California State (1862): The Hidden History of the CSU in San Jose and Beyond

The story of how California State devolved into San Jose State and the struggle to restore the school's original heritage, symbols, and identity.

On May 2, 2012, the State of California and the California State University (CSU) missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the California State system of higher education by the California Legislature.

But instead of being recognized, this significant anniversary was almost completely ignored by the State of California, the CSU, and its founding campus in San Jose. This book explores the reasons for the unfortunate circumstance, starting with the Spanish exploration of the West Coast and a name derived from the literary island of California.

The tale of California State unfolds when later, after successive rebellions, the modern State of California was established, and the California Legislature created the California State Normal School in 1862.

After moving to San Jose in 1871 the original Cal State campus spawned other campuses which became the California State Colleges, and later the CSU. But over the years the founding campus itself gradually devolved from its grand original statewide "California State" identity to its current provincial "San Jose State" name, degrading not only that campus but the entire CSU system.

Spanning almost 500 years, this book tells the fascinating story of this devolution and the struggle to restore the original California State together with its history, identity and symbols for the benefit of the State of California, the CSU system, and its founding campus in San Jose.

Author: Michael Harold
Publisher: California State Press
Published: 11/11/2013
Pages: 96
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.22lbs
Size: 7.81h x 5.06w x 0.20d
ISBN: 9780615833231

About the Author
Michael Harold, a native of Toronto, Canada, is former professional journalist and attorney who currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and makes his living as a Director of Marketing. A lifelong history buff, Mr. Harold holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Juris Doctor degree from American University's Washington College of Law, and a Master's of Business Administration from the California State University, San Jose.

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