While perusing the Online Archive of California, I came across this picture of a chemistry lab circa 1892 here at Santa Clara University. The inner science nerd in me was absolutely PUMPED to come across such an incredible snapshot of history. After visiting the archives here at SCU and gathering information about the development of the science program, this photo really shows how important the sciences have been at Santa Clara since its beginning.
Chemistry labs were first added to the science curriculum at SCU in 1872, and on a very basic level. The most surprising information I came across was while looking at the earliest course catalogue the archive had, the Catalogue of Santa Clara College 1851-1852 to 1860-61. The university had a mission statement that went like so: “…the Fathers hope to make Santa Clara College a favorite abode of science, morality and religion, in no way inferior to any other institution for the education of youth” (4). I found this information to be so intriguing as Santa Clara is a religious school, yet one of their top priorities was the study of the sciences, and listed this before both morality and religion.
Yep, that’s my school. So proud.
While this picture supports my questions about the development of the sciences at SCU, it also raises many more: what equipment was used in the lab? What were the newest instruments/technologies of the time? When were the labs separated into organic and inorganic chemistry spaces?
In addition to just the development of labs, it also makes me wonder about the degree of difficulty in lab. As a biology major, chemistry is included in the requirements for a degree in this field. So, I know all too well the difficulty of the biology series and chemistry series, ESPECIALLY lab (cue the anxiety attack). But, I can’t complain because even though it’s hard as (fill in the blank), I can’t imagine committing my studies to anything else.
-FH