Locating Slavery's Legacies @ Virginia Military Institute

Memorial Object

Plaque/Marker

Anti-Civil Rights

Jordan, David Starr

Stone memorializing David Starr Jordan

The “Walk of Fame” was created in 1929 by then-president Hamilton Holt to honor significant historical figures. The memorial is located in the center of campus around Mills Lawn.

David Starr Jordan, born on January 19th, 1851, was the first president of Stanford University. A zoologist specializing in fish, Jordan was also a staunch pacifist. Like many other scientists of his day, Jordan was a eugenicist, believing that society could be improved by the breeding out of undesirable traits.

Part of Jordan's eugenics included a belief in the inferiority of other (non-White) races. He considered African Americans closer to apes than White Americans, and, as such, that they lacked intelligence. This belief led him to oppose Black suffrage, which he called "evil." He saw the only chance of improving the situation as being the education of Black Americans and so he donated money to Black colleges and universities. He gave a particularly large amount to the Tuskegee Institute, where, he wrote, he had enjoyed the "primitive yet delightful negro spirituals.”

This stone was donated to Rollins College by Jordan himself who used it as a footrest when he was alive. It was installed between 1929 and 1931 when Jordan died.

Holt, Hamilton

Stone rectangular block 6 1/2" x 14 1/2"

David S. Jordan, Stanford U. Cal.

David Starr Jordan

1939

1890-1945: Era of the Lost Cause, Jim Crow legal segregation and discrimination, and organized anti-Black racism

Rollins College

Walk of Fame

https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q290343

Zhang, Wenxian, with David Smith and Patricia Strout. "Walk of Fame: A Rollins Legacy." Olin Library, 2003.

Jordan and Eugenics

Jordan and racism