Watch Program Video:
A Lesson of History, David Kennedy

Stanford Historical Society members-only event. EVERYONE is welcome to sign up here to become an SHS member. Learn more about Stanford Historical Society.

Join us in this fun-filled Sunday afternoon to kick off a year-long celebration of the Stanford Historical Society's 50th anniversary in 2026. The event will feature:

• Remarks by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Emeritus Professor David Kennedy
• Exhibit of Leo Holub's photographs
• Stanford-themed photo booth
• Memorabilia
• Live jazz music
• Reception, and more.

The event will be held at a historic campus house designed by renowned architect William Wurster, the Bay Area native best known for his residential designs in California. 

David M. Kennedy, a 1963 Stanford University graduate, is the Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History, Emeritus, and the founding faculty director of the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford. Professor Kennedy has long taught courses in the history of the twentieth-century United States, US foreign policy, American literature, and the history of the North American West. Graduating seniors have four times elected him as Class Day speaker. He received the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1988 and the Hoagland Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 2005.