Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Guide to the San José State University Commencement & Honors Convocations Records
MSS-2009-02-03
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: San José State University Commencement & Honors Convocations Records
Dates: 1889-2009
Bulk Dates: 1956-1968
Collection number: MSS-2009-02-03
Creator:
San José State University Academic Senate Commencement Committee & Academic Affairs Division
Collection Size:
14 boxes
(11.92 linear feet)
Repository:
San José State University. Library.
San José, California 95192-0028
Abstract: The San José State University Commencement & Honors Convocation Records, 1889-2009 (bulk 1956-1968) consist of programs, event
planning paperwork, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks and correspondence for the university's commencement and honors convocation
ceremonies. A small number of photographs and negatives are included in the records. This collection is arranged into two
series: Series I. Academic Senate Commencement Committee, 1925-1978 (bulk 1956-1968); and Series II. Academic Affairs: Commencement
& Honors Convocation, 1889-2009.
Physical location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
The collection is open for research.
Copyright has been assigned to the San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives. All requests for permission
to publish or quote manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Special Collections & Archives as the owner of the collection. Copyright restrictions also apply
to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files from or derived from these collections is restricted
to research and educational purposes.
San José State University Commencement & Honors Convocations Records, MSS-2009-02-03, San José State University Library Special
Collections and Archives.
This finding aid was created as part of the Survey and Cataloging Project, a two-year San José State University Library grant
project funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. The project began in 2008. The Project Director
is Danelle Moon. The Project Archivist is Erin Louthen.
Collection processed by Jane Gilvin. Finding aid EAD encoded by Lynn Sheehy. Reviewed by Danelle Moon and Erin Louthen.
In 1857 the San Francisco Board of Education established Minns' Evening Normal School for current and prospective teachers
in the city. Named after its principal, George W. Minns, the institution was formally established as the first California
State Normal School by the State Legislature in 1862. A decade later, the Legislature voted to move the Normal School to San
José, and the school relocated to its new home on Washington Square prior to the fall term of 1872. After a fire destroyed
the Normal School building in 1880, the Legislature authorized $200,000 to construct a new building on the same site. Completed
in 1881, the building was commonly referred to as the Second State Normal School. After several names and curriculum changes,
Minns' Normal school is now San José State University, offering more than 134 bachelor's and master's degrees with 110 concentrations,
and is recognized as one of the top public universities granting such degrees in the West.
Minns' Evening Normal School held commencement ceremonies in 1861 and 1862 with two graduating classes. After the institution
became the California State Normal School, the first commencement was held on May 14th, 1863. The university's Honors Convocation
was inaugurated in 1962 by the Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Xi and Phi Beta Kappa Faculty Club honor societies. The convocation is
intended to recognize President's and Dean's scholars--undergraduate students who have earned a 4.0 or 3.65 grade point average
or higher in at least two contiguous semesters of the three semesters prior to the Honors Convocation, respectively.
Gilbert, Benjamin F., and Burdick, Charles.
Washington Square, 1857-1979: The History of San José State University. San José, California: San José State University, 1980.
San José State University. About SJSU.
http://www.sjsu.edu/about_sjsu/ .
Walsh, James P.
San José State University: An Interpretive History, 1950-2000. San José, California: San José State University, 2003.
The San José State University Commencement & Honors Convocation Records 1908-2007 (bulk 1956-1968) consist of programs, event
planning paperwork, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks and correspondence for the university's commencement and honors convocation
ceremonies. A small number of photographs are also included in the records as well as negatives and negative indexes document
the commencement exercises. Letters inviting commencement speakers and copies of university presidents' speeches are also
included. The extensive date range of commencement programs shows the growth of the student population and the evolution of
the university's academic programs. Also documented is the move from three commencements per academic year to a single commencement
ceremony. For many of the years covered in the records, event programs are the only items that exist documenting commencement
and convocation ceremonies.
This collection is arranged into two series: Series I. Academic Senate Commencement Committee, 1925-1978 (bulk 1956-1968);
Series II. Academic Affairs: Commencement & Honors Convocation, 1889-2009.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
San José State Normal School -- History
San José State Teachers College -- History
San José State College -- History
California State University, San José -- History
San José State University -- History
Commencement ceremonies -- California -- San José
Education, Higher -- California -- San José
Scrapbook, 1878-1952. SJSU Commencement Programs. LD729.C99 C35x 1878.