On January 12, 1777, the glorious Mission Santa Clara Asis was founded. I am sure you might be thinking something like…
Oh yeah, that makes sense! I know where the Mission Church is on campus.
Yes, you are right the Mission Church on the present day Santa Clara University campus is a key representation of what used to be Mission Santa Clara de Asis; however, there is so much more to it than just that. Even though I typically tend to be very indecisive and hesitant, this is the main reason why I decided to focused my research question around the historical aspect of SCU.
Because I had never entered an archive before, I was a bit nervous to what I would encounter when I was supposed to enter Santa Clara University’s archive with my class. Fortunately when we went this past Thursday during class, it was very satisfied with the abundance of information I stumbled upon. The main archival artifact I found to focus on is an informational “Welcome” pamphlet for a historical tour of the school. Who would’ve known SCU even offers such a thing…
LOL NOT ME.
Anyways… this archival artifact was published fifteen years ago in 2002. So after our class time in SCU’s archives, I was inclined to do a little more research of my own to find some additional information on Mission Santa Clara that speaks to my topic. Although I originally thought I was in search of something more along the lines of an article, I ended up finding a painting of Mission Santa Clara. Here is an image of the painting I found:
This particular digital image of a painting of Mission Santa Clara is courtesy of the Santa Barbra Mission Archive–Library. The painting allows me to get a sense of a visual representation of what the original Mission Santa Clara appeared as before it was vital for it to be rebuilt and remodeled, due to the fact it suffered from its fair share of flooding, earthquakes, and fires over time.
Honestly I find it pretty embarrassing that many students here (myself included) don’t really know the true historical importance our university hold. This is the main reason why I choose this topic, so that I may argue the importance of knowing the history of the place one lives and goes to school. History might not be that crucial to some, and I can attest that being that I have never been fond for any history classes, which says a lot because I am focusing my research on my school’s history.
