History of the University of San Francisco

The founding of the University of San Francisco is interwoven with the establishment of the Jesuit Order in California, European immigration to the western United States, and the population growth of California and San Francisco as a result of the California Gold Rush. Few individuals better represent the confluence of these historical streams than does Anthony Maraschi, S.J., an Italian immigrant and our institution’s founder. Fr. Maraschi, who arrived in San Francisco in 1854, borrowed $11,500 to build a Jesuit church and school on a few sand dunes on the south side of Market Street, between Fourth and Fifth streets, and proclaimed, “Here, in time, will be the heart of a great city.” On October 15, 1855, the school opened its doors to its first class. Three students showed up, a number that gradually grew to 65 by 1858. In 1859, Fr. Maraschi incorporated the institution under California state law, obtained a charter to issue college degrees, formed a board of trustees, and renamed the institution Saint Ignatius College.

Posted below are links to a series of short vignettes that highlight some of our institutional history. We hope these vignettes will deepen your knowledge of and pride in USF’s rich legacy, especially here in the Bay Area, as well as illustrate how our past has shaped our present and illumines the path that lies ahead of us on the way to wider recognition as a ?premier Jesuit Catholic, urban University with a global perspective that educates leaders who will fashion a more humane and just world? (Vision, Mission, and Values Statement, September 11, 2001).

For these vignettes, Alan Ziajka, Special Assistant to the President for Special Projects/Director of Institutional Research, has drawn upon various primary and secondary sources, contemporary institutional research, and our USF archives. With the vignettes is a gallery of photographs illustrating the University’s and the City’s rich history. The gallery can be accessed independent of the vignettes, by clicking any photo illustration seen in a vignette.

All of these vignettes and 140 more are reproduced (with over 350 historical photos) in Dr. Ziajka’s history of USF Legacy and Promise: 150 Years of Jesuit Education at the University of San Francisco. This special volume is available through the USF Bookstore, and can be seen in our USF150 Store.

Early Days of San Francisco and Saint Ignatius College

The California Gold Rush and the Jesuits
Fr. Michael Accolti, S.J.
The Founding of Saint Ignatius Academy
Anthony Maraschi, S.J.
The First Students
Saint Ignatius Church
The Immigrants (Part I)
The Immigrants (Part II)
The Charter
The First College Degrees