The Melancholy Museum: Love, Death, and Mourning at Stanford

Welcome to the Melancholy Museum: Love, Death, and Mourning at Stanford. This page features objects included in the exhibition and on view in Cantor’s two Stanford Family Galleries based on themes of mourning, loss, and the Stanford empire in the Melancholy Museum.

Click on Mourning Cabinet to review the objects Mark Dion has selected from Leland Jr.'s collection that represent the five classical elements: Earth, Air, the Underworld, Water and Fire.
Click on Gilded Age to examine some of the Stanford's surviving treasures from their "Millionaire's Mansion," including invitations from their lives as socialites during the Gilded Age and artifacts belonging to laborers from the various businesses Leland and Jane Stanford engaged in, like the Central Pacific Railroad, Stock Barn, and grape brandy vineyard. Included in this section are ephemera and spiritual relics from the Stanford University Archives and artifacts from the Indigenous community and laborers employed by the Stanfords, and the Stanford family themselves from the Stanford University Archaeology Collections.

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The Mourning Cabinet

Memorial Traditions

The 1906 & 1989 Earthquakes

The Gilded Age

Last updated: 03/30/2023

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced.

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The Melancholy Museum: Love, Death, and Mourning at Stanford

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