here。 （The story of a university being founded， and the inter-faculty/faculty governance squabbles， alone is both fascinating and hilarious to anybody with a background in university life。） The author shows genuine interest in the figures here--they're clearly not metaphoric dolls being moved about for the pleasures of the true-crime audience。 What's iffier: The book doesn't attempt to answer the central question until the Epilogue， and in so doing， makes for an impatient reader。 A part of me wonders if a restructuring of the book would have made it stronger， or if maybe if the title alone is a problem--by starting off asking the identity of the murderer， the reader's attention is cued to focus exclusively on that， vs。 the other elements in the title。 With gratitude to the publisher and Edelweiss for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review。 。。。more
Aaron Brown
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Fantastic， riveting read from one of the great scholars of American history。 It is not an academic book at all， though certainly filled with fascinating history。 It really is just a great crime story and mystery told with impeccable detail and masterful skill。
Maine Colonial
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I received a free advance review copy from the publisher， via Netgalley。This nonfiction book is much more about the subtitle than the main title。 Though I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 18 years， worked in Palo Alto for several years and knew many Stanford grads， I had no idea of most of the stories in this book about the founding and early years of the university。 And a lot of the San Francisco history in the book was news to me， too。 I sure never knew that Wyatt Earp， yes the Wyatt Ea I received a free advance review copy from the publisher， via Netgalley。This nonfiction book is much more about the subtitle than the main title。 Though I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 18 years， worked in Palo Alto for several years and knew many Stanford grads， I had no idea of most of the stories in this book about the founding and early years of the university。 And a lot of the San Francisco history in the book was news to me， too。 I sure never knew that Wyatt Earp， yes the Wyatt Earp， was a bodyguard for the editor of the Examiner newspaper in the Gilded Age days when it was not unusual for editors， publishers and reporters to get plugged by the offended targets of their stories。Ah yes， the Gilded Age。 It sounds so glamorous， doesn’t it？ Well， of course all that gilt was the result of violence， financial shenanigans， and ruthless treatment of friends， family and foes。 Definitely that was the case for Leland Stanford Sr。， a railroad baron whose chicanery was the foundation of his wealth。 When 15-year-old son， Leland Jr。， died of typhoid while on a European trip with his parents， the Stanfords were heartbroken。 That was especially true of the boy’s mother， Jane Stanford。 She fell for all the spiritualism junk that was so popular at the time， mixing it with her own form of rigid Christian morality， eugenics， and political conservatism。 The Stanfords elevated their dead son to godlike status and decided to establish a university in his memory。 Odd choice， considering the pair of them were far from intellectuals and it doesn’t sound like Junior was any brain trust， either。 But when you read about the Stanfords’ ideas about this university， it makes more sense。 They established trusts and grants that were supposed to be the university’s endowment， but the instruments allowed them to claw funds back whenever they wanted。 They insisted on memorials to Junior and to themselves on the grounds。 They used land they owned that had little sales value。 （Isn’t that an amazing thought considering what Palo Alto real estate goes for these days？） After Senior died， Jane became even more controlling， demanding professors be axed if they expressed ideas that didn’t fit her rigid opinions and whims。 Stanford University lost its academic reputation， not to be recovered until many years after Jane Stanford’s death。Speaking of Jane Stanford’s death， the book does describe the most peculiar events surrounding two poisoning attempts on her life， the second one successful。 The list of possible suspects is long， given her controlling， manipulative and mean-spirited personality， and it ranges from household servants， spectacularly incompetent and venal lawyers， various relatives， and many people associated with the university。 To be honest， if I’d been around at the time， they’d have had to add me to the suspect list。 This is a woman who likely wasn’t sincerely mourned by a single soul。This is a fascinating study of a lively time in the history of San Francisco and Stanford University， unfortunately marred by a sometimes very long-winded and repetitive narrative。 。。。more
Emily
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Reviewed for Booklist。
Martin
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In depth analysis of the demise of one of the founders of the august university of the same name。 Exceptional research and prose。 Highly recommend for readers in the Bay Area and insightful about a gilded age robber barron family， corrupt California at the turn of the 20th century， and， the most unusual beginnings of Stanford University
Christine Piepmeier
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This true crime story tells about the mysterious death of Jane Stanford， widow to the founder of the college。 She was mysteriously poisoned with strychnine in Hawaii。 I found the organization of this book a bit challenging。 A lot of info was presented early on that didn’t seem relevant。 It wasn’t until the end that those chapters made more sense。 Also this is still an unsolved murder so anyone looking for a nice， neat ending should not expect that here。 However， I’ve never heard of this murder a This true crime story tells about the mysterious death of Jane Stanford， widow to the founder of the college。 She was mysteriously poisoned with strychnine in Hawaii。 I found the organization of this book a bit challenging。 A lot of info was presented early on that didn’t seem relevant。 It wasn’t until the end that those chapters made more sense。 Also this is still an unsolved murder so anyone looking for a nice， neat ending should not expect that here。 However， I’ve never heard of this murder and found it very interesting！ 。。。more
E W
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Get the popcorn and settle in。 Appropriately given its origins in a railroad fortune， the story of Jane Stanford and the early years of Stanford University is a trainwreck from which you cannot look away。 Who Killed Jane Stanford is part true crime/murder mystery， part Gilded Age conditional philanthropist biography， part academic satire， and part farce。 It has everything—greed， grifters， and graft; scandal; crime and coverups; communing with the dead; reversals of fortune; blackmail; and astoun Get the popcorn and settle in。 Appropriately given its origins in a railroad fortune， the story of Jane Stanford and the early years of Stanford University is a trainwreck from which you cannot look away。 Who Killed Jane Stanford is part true crime/murder mystery， part Gilded Age conditional philanthropist biography， part academic satire， and part farce。 It has everything—greed， grifters， and graft; scandal; crime and coverups; communing with the dead; reversals of fortune; blackmail; and astounding incompetence to name a few。 The book arose from a Stanford class taught by historian and retired Stanford professor Richard White and brings to the fore the strange and unsolved murder of Stanford Founder Jane Stanford in 1905 through strychnine poisoning—following an earlier failed attempt on her life by the same means。 （You will never look at Poland Spring Water or baking soda the same way again。）By the end， White puts forward a fully developed and credible theory of the murder’s identity and motives， but in some ways that is the least compelling part of the story。 The more interesting aspect is the fact that Stanford University （aka Leland Stanford Jr。 University） arose from such bizarre， haphazard， and anti-intellectual beginnings。 It was a third-rate enterprise before it became， post WWII， the revered institution it is today。 Founded by railroad tycoon （and California Governor and U。S。 Senator） Leland Stanford and his wife， Jane， as a memorial to their son Leland Jr。， who died at age 15， the institution was established on the shakiest of foundations of financial and legal irregularities—wholly dependent on the Stanfords （and after Leland Sr。’s death， on Jane alone）， highly contingent in its existence， and subject to her every whim， of which there were many （including an endowed chair in what was basically spiritualism）。 In some ways， Jane Stanford is a woman of remarkable leadership and accomplishment， in others， she is an imperious， capricious， and pitiable caricature。 Profound grief was at the center of all of her actions， including initially populating the campus with monuments to herself and her family， ranging from a statue， to a chapel， and a much ridiculed arch that， in effect， became a ruin in the 1906 earthquake。 Without knowing the origin story of the University， one would make very different assumptions about the gravitas， beneficence， vision， and respectability of the Stanford family。 Their reputation has been as burnished by Stanford University as Carnegie’s has by his libraries。 As White puts it， “The University made the Stanfords as much as the Stanfords made the University。” Such was Gilded Age philanthropy。The portrait of founding President David Starr Jordan （the Stanfords’ fourth choice for the job） is likewise mesmerizing。 An accomplished opportunist， he likewise enjoyed for many decades a reputation disproportionate to reality， until his work as a eugenicist caught up with him in recent years。 This is an informative， entertaining， and cleverly written book in which many chickens come home to roost。 Highly recommend。 。。。more
Brendan Dowd
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When is a murder not a murder？ When an entire university is at stake， apparently。In this highly readable true crime book by Richard White， we are introduced to the absolute insanity that is the founding and early years of Stanford University。 Leland and Jane Stanford found the university in honor of their young son who passed too soon。 After the death of Leland， Jane begins a tyranny over the university with increasing capriciousness that ultimately leads to her murder。 White dives deep into the When is a murder not a murder？ When an entire university is at stake， apparently。In this highly readable true crime book by Richard White， we are introduced to the absolute insanity that is the founding and early years of Stanford University。 Leland and Jane Stanford found the university in honor of their young son who passed too soon。 After the death of Leland， Jane begins a tyranny over the university with increasing capriciousness that ultimately leads to her murder。 White dives deep into the surviving documentation to try and understand how what was very clearly a murder was ultimately deemed natural causes by some authorities。White writes a wonderful book which is easy to read and will appeal to anyone who loves true crime or even just the absurdity of early Stanford politics。（This book was provided in advance by W。 W。 Norton & Company and Netgalley。 The full review is on HistoryNerdsUnited。com。） 。。。more
Heather
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