history
December 9, 2024
High five for '75
Twenty years ago, Linda Buck, '75, won the Nobel Prize. Meanwhile, Mark Emmert, '75, became president of the UW.
October 9, 2024
Game day greeter
John Clinton Cohn, who ran John’s Parking for many years, cheered with Husky fans as they passed the lot on game days—a tradition he upheld through his 94th year.
Making history
Historians and activists who studied at the UW made HistoryLink.org into a community resource that has proven successful and popular over its 25 years.
September 12, 2024
The HUB turns 75
Witness the 75-year evolution of the Husky Union Building through photos, and learn about the history of this core campus building.
February 23, 2024
Boldt Decision echoes today
The Boldt Decision, which turns 50 this year, reaffirmed tribal fishing rights in Washington and marked a turning point for tribal sovereignty.
January 8, 2024
A new history
Ned Blackhawk's book about Native Americans in U.S. history won the National Book Award for its enlightening take on "rediscovering" America.
October 27, 2023
Stories to tell
See how three museums from the Seattle area draw upon their UW ties and engage in evolving conversations around race, history and identity.
June 20, 2023
Historian, tour guide, archive enthusiast
Let Antoinette Wills show you around the UW's campus.
June 4, 2023
Pulling together
At the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, the UW crew made history and set a legacy in motion.
A KKK ‘monster’ story
Timothy Egan’s latest book, “A Fever in the Heartland," centers on the rise and undoing of D.C. Stephenson, a grand dragon of the KKK
May 28, 2023
A walk down ‘Skid Road’
Nurse, professor and advocate Josephine Ensign walks readers through the history of Seattle's "Skid Road."
November 27, 2022
A medical emergency
The UW struggles to enroll Black medical students—a trend that is playing out across the nation.
Star power
On the 20th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy, we remember astronaut Michael Anderson, ’81.
September 20, 2022
Making history
History professor Margaret O'Mara explains how prior generations handled a pandemic and what we can learn from their mistakes.
September 9, 2022
Story of Black Seattle
Quintard Taylor tells the stories of Seattle’s small, but influential Black community.
September 3, 2022
Ancient voices
Grace Funsten, ’17, ’22, studied ancient epitaphs in Rome as part of a select group of classics scholars.
May 29, 2022
Stolen beauty
The story of the shocking theft, destruction and replacement of George Tsutakawa’s sculptural gates at the Washington Park Arboretum.
For the next generation
After 26 years leading Densho, a nonprofit organization committed to preserving and sharing Japanese American history, executive director Tom Ikeda, ’76, ’79, ’83, is retiring
March 5, 2022
Living through history
UW history professor Margaret O’Mara shares her perspective on the pandemic and its echoes from the past.
50 years of equal rights
In 1972, Washington became one of the earlier states to ratify a gender equity amendment.
September 11, 2021
Ballet in the Cold War
The Cold War played out on exotic battlegrounds. Perhaps none were stranger—and had more unexpected outcomes—than cultural-exchange ballet tours.
August 31, 2021
9.11.01: I was there
Two alumni who escaped the horror of Ground Zero bravely share their stories of trauma and hope.
June 7, 2021
Promoting preservation
Elizabeth Bell was honored for more than 42 years of “tireless effort in preserving the city and promoting understanding of the heritage” of Antigua, Guatemala.
June 3, 2021
Archives to stay
When the federal government announced it would be closing its national archives at Sand Point, a UW community of alumni and faculty sprang into action to halt the plan.
March 4, 2021
Digital dynamo
UW Libraries has undertaken a massive effort to expand access to digital resources and develop programs that teach students and faculty skills for research in a digital age.
December 16, 2020
A year to remember
Historians and information experts encourage us to preserve our memories and mementos so future generations might understand this exceptional time.
Whitman revisited
In “Unsettled Ground: The Whitman Massacre and Its Shifting Legacy in The American West,” historian Cassandra Tate, ’86, ’88, ’95, revisits a conflict that left 13 settlers dead.
September 11, 2020
No longer lost
Stephen Johnson, '99, scoured archives, the internet and a villa in Italy to discover the fate of a missing World War II pilot.
June 11, 2020
Unearthed and retooled
The unlikely story of two carved canoes, divided by decades, linked in tribal tradition.
May 12, 2020
The lost spring
Just as all schools and colleges have closed down this year from late March because of COVID-19, my senior year ended early in 1980.
March 30, 2020
Bonjour, Paris
Meredith Clausen, an architectural historian, shares her Paris apartments with UW scholars.
December 26, 2019
Inside the peace
No one else could have written "Surviving the Peace," a new book by Peter Lippman, ’95, after decades of grassroots connections to the people of the Balkans.
November 24, 2019
Legacy of ‘No-No Boy’
Decades ago, he built a foundation for Asian American literature; now, a UW professor is still protecting an alumnus’s classic novel.
June 2, 2019
Northwest dressed
From timber territory to tech hub, the Northwest passion for fashion has flourished.
April 18, 2019
History keepers
Creating historical records, archiving photos, recording oral histories—it’s all in a program of UW Libraries with the Ethnic Heritage Council.
March 29, 2019
‘Citizen Jean’
A new book about Seattle is an engaging history lesson for newcomers to the region and a juicy replay for old timers.
April 28, 2018
Heart, soul and ice cream
For 85 years, Husky Deli has warmed hearts in West Seattle with scrumptious sandwiches, house-made ice cream and goodies from the world over.
December 7, 2017
New Northwest
The first Northwest history textbook written since 1989 isn't a boring list of facts—it's a compilation of riveting, high-stakes stories.
June 1, 2016
The torch carrier
Letters from a young man's trip to the 1936 Olympics offer hints of the life he would live.
March 1, 2016
KEXP rocks its new digs
KEXP and its predecessor KCMU have been a staple of the Seattle music community for four decades. With new digs at the Seattle Center and a 30-year cooperative agreement with the UW, the station enters its next phase as an independent nonprofit.
Author preserves memory of his great-grandfather, a slave
Carver Gayton, ’60, ’72, ’76, authors a gripping biography of his great-grandfather, Lewis G. Clarke, who escaped slavery and inspired a key character in “Uncle Tom's Cabin.”
September 1, 2015
UW Press at 100
The University of Washington's press dates back to Edmond Meany's 1915 book on the governors of the state and territory.
June 1, 2015
Ivan Doig, 1939-2015
Whenever I wander by Smith Hall, I reflect about the home of the UW’s esteemed History Department, as well as the place where, in 1969, a doctoral student wrote a memoir about losing his mother at age 6 and being raised by his father and grandma in hardscrabble Montana. Of course, I am referring to Ivan Doig’s first book.
Jon Bridgman
In the 1950 film La Ronde, the narrator states: “I adore the past. It’s so much more restful than the present and so much more certain than the future.” History Professor Jon Bridgman said that this scene captured his perspective.
December 1, 2014
Film buff
Cinema Books owner Stephanie Ogle reintroduces classics, champions new treasures and plays a starring role in celebrating film.
June 1, 2014
Teachers of the year
Why do we come to the UW? To learn. Lucky for us, we had the chance to meet the exceptional teachers honored here. They didn’t just teach us course material or put us on the path to a career. They inspired us. Challenged us. Pushed us. Opened our minds. Made us be our best.
March 1, 2014
The lost branch
By reviving a language on the brink of extinction, a history professor preserves the memory of family members who died in the Holocaust.
'Silence is a coping mechanism'
Teresa Tamura captures poignant stories of hardship from a World War II relocation center in her book "Minidoka: An American Concentration Camp."
‘We will come back for you’
Haunted by the deaths of two soldiers in a bunker he designed, Rich Kirchner returns to Vietnam to find his fallen comrades.
December 1, 2013
Montana mindscape
Ivan Doig's tales of the West have made him one of America's top authors.
Immortal life
The cover of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks succinctly proclaims the book’s storyline: “Doctors took her cells without asking. Those cells never died. They launched a medical revolution and a multimillion-dollar industry. More than 20 years later, her children found out. Their lives would never be the same.”
March 1, 2013
Soviets in Seattle
When Washington hosted the inaugural Windermere Cup in 1987, it was the first competition for Soviet rowers in the United States in 25 years.
May magic
Every year, Huskies say the Windermere Cup creates a greatest moment for someone: a student athlete, a coach, alum, a band member, or family members watching with sack lunches along the cut.
June 1, 2012
Thomas James Pressly, 1919-2012
Thomas James Pressly, who taught history at the UW for almost 40 years, died April 3. He was 93.
September 1, 2011
Denny's legacy
Many Husky families have UW roots that go back generations, but no one has deeper roots than Brewster Denny.
September 1, 2010
Hot in Hollywood
Standing 6 foot 4, Joel McHale is a tall man in Hollywood. And now, he’s a big man in Tinseltown.
March 1, 2010
A style for the elements
“Modern Views: A Conversation on Northwest Modern Architecture" highlights the region's distinctive style.
March 1, 2009
Evolution of art
Ellen Dissanayake came up with a paradigm-changing theory: Art-making evolved as a behavior that contained advantages for human survival-and those advantages went far beyond what Charles Darwin ever imagined.
December 1, 2008
Back in time
Frank Nowell’s photographs offer an intriguing glimpse of the UW in its infancy, and suggest the significant role the school played in introducing Seattle to the world.
Escape from Shanghai
Going off to college can be difficult, even traumatic—leaving home for the first time, moving to an unfamiliar town, living with strangers. For Julia Lin, ’65, though, it required assuming a false identity, dodging bombs and surviving a pirate attack.
December 1, 2007
Pulitzer winner
David Anderson, ’86, never expected to win a Pulitzer Prize for journalism—especially as a history major with every intention of getting a law degree.
June 1, 2007
Dan Evans, engineer of change
Fate and a fierce independent streak kept him out of the White House. But that may have been for the best, since it kept Dan Evans close to his home state — and his alma mater.
September 1, 2006
Revisiting Nuremberg
Whitney Harris, '33, is one of only two surviving prosecutors from the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal, and the only one who was present for the entirety of the historic trials.
June 1, 2006
A. Scott Crossfield, 1921-2006
A. Scott Crossfield, '49, '50, was the fastest man alive—the first person to fly at twice the speed of sound and a pioneer in space exploration.
Magnificent 7
A great university has great teachers. This year, the UW honors seven instructors from three campuses who have touched the lives of thousands.
March 1, 2006
Stolen years
After Pearl Harbor, as the U.S. imprisoned thousands of its own citizens in internment camps, more than 400 Japanese American students had to drop out of the UW.
December 1, 2005
Detective story
The assignment was straightforward, but it felt like mission impossible: Find out what happened to more than 400 students forced to leave the University of Washington when the federal government incarcerated Japanese Americans in 1942.
The stolen years
After Pearl Harbor, as the U.S. imprisoned thousands of its own citizens in internment camps, more than 400 Japanese American students had to drop out of the UW. This is the story of some forced to leave — and the efforts the UW made to protect them.
December 1, 2003
Keeping their words
The UW is helping to revive Native languages of the Pacific Northwest, thanks in part to a quirky professor's quest in the 1930s to preserve tribal legends and songs.
June 1, 2003
The tipping point
Is it a new era for the Middle East, American politics and international relations? UW experts consider the war in Iraq and its global impact.
Gallery of distinction
Since 1970, the University of Washington has honored its best teachers for striving to bring knowledge to the next generation. This year the UW has given its Distinguished Teaching Award to seven faculty on three campuses. In addition, the UW is honoring TAs, public servants and staff.
Lane closures
On May 5, 1970 — the day after four students were killed by National Guardsmen at Kent State University in Ohio — a march from the UW employed a new tactic never tried before in the nation: blocking a freeway.
December 1, 2001
Reflections on 9/11
From the December 2001 issue: Voices from the UW community on the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
December 1, 2000
A civil action
Almost a century after snubbing Takuji Yamashita, the state's legal establishment is taking steps to honor the first Japanese graduate of the UW Law School.
December 1, 1999
True West
Most of us don't have a clue about the African-American experience in the West. Quintard Taylor's goal is to set us straight.
September 1, 1999
Against all odds
After surviving the horrors of the Holocaust, Tom Lantos got a fresh start at the UW. Now he is serving in Congress, and his story is part of an Oscar-winning film.
March 1, 1999
History fellowship
History professors Richard Johnson and Carol Thomas created a $100,000 endowed fellowship to support graduate students in their department.
June 1, 1998
Columns turns 90
A comprehensive look at the history of the UW through the eyes of its alumni magazine as we celebrate 90 years of publishing.
December 1, 1997
Seeing red
Fifty years ago, a hearing on “un-American” activities tore the UW campus apart, setting a precedent for faculty firings across academe.
September 1, 1997
Living in history
The UW opens its first campus in 102 years as UW Tacoma transforms the city’s historic Warehouse District.
December 1, 1995
Reviving a theater tradition
The revival of a 1936 black drama, part of a controversial New Deal project, fulfills the dream of one determined UW director.
September 1, 1995
McCormick’s road
Richard L. McCormick was born to the academic life, but it wasn't a straight line to the presidency at the University of Washington.
June 1, 1995
Arthur Bestor dies
Arthur Bestor was one of the nation's leading authorities on constitutional law and a UW history professor from 1962 to 1976.
March 1, 1995
Through the years
Major national and international events that took place during William Gerberding's 16 years as UW president.
June 1, 1993
Tales of ‘Solidarity’
UW alumnus and retired UW lecturer Richard (Dick) Carbray, '44, '51, has written a new book titled "Prophets of Human Solidarity."
December 1, 1991
A view to a coup
A relaxing UW alumni cruise suddenly became a glimpse into the second Russian revolution.
June 1, 1991
In the wake of war
The victorious outcome of the war—and the few American casualties—have created a watershed in American public opinion, four UW historians say.
March 1, 1991
Historic hindsight
The story of American Indians, says UW Professor Richard White, is not a tidy narrative with all the facts leading in one direction.
June 1, 1990
Giovanni Costigan dies at 85
Giovanni Costigan was a popular, outspoken member of the faculty for 41 years.
March 1, 1990
The days of May
The Kent State Killings left many college campuses in revolt. UW administrators look back at how they defused a time bomb.
Revolution on film
“Communism in Crisis: The Second Revolution” is the brainchild of UW International Studies Professor Herbert Ellison.