The Struggle to Draft Washington’s Constitution
Delegates at the 1889 convention in Olympia face intense debate over corporate regulation and public warehouse oversight.
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.
Olympia, Aug. 14—The convention was called to order at 10 a.m. with the president in the chair. Consideration of the article on education and educational institutions was resumed. An additional section was offered by Lindsley: 'The University of Washington shall be a public trust, and its organization and management shall be provided by law, and it shall ever be independent and free from all partisan and sectarian influence in the appointment of its regents, administration of its affairs and the instruction given therein.' After heated debate regarding whether to postpone the measure, the section was passed, with only two members voting in the negative.
“The university shall ever be independent and free from all partisan and sectarian influence.”
The 1889 constitutional convention was the forge of Washington State’s identity. The push to keep the University of Washington free from 'partisan and sectarian influence' remains a foundational pillar of its status as a public institution, even as the university's relationship with the state continues to shift in the modern era.
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