Gold Rushes, Universities and Globalization, 1840–1910

Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold! Burning by the blue; Gold! Gold! old Gold! Native, tried and true; Ore that shines In priceless mines, Of memories old and new, Oh, that’s the Gold that heartens me and you! ‘The Blue and Gold’1 Clues to the gilded heritage of public universities exist today on the surface of those institutions’ campuses: in their named edifices, buildings and monuments. These monuments gesture to a history of universities, or of ‘colleges on a hill’, that in fact began underground. At the University of California, the Sather Tower and Sather Gate still pay tribute to Peder Sather, a Norwegian migrant to California amid its gold boom who donated his time, two hundred acres of land, and at least $7,000 to endow California’s state institution.2 Later, his gifts would be overshadowed by those of another beneficiary of California’s gold rush, the lawyer-turned-goldfield-supplier Leland Stanford and his wife, Jane. Although they funded a private institution, by 1901 this couple had supplied over $30 million to endow Leland Stanford University, making it ‘the most richly endowed [university] in the world’.3 In Australia, on the University of Melbourne’s sloping campus, sits the Baillieu Library, named for William Lawrence Baillieu, a mineral field financier.4 At the University of Adelaide, any number of edifices — beginning with the Hughes building, moving on to the Hughes Plaza, and catching sight of either a marble bust or classical bronze sculpture of Walter Watson Hughes — might signal the impact of this mining magnate on the university’s accounts (Plate 1).5 In South Africa, the Rhodes Memorial, situated at Devil’s Peak on Table Mountain, overlooks the University of Cape Town’s rugby fields (Plate 2). It commemorates Cecil Rhodes’s vision of building a university for South Africa while also demonstrating the narrowness of that vision in the memorial’s vandalized elements.6 A visitor to the University of Stellenbosch might note the large statue of Jannie Marais, whose exploits in diamond mining still fund student scholarships today. And finally, even the Redpath Museum of Natural Science at McGill University in Canada, which a sugar baron built in honour of a geologist, gestures to the local imperatives and conditions that enabled a groundswell of higher education institutions in the many places touched by gold. Unveiling of a statue of Sir Walter Watson Hughes at Adelaide University, 1906. Photograph: Henry Krischock. Courtesy of the State Library of South Australia, University of Adelaide Collection, B 55265. Cecil Rhodes Memorial, Cape Town, South Africa. Photograph © the author. Private benefactions were (and still are) one mechanism of raising endowment capital for universities, presenting an important avenue by which gold profits reached new universities. This article examines how the global gold rushes of the nineteenth century made such benefactions possible, while also enriching other key revenue streams for universities including government subsidies and the value of land reserves. It contends that a set of universities were opened after 1848 across California, Australasia, South Africa and parts of Canada that owed the speed of their formation, if not their existence, to the period’s global gold and mineral rushes. During a critical period in these universities’ formation, new mineral wealth added liquidity to colonial and institutional finance. The social effects of gold rushes, meanwhile — in that they accelerated population growth and caused forms of social upheaval — stimulated regionalism and drives to re-establish Old World hierarchies in ways that made university building attractive. Exploring these institutions’ interconnected development has important implications for the study of empire, extractive capitalism and globalization. The relationship between higher education and mineral extraction in the nineteenth century was co-constitutive. Goldfield universities’ rapid growth depended upon the imperial and global circuits of ideas, people and capital that flowed from the rushes. Yet, once opened, these universities became tremendous drivers of globalization themselves, producing techniques of extraction, expertise and technologies that propelled the global mining industry and prolonged the mineral rushes that had first established them. Accordingly, and in line with other categorizations of universities that highlight a shared funding source or period of institutional growth, such the universities, the and the this a of universities upon a of their ‘the Blue and gold at least of these gold which the universities of California, Adelaide, Cape Town, and These institutional the of the or of with the by their universities in and the for their one of their was The even in the nineteenth it was that the of university And most colonial and institutions at least their first an endowment and one from University at such a in the a was also first the from This his at to his a that was to a of in Canada, the conditions of of from to with these institutions’ many and most university and colonial to was that university building was (and an at its the of the South and University which began of university and be universities, including had to student in this was not a for any public university a public or government for or land from their or that be to an and from The of gold and was that it of these revenue mineral rushes still built universities, many of these places would on the of the building of institutions the the of to university history the interconnected development of these universities, whose rapid growth upon a of interconnected mineral rushes. This growth public for higher at the of in to higher In in and that were mining built of These institutional to a or the to a university government and university including Cecil Rhodes and the William the of gold mining of expertise and the in many of these universities. This set of a for university development the of the state while also the that mineral extraction in the history of higher other colonial institutions funded by mineral such and institutions with to the forms of extractive capitalism that had them. The they the they and the technologies they to the of mining and to the University of became the of mining in that still exist these of universities the forms of extractive capitalism and that colonial institutions and which in gold in mining or and of the first education institutions to in these The for its with a at in These between universities and mining that might to and the of mining in colonial this of extractive and higher the mineral and of university history has not in institutional or important and many of these accounts universities by those of and William study of universities across Australasia, and the from to in to that colonial of higher had to the of from The university finance. and colonial in funding higher to on the gold and that in and and for on history of the University of the social by gold rushes the of university had ‘the growth and caused by gold was a to and by in the of in public monuments and institutions to higher to colonial The and for the of profits to university building in the and A to global and has and with and the many gold that the period from 1848 to a of the global history of and globalization by an gold The of gold rushes also and the circuits of and mining expertise that and propelled rushes in a California’s gold boom began in over mineral rushes would in the rushes in from to at least rushes in after and a of in South and Africa the of the and of and its Yet, in these of on the imperial of for and with the global of capital and It that that has a in colonial Gold with many of it of and on the and of the the of the of other to gold and and in the most of with mining Courtesy of the Library of and the of university and colonial universities the shared by and The his in the were of the of the of a established Gold even in the the of that was to its in producing those and was to mineral in California, and the that became the of after In of these in and also and In with the who their expertise to the gold rush, and Gold universities, many of which in the of a land these who of to in and mining techniques to land At the time, and were also the and these The of and to the in which higher education institutions of a and of And while land and to the of universities, these universities, for the most those that had to them. The global which the gold by over two important drivers of university The first was rapid population would of the has a These new with California in from and At their the and rushes in many a hundred people in that the California in gold to and that was of two of to be to this be to population growth and university for a of (and were for universities, and their institutions by a for the of institutions the nineteenth in gold to of population and their to other and a over university regionalism and the of university while the relationship between and institutional development it has has that population and the of were of the and gold rushes. this article that once those rushes an in population and the that the of At the time, rushes of upon local and with The of population began in Although gold had in the the to the of gold at on the South that the the was the In the in that at California ‘the of a large of the Gold by and colonial over people to California in the first of the 1848 and the of the population would from to over hundred And while many on to new rushes or once the many between and to to the to one mining were many to pay their in the of a state government at the of its mineral rush, and in California of the gold and the to and to and the California from its rush, which to university was a large and the wealth and that gold the in California to the by for over in a the of California, that would and gold was a for and were important classical gold who was also a Norwegian migrant to in the was Peder California’s gold Sather his to Sather in and the of California of after the a one of California’s Sather the at least $7,000 and two hundred acres of land in that be or wife, would an for two of the university’s most the Sather Gate and the Sather Tower (Plate Sather University of California at Photograph: The of California in Courtesy of the Library of and a the mining of California had and a California’s boom and the expertise it new gold rushes The for had to California in the and to South that a of his would be This In gold the of a a by local and and gold had a government for his and on to the of it was the gold on the of California and who to that gold gold on the of the in gold A of on an to and in mining the named and the population of would from to with most of these to to the of these rushes in a the and that the of in the of was an of the ‘The for gold in by the of in from who had the to the these rushes and population and which university was a set of with the to on The of with a population of at the of the social and Gold rushes this of between colonial William in and in had their or a new gold and to those In the by mineral rushes and their population growth, and Adelaide to of education and for and a of for a new University of in This for the to the University of by its colonial government a The of regionalism South and of land and In the local an article by of that their and first to an in these the of and over those in one of of a land a the University of Adelaide existence, with acres of land to or in the of and that with mineral rushes, colonial to higher education to re-establish the social hierarchies by and was a in university The that for a university’s in for were of most of and university that the first and had a university for the institution, and most of the university’s were also in a of who had the over the at and university Sir this a in a to social the at the was set to the first of the new University of that The William who had the University of was the In the of this the university’s from and had on the Sir for in these to to the to the of gold it to of the for which the of the University to a of to million a in the and his for a that would In this the first university in and to an Old World social of new in across the by this time, reached its first a new university would the by the of 1848 and the of and to had the of gold by for over During this time, a of gold rushes made and for university It that universities were not the institutions to in these gold and Of universities were the most Goldfield and capital university revenue even their and social effects made building a most institutions with private the to public universities their local and government had university universities was public for of colonial universities had to other and that higher education was the In were those who to the of a university and to the classical they article in Melbourne’s The in that University at and that the to that a and by any In was the of whose in a to the University of South his in It be at to to higher education on its or from the of those by universities’ those were Gold and mineral rushes to university building they government and institutional revenue William with to the University of an of in a of university the of university were government or public of land that be to and In gold institutions would liquidity and new mining on and the for expertise the development of of and of and The of and the or of these mining in to universities. of mines, at the time, their revenue The of at had its mining for In the made from the its for the government and This would to over in the two The University of California would its and expertise to and private in and South Africa, university to their and the public for in university history was also an in colonial the of and for an of public were also made by gold for the while also the and for and also built for and gold on it was that not a government on the The of over million in and in even it the and it These migrant and to pay for their In South the colonial revenue from its gold in to of on the of gold in that in the made a to of a on and a building and a for and gold in government Although gold rushes the institutional that were of they the and the value of the hundred acres of land to the university by its government in a funding from the the university of a large was the in university was not in imperial to the to a and that the gold the to set the and conditions that from the in to the University of most institutions not a the education became McGill University in for the by in their from University of by and institutional mechanism depended on an that the World had or in of or of and from to fund and the of land it was a for to this for university And the land to universities was the university and be situated in or The of University, for the of for their These had once including the and the State had for of the acres it a that was the and was to the and state and in land for education the The of one of the of public land in the history of the — over million acres of land — to not a of or with the that state would and shared for land South and in a of with which had at least two hundred the government of made it the in the in with In they these institutions with the In a mineral profits university the mineral at and South the University of from mining on university land and for land on their The land to the university it an in gold It also this a to university in mining and a and The of a University of The University of a for the of Library, University of of the on and University of California, Library, in University of McGill University and the of the University of Adelaide The of the South Town, William A and of The The The University in and their University University in University of a and The of a University of The University of a for the of Library, University of of the on and University of California, Library, in University of McGill University and the of the University of Adelaide The of the South Town, William A and of The The The University in and their University University in University of one of the most forms of institutional the nineteenth century was the global gold rushes a new of mining their and and that their with a in Cape and of the wealth in University in the at for even that of reached to them. an at the University of Adelaide in the and would that the has with streams of A at Adelaide also that by the state university in was at least in to across the who from these the benefactions that from the to their universities. the University of Melbourne’s which still named after the of the and William Lawrence Baillieu donated in his At Adelaide, the speed of a university in that from the wealth of a Walter Watson The Hughes to South in became a his on the would the mines, and the The was the first mining in to pay over million in In to and the University Hughes with his it to in the of South and endow an University at Adelaide And Walter Watson has to the of the endowment of two or of such University be a and by the of ‘The University of set a of benefactions from his and who in mining and at least to endow the university’s while over his in one to fund the that the Sir These it the of the at the university’s the at the of and his to the of by private gifts the of and gold university In California, the million in private gifts they had by to to they became that the would be in a that would the were mining or who to of mining or that might South benefactions from gold and diamond mining the of higher mining the Cecil Rhodes and an with other colonial — between ‘the two of South — higher Rhodes’s of his of the it would to a education with his Rhodes his to the and the they the of Table an at the Rhodes was one of many in South Africa. had gold to South Africa in the and set a and donated to the which became the University of Cape after his the had over on a of made to the in its of were the diamond magnate and the of and and William the to the and by to depended on the of the a of who had ‘the for was with Rhodes and the mining magnate and in for a university in and to that the of the this to Rhodes’s of a university in Cape In the would a This was a from the this from with his would the at the has from this set of and the also made their on higher and donated over in funding and to the of in which became an important of the of Science and in These of the for a of in mining techniques the of of of the at the University of established in the of still an from the the established by even the of has and with the history of colonial at the university in this they had once to of the land Table by they their in Jannie of had the Stellenbosch in the and would the had with a of in from his exploits with his the And while became a Cape and a at Stellenbosch to the of the university’s still from the with from and other would the ‘the University of and university on the in universities, including the land would to large for The by and the mining made by their Gold the this many private benefactions public an that had not made on this In gold profits new that mining for to the development of in the the of William The made a in the for to a over a million in from The universities or after gold rushes that the of government land and benefactions to set on a The relationship between mineral extraction and higher education in was and co-constitutive. mineral rushes had to the and of new once in these institutions on the of the mining techniques of extraction that with mining and prolonged the rushes that had first established them. In other gold mining propelled and the development of mining and the development of mining expertise the and of and mining to in in with colonial In the of of a government set on in that the in and the in the of the mining in the nineteenth century a and owed a to universities. These universities, this article situated and the of mining expertise after California’s in a that and It also these institutions’ of public A global of universities and that the of technologies and institutional forms across the and the This global to ‘the of between and of from imperial to colonial Gold rushes to the and growth of and universities or the in the including the of higher it also the from the of classical It that most universities first by gold in the and from the their of the at the University of for was had a university had a of and at would at including on from its in A of established at in and another at would in mining and land and to and from over the gold institutions which had benefactions from also that with an to In his to the University of Adelaide in for Walter Watson Hughes set to the of a of that and In to the universities of McGill and in mining or of that of with of to universities, of the gold The South of an to the had a of their in Cape by two of between and the diamond of The for that this would for the development of the Gold Although this be to and The of at on the and by it from the and It also and Sir in the of Australia, of and the that the was for its the such the Gold of South Africa, expertise from of the to the was the of its and the of one of the that not a in the a mining or be who from and while in his to be in parts on important mining other institutions of and of the by the and from the University of California, one university to the and the and public and this of mining across the South Africa and became a in the an of the of a an of the of or of in the of mining The of these mining institutions and of universities, a for their and for the funding by their local The of mining education to accelerated the of universities their one to the in the of the — not to their University, to the education had not such mining education in had the of while demonstrating its to local to mining and to The of technologies between mining another of the of and Although or of mining and this to Australasia, of in and mining owed their to had or mining in mining and mining techniques for and It to and underground. At the in the was These technologies prolonged the and the value of gold in the and the The development of the for gold from for was for the of gold mines, to and and it was A of mining and in a to and on universities in the and this of to other mining and mining expertise to imperial and universities, key for mining were the of in the of in the and the of and in after of by and with the by and these mining were of one for who was a from California and a of the became the first of in in mining had by with the over a The the and the And the to these mining institutions were of university or in or of this between and institutions the and extraction of gold mining in South Africa and it also and techniques to on local and the of and extractive in the of the nineteenth In they and the from universities and mining tremendous of while to the for the and of the an of California’s was The by and and across the These technologies and gold they had effects on local between and The of between the people and began in critical the upon by The by gold rushes, of institutions that in the many other and of mining a global by moving between universities or between once they became the of colonial situated and the impact of technologies on colonial not a not who the of that their and — by imperial by or by new and by and for — were set universities the of imperial and still them. Gold mining and gold rushes, were the local of that the and capital of a them. At his of the University of in that was by the of with be the of the which the of and the which and the and of the with the conditions its extraction and was one that these of The impact of the global gold rushes to fund institutions and to and buildings a of universities with This article contends that the gold that after 1848 the of a set of universities — the — these mineral At the time, the social upheaval and population growth on by gold made the university an for Old World or education universities from the ways in which gold their of from government to the value of land has in the speed not the that the tremendous of university and gold universities. in the for the and institutional of gold rushes were and between or social for a and to a of their and an to that would the mining In a the of the universities in these and which the global mining industry and the many other upon or the universities and they were to the institutions accelerated mining and prolonged mineral extraction they were with a in these such and from university or its this of university history in how and institutions were established in of and also how these institutions and globalization. The between gold rushes and university building might be a of the of and the of imperial

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