The Owl was a student run publication that printed its first issue in 1869. It was a monthly literary magazine devoted to “mental improvement”. The title was conceived after a scheduling change forced the students to have their study time moved from the afternoon to the evening. The students proclaimed, “We’re owls, conning our books in the night. Each one of us shall be a brother owl, and our paper shall be called The Owl.”
Topics covered included a short summary of the affairs of the nation, miscellaneous notes and book notices, scientific and historical essays, tales, dramas, poetry, humor, and class standing. Due to the retirements of the campus printer and the magazines faculty moderator as well as student apathy, the decision was made to end publication in 1875.
In 1903, The Redwood began publication and was considered to be a continuation of the literary ideals of The Owl. This continued until the early 1930's when The Redwood began to focus more on university life.
In 1931, The Owl was released once a month as a literary supplement in the weekly university newspaper, the Santa Clara. It remained a supplement until 1938, where it once again became an independent publication.
In 1939, the editors, after having determined there had been 29 years of printing of The Owl in one form or another, released that year’s publication as volume 30, with this numbering continuing to the present time. Due to WWII, there were no issues published from 1943-1946.
Wanting to sound more professional and to be comparable to other schools’ literary magazines, the editors of the The Owl officially changed the name to the Santa Clara Review in 1988.
-
The Owl, vol. 7, no. 2
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: An incident near Oro Fino; A cynical Valentine; A Californian's opinion of his country; Avalanches; Gunpowder: Its discovery manufature and uses, chapter 1; Echos from a nest of owlets, 1. A rash judgement; 2. The dog and the lion - a fable; 3. An inhuman official; A husband's Valentine; Sunrise; Christmas at Santa Clara of the Mississippi; Letter from our London correspondent; Editor's Table; Idle Notes; Olio; Table of honor
-
The Owl, vol. 7, no. 1
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: Spider fascination: A tale with a moral; The beautiful dead; Brazil; Echos from a nest of owlets: 1. How the Indians were treated in Nevada; 2. The Indian bridge-keeper; 3. The awful crime; Alchemy and the alchemists; A trip to Santa Clara; Deadly Night-shade; Idle Notes; Editor's Table; Olio; Result of the examinations; Students business directory
-
The Owl, vol. 6, no. 5
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: Ships and ship-building; Sleep; A deed of Satan; Echos from an owlet's nest; A visit to the Yosemite Valley; The 'Mills quarterly'; Idle Notes; Editor's Table; Olio; Table of honor; Students business directory
-
The Owl, vol. 6, no. 4
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: Was the American War justifiable on the part of the United States; A dream of ships; Letter from our London correspondent; American science triumphant; Echos from an owlet's nest; A New Zealander among the poets; Idle Notes; Editor's Table; Olio; Table of honor; Students business directory
-
The Owl, vol. 6, no. 3
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: Human liberty in its relation to law; Woman's triumphs; A contrast; The Crusades; Letter from our London correspondent; Polo and rallie-papier; The characteristics of a gentleman; The clipper ship; Idle Notes; Editor's Table; Olio; Students business directory; Table of honor
-
The Owl, vol. 6, no. 2
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: Something about New Zealand, The battle of Lepanto, Address of Hon. David Belden, Peace and war, A note which is not "idle", Idle notes, Editor's table, Olio, Table of honor
-
The Owl, vol. 6, no. 1
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: Address of Hon. Z. Montgomery, Bernardus Cluniacencis de contemptu mundi ad petrum abbatem, The ethics of duelling, The hermit and the sea anemone, Pancratius, Idle notes, Table of honor
-
The Owl, vol. 5, no. 4
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: The holy city; Jerusalem; Irish eloquence; Thoughts by the sea; France at the conqueror's feet; Autobiography of a slip of paper; The life and character of Henry Clay; Galla Debellata; A trifle about the play-ground; The wanderer: a soliloquy; Idle Notes; Editor's Table; Olio; Table of honor
-
The Owl, vol. 5, no. 3
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: The trials of a student; Alma Mater; The world not as old as it is reckoned to be; The pirates; Died in his boots; College boys out hunting; Spring; Autobiography of a slip of paper; Letter from our London correspondent; Idle Notes; Editor's Table; Olio; Table of honor
-
The Owl, vol. 5, no. 2
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: The voices of Spring; The foreign policy of Washington; Love of nature; The spirit of discovery; Immortal mortals; College life; Pen and sword; John Paul Jones; Idle Notes; Editor's Table; Olio; Table of honor
-
The Owl, vol. 5, no. 1
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: A reverie, Something about New Zealand, The supreme rule of morality, To my broken Meerschaum, Pat Murphy's fortune, The hero's vision, A mother perishing in a snow storm, Newspapers, Idle notes, Editor's table, Olio, Table of honor
-
The Owl, vol. 4, no. 5
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: Sunbeams, History, Biographical sketch of the late Thomas Cochrane, Earl of Dundonald, A few words about New Zealand, Elegy, Valentines, The Owl's "valentine", Idle notes, Editor's table, Olio, Results of the examination
-
The Owl, vol. 4, no. 4
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: The settlement of New England; The Pilgrim Fathers; Public life; Epigrams in honor of the Blessed Virgin; The lot of Man; Modes of transmitting intelligence in times of war; A fairy vision; Editor's table; Olio; Table of honor
-
The Owl, vol. 4, no. 3
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: Golden memories; Periodical papers of the Chit-Chat Club; Recollection of the Cape of Good Hope, continued; Ugly ducklings; Last moments of Napolean I; The lost property office; Idle notes; Editor's table; Olio; Table of honor
-
The Owl, vol. 4, no. 2
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: Democracy; The choice of a profession; The iceberg; The fall of Constantinople; The nightmare; A dialogue between Dean Swift and Fr. Prout; The Ainslies, chapter 6; Recollection of the Cape of Good Hope continued; Idle notes; Editor's table; Olio; Table of honor
-
The Owl, vol. 4, no. 1
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: The planet born; Recollections of the Cape of Good Hope; Roller skating; A dialogue between Dean Swift and Fr. Prout; The Ainslies, chapter 5; Idle notes; Editor's table; Olio; Table of honor
-
The Owl, vol. 3, no. 5
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: The holy father's jubilee, How shall we prosper?, Glories and reverses of Napoleon III, Do you want me to dream good, ma?, Reminisciences of Hawaii-nei, The ainslies, In memoriam - Patrick M. O'Brien, MD, Idle notes, Olio
-
The Owl, vol. 3, no. 4
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: A glance at California, Meeting to protest, The Pope, The Roman people, Reporting, reporters and public speakers, Idle notes, Editors' table, Olio
-
The Owl, vol. 3, no. 3
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: Among the gnomes and salamanders; Classical education; In exile; Immortality of the soul; A legend; Aenone; Chat about the Cloister; The talisman; The Ainslies, chapter 4; Mountains; Conscription and standing armies; Cupid's perplexities; Idle notes; Editor's table; Olio; Table of honor
-
The Owl, vol. 3, no. 2
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: Ambition; True affection rewarded; Salvete Christi Vulnera; The prisoner of the castle of St. Angelo; The triumphs of electricity; The Sabbath bells; A trip to Oakland; Dean Swift; Education; The Ainslies, chapter 3; Idle notes; Editor's table; Olio
-
The Owl, vol. 2, no. 6
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: The sun; Marshal Murat; Distress and joy; A ride for life on the plains of Texas; Make hay while the sun shines; An age of progress; The fate of an English Coelebs; The begger of Valaverde; Idle notes; Editor's table; Table of honor
-
The Owl, vol. 2, no. 5
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: History of the 'Pious Fund' of California; The Ainslies, chapters 1 and 2; The adventures of Ali Mahmoud; Nature and Art; A Bulgarian hymn; A little more cider; The cottage on the sea-shore; Ambition; Tobacco; Historical Society for the West Coast of America; Idle notes; The Olio; Report of examination, Dec. 1870
-
The Owl, vol. 2, no. 4
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: Stabat mater speciosa, Admiral David Glascoe Farragut, Notes of the early mission, Napoleon musing at St. Helena, Expulsion of the Spanish Moors, A dream which was not all a dream, A voyage on a fish-bowl, Conscience, The talisman, Idle notes, Olio, Table of honor
-
The Owl, vol. 2, no. 3
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: In memoriam - Daniel Ford, Circumstantial evidence, The hail of my ancestors, Joe Dobson, A full crop from churlish soil, History of a tea kettle, In adversis Pax Americae, Humility, The Irish to Boyne, The battle of Mortgarten, Whistling, An item, Idle notes, Olio, Table of honor
-
The Owl, vol. 2, no. 2
Santa Clara University student body
Contents: John Phipot Curran; Daniel Webster; The massacre of Chics; Dana's mineralogy; The fog bell; The treatment of the North American Indian; Mathilda; Babylon; Idle notes; The Olio; Table of Honor; Supplement: Address by Dr. d. M. Delmas, Esq.; Charity