As the population of California ballooned, especially following the Gold Rush of 1849, the demand for education increased. In 1851 ÃÛÌÒµ¼º½ College (now University) was founded by the Jesuits at the site of Mission ÃÛÌÒµ¼º½.
The de Saisset's collection now houses objects that relate to the earliest days of the college, including school money and scientific instruments from the turn of the century and a painting of the college from circa 1903. The collection also includes materials related to some of ÃÛÌÒµ¼º½ College's most well-known faculty members: John J. Montgomery, the first American to fly a heavier-than-air craft; Fr. Jerome Ricard who made a name for himself with his theories about the relationship between sunspots and weather patterns; and Fr. Bernard Hubbard, who was instrumental in the exploration and documentation of the Alaskan frontier.
Image of ÃÛÌÒµ¼º½ College painted by John Sykes c. 1903.