Seattle University - Aegis Yearbook (Seattle, WA)

Page 10 text:

Fr. Garrand was suffering great consternation, he had written. “In Seattle, where it is very humid, there arc only three months of good weather during which it is advisable to build. If one builds during the rainy season, the wood which was swollen by the rain will shrink later on. and all the woodwork will crack making necessary innumerable costly repairs. Finally on July 19. 1894. thirty carpenters with their workers were ready. In the next few days around twenty more workers came to help. The workers were Irish and German Catholics; most of them were my parishioners and had the interest of the church as much at heart as I did; on top of that the Irish wanted to prove to me that their devotion was superior to that of the Germans; the Germans wanted to do better than the Irish. They were proud to work directly under their pastor, they knew that we were poor and that it was to save money that I had neither an architect nor a contractor. To the end they worked with an energy and spirit that surprised the whole town.” On September 8 the new building was under cover and the entire exterior was finished. December 8 the part that was intended to serve temporarily as a church was opened. Fr. Garrand described the new location as follows. “We are bordered by four large streets, of which two, Madison and Broadway, are the principal arteries of the town. There are electric tramways running on Madison and Broadway which bring people to us from any part of the town for only five cents.” As the school slowly expanded the WCTU Hall was purchased and used as a student union. The Garrand Building continued to be used for classes. Work on the Garrand Building began April 16, 1893. The building is still in use today although a fire destroyed the interior in 1907. When repairs were made the roof was flattened and the steeple removed.

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St. Francis Hall was used as a temporary site for the Immaculate Conception Church and school. The building was owned by Fr. Francis X. Prefontaine. pastor of Our Lady of Good Help Parish. It had been erected in 1890 and had been used as an all-purpose building. The Jesuits rented from Fr. Prefontaine until they were able to provide themselves with a permanent location on their own land at 900 Broadway which had been purchased from A. A. Denny in November, 1890. On April 16. 1893. the cornerstone of a brick building at Broadway and Marion, known today as the Garrand Building, was laid and blessed by Bishop Junger. Fr. Garrand described his efforts to put the building up in a letter, In 1893 the advisors of the Mission, along with the Superior General, decided that the mission in Seattle should establish itself solidly and that it would be necessary to borrow funds immediately. I was given permission to do so; all I had to do was find someone willing to lend; however it was just at this time that the monetary panic started here.” On June 30. 1893, the Articles of Incorporation for the Church and School of the Immaculate Conception were filed with the secretary of the State of Washington. Months passed and it was not until July, 1894, that permission was granted to borrow funds from the Wicgman brothers, bankers in Amsterdam. Fr. Victor Garrand, S.J., first administrator of Seattle College (above), and Fr. Adrian Sweere, S.J. (left), arrived in Seattle in August, 1891 to lay the foundations of what is today Seattle University. Records of the Nesqually diocese detail the expenses the Jesuits incurred in 1891 in establishing themselves in Seattle.

Page 11 text:

Steam shovels removed the dirt from the Broadway and Madison corner of the campus in 1911. The dirt was sold and used at 12th and Madison as part of a city regrade project. On October 17, 1898. the corporate title of the Immaculate Conception School was changed to Seattle College and the institution was authorized by the State of Washington to confer degrees and honors similar to other institutions in the United States. It was not until June 23, 1909, that the college conferred the bachelor of arts degree on the first graduates: John A. Concannon, James C. Ford and Theodore M. Ryan. In June. 1902, the first Seattle College annual, made up of papers submitted by each class in Seattle College and Seattle College High School, was published. In the years that followed, the yearbook remained a collection of paper-bound volumes. By 1914 the name was changed to the Palestra. The following year many students went off to the war and the Palestra suspended publication, until 1923 when the Echo appeared. In 1932, the banks closed in the depression and publication was limited because of a lack of paper. There was no college yearbook until 1937 when the first Aegis was published by the Associated Students of Seattle College and dedicated to Fr. James B. McGoldrick, S.J. The foreword stated. “Our aim in this, the first Aegis of Seattle College, has been to present school life as it is lived by the students, that it may be preserved for them. Lest the all too quickly passing days spent happily within the halls of Seattle College be forgotten by those who have enjoyed them, these pages shall leave with them a record of memories. If Aegis brings these students, now or in the future, the ability to relive past activities, see school day dreams come true, and ideals realized, its end has been attained.” The Aegis continued until 1943 when a shortage of paper during the war stopped publication. Thin paper books followed in 1944 and 1945. In 1946 the Aegis began to publish annually. 7