American descriptor and was life andrd things left unanswered. San Francisco Chronicle colonists. We are very pleased to have them both here for b the first time. Before we begin, i would like to find out how many of you have been to the mechanical institute. Who actually were there. Wonderful. How many new. Wonderful. Please come back wednesday noon, we have a free tour and librarians will surely around her Incredible Library on the second and third floors with the International Chess program down the hallway and we will give you a little bit of our history. In 1854 we were founded so we have a long history of San Francisco. In here the mechanics, ongoing authors. They have the International Chess club, that presents their ongoing lectures and tournaments. And also we have book clubs and writers groups. On friday nights, theres three talk. So we hope youll come join us for all of our cultural events. I would like to now it is our guest. Roland is an investor. Her online journalism any
I am laura shepard, director of events and im pleased to welcome you to our author event for comers new book grothman. In conversation with San Francisco columnist, we are pleased to have them here for the first time. I would like to find out how many of you have been to the Mechanics Institute before and how many are new . Please come back and we will give you a free tour of the library and show you the Incredible Library on the second and third floors. The International Chess club is down the hallway and we will tell you about our history. We were founded in 1854 and at the Mechanics Institute we have ongoing author events like this one, the International Chess club with their ongoing lectures and tournaments and book clubs and writers groups and on friday nights, we hope you will join us for all our cultural events. I would like to introduce our guest Roland De Wolk, an Investigative Reporter in print, broadcast and online journalism and a historian university adjunct and author. Du
Railroad from the west and the Union Pacific railroad from the east met upon a summit in utah. It was here on may 10th, 19 1859 that Leland Stanford wrote broke the last site, also known as the gold site joining the rails of the Transcontinental Railroad and forever linking Stanford University to this transformational event and the changes it brought to california and the nation. The completion of the Transcontinental Railroads connected the vast expanse of the United States with safe and convenient transport. Reducing coast to coast to travel from six months down to one week. In addition the railroad evoked social change through migration, Economic Growth and the introduction of Chinese Labor to the west. While at the same time delivering a death blow to the way of life of the plains indians. Another of the consequences was great wealth to the big builders of the roadway. Among them california senator Leland Stanford. This fortune and the land that Leland Stanford purchased with it wa
The lower wood high is within inches of where the original ceremony was held on may 10th, 1869. Included on this high is a plaque that lists many of the dignitaries from that company. Including Leland Stanfords name. Another thing you can see here at the site is the connection with the resources and that wouldve been available. The two companies building the railroads we have mocked up everything to try to make it as authentic as possible. If you look on the west side you will see precut ties. The Central Pacific had plenty of wood in the serum that is and because of that they had sawmills and they cut all of their ties and brought them down from the mountain. The Union Pacific coming from the east had to hand cut their ties wherever they can find wood. Not a lot available in the areas so they you can see them right here how they would just cut them and bring them out when they could. The Transcontinental Railroad was happening at the end of the victorian age as you are going into the
Professor james campbell. James campbell is the ed grebe robinson professor of United States history at stanford university. s research focuses on american and africanAmerican History as well as the broader history of the blackplanet. He is also interested in problems of historical memory or the ways that society tells stories about their past, not only in textbooks but scholarly monographs and also historic sites, museums, memorials, movies and political movements. His publications include songs of zion, the africanamerican Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States and south africa raise nation and empire in American History and middle passages africanamerican journeys. He is currently completing a book on the history and memory of the 1964 mississippi summer project and he is certainly one of our most distinguished historians here at stanford, please welcome james campbell. [ applause ] thank you very much for those remarks. One of the problems teaching at a place like this is