uw history
December 1, 1996
Gift from 4 generations helps students in law, medicine, engineering
The history of a Seattle family is honored through a bequest to the University from John Brace Scurry.
When Seattle’s grunge scene exploded, you had to be in the know
Many UW students were part of the grunge music scene from its beginning, and the campus radio station KCMU played a crucial role in its formation.
September 1, 1996
A stroke of genius saved countless lives with dialysis
"I literally woke up in the middle of the night with the idea of how we could save these people," Belding Scribner recalls.
June 1, 1996
1969 bombing of UW building remains an unsolved mystery
About 3:30 a.m. on June 29, 1969, a terrifying explosion rocked the campus.
March 1, 1996
Montlake lot isn’t the dump it once was
Commuting students still groan when told to park in the Montlake Lot, far from the heart of campus. But it isn't the first time that stretch of nearly 200 acres has been dumped on.
December 1, 1995
Nude photos, taken in the name of research, briefly roiled UW
“Nude Photos of U.W. Girls Stir Protests" screamed the page one headline in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Hard times on the Ave
Set up by Seattle's pioneers as the city's second main street before the turn of the century, University Way NE today sadly bears little resemblance to its old self.
September 1, 1995
Montlake centennial
How fate, vision and some shameless boosters transformed logged-over land into a beloved campus.
Denny Bell keeps ringing
The Denny Bell is one of two relics brought to the current campus from the Territorial University site in downtown Seattle.
June 1, 1995
Chimes ring again
The Bells of Washington are back, though in a digital format, thanks to a gift from the President's Fund for Excellence.
Our first president
Asa Mercer is gained fame for bringing shiploads of women around Cape Horn to the then-wild Puget Sound area in the 1860s.
March 1, 1995
Not a true Dawg
Controversy loomed as the UW football team prepared for the 1960 Rose Bowl.
December 1, 1994
George stands tall
For 18 years of humiliation at the University of Washington, the Father of Our Country had his feet in the mud.
September 1, 1994
Leaving the shellhouse
For 45 years the Conibear Shellhouse on Lake Washington was the home not only of racing shells, but also of many of the men who rowed in them.
June 1, 1994
Being black at UW
To preserve the memories of other African-American students, we interviewed black alumni who went here during the '30s, '40s, '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s.
Final curtain
Like an aging star of the stage, the Showboat Theatre took its final bow as wrecking crews dismantled the 56-year-old dowager on the UW's Portage Bay waterfront.
March 1, 1994
Fire silenced bells
A 37-year tradition suddenly went up in smoke on May 24, 1949, when the University of Washington's Chimes Tower burned down.
December 1, 1993
Pool for pranks
From the moment the UW inherited the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exhibition's "Geyser Basin," the pool on Rainier Vista has been the site of sanctioned exhibits and unsanctioned spectacles.
September 1, 1993
In 1943, a much more serious game came to Husky Stadium
The UW campus sustained a full-fledged amphibious landing in October 1943 as part of a war exercise.