Regents Plant a Flag (and an Umbrella) at the University
University of Washington regents scramble over stumps and brush to select the permanent location for the new campus main building.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The audience on the new university campus was small, but it was brimful of enthusiasm. The party consisted of Regents Hayden, Mitten, Wood and Kellogg, Engineer Fred Plummer and Edmond S. Meany. Careful surveys and contour maps had been made and they were considered by the board, which determined to locate the main building at a spot 1,000 feet from the northern boundary and 1,000 feet from the western boundary. The regents climbed over logs and through brush until they reached one place that was unanimously declared the one place of all others for the new structure to be reared. 'I, for one, am willing that Mr. Kellogg should stick his umbrella in the ground right here as the permanent site,' said Regent Mitten. President Hayden put the question and it carried with a roar, and Mr. Kellogg very promptly plunged his umbrella into the rich loamy soil. The regents also hired Mr. Henry H. Hindshaw, of Chicago, a landscape gardener who was a chief assistant at the World’s Fair, to build up an arboretum that would make Washington celebrated throughout the nation.
“The regents climbed over logs and through brush until they reached one place that was promptly and unanimously declared the one place of all others.”
This informal naming of the site for the University of Washington's primary campus marks a pivotal moment in the city's civic development. It reflects the immense boosterism of the 1890s, when founders believed they could turn a forest clearing into a world-class institution.
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