Edith Jordan Gardner

Edith Monica Jordan Gardner (February 17, 1877 – June 16, 1965) was an American educator, specialized in history and an activist, including woman's suffrage and in the Sierra Club. She was president of the Southern California Social Science Association, Town and Gown Club, Cornell Women's Club of Northern California, Stanford Woman's Club, and the University of California branch of the Equal Suffrage League, among others. She was the head of the History Department at the John H. Francis Polytechnic High School, chairman of the Department of Legislation Oakland Forum, and one of the earliest members of the Sierra Club. Early life Edith Monica Jordan was born on February 17, 1877, in Indianapolis, Indiana, the daughter of Dr. David Starr Jordan (1851-1931) and Susan Bowen (1845-1885). Her father was an ichthyologist and the first president of Stanford University. She grew up mostly in Indiana, spending her first two years of life in Indianapolis while her father served as professor of natural history at North Western Christian University (which later became Butler University). In 1879, she moved to Bloomington when her father was first appointed professor of zoology and later president of Indiana University. Her mother died when she was eight. At the age of 14, she left Indiana for California when her father was appointed president of Stanford University in 1891. At the age of 16, she enrolled at Stanford as a freshman and joined the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority in 1893. In 1896, she was elected second vice-president of her senior class at Stanford University and graduated in 1897 at the age of 20 with a degree in history. She then obtained a master's degree at Cornell University in 1901. She was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and of the alumni club of the Kappa Alpha Theta.