A History of Terry and Lander Halls at the University of Washington
Terry and Lander Halls stand as integral parts of the University of Washington's (UW) student housing system. These residence halls have a rich and evolving history, reflecting the university's growth and changing student needs. From their initial construction to the recent renovations and expansions, Terry and Lander Halls have provided accommodation and community for generations of UW students.
Early Years and Origins
The story of Terry and Lander Halls begins in 1917 when they first opened their doors to students. Initially, they were located in different buildings and served specific purposes during World War I. These buildings, designated as the Camp's Aviation Dormitory and Naval Officer's Dormitory (USNTC Buildings 39 and 40), were designed by the Bremerton Navy Yard and situated southwest of the future Husky Stadium along Montlake Boulevard.
The University of Washington campus dates back to the 1890s when the institution was relocated from the downtown Metropolitan Tract and construction of the first academic, administrative and residential buildings began. Arranged around a quadrangle in 1904, these were followed by permanent structures built between 1909 and 1914.
Mid-Century Transformation
From the 1950s to the 2010s, Terry and Lander Halls became known as two connected towers on the west campus. Sharing common facilities, including a dining hall, on the bottom two floors, they were located at 1101 and 1201 NE Campus Parkway, respectively. Lander Hall's ground floor also housed some of the central offices of the Department of Housing and Food Services. These buildings, designed by The Richardson Associates (TRA) Architecture, Engineering, Planning, Interiors (firm); Young, Richardson, and Carleton, Architects and Engineers (firm); William Hodder Carleton (architect); Stephen Hinley Richardson (architect); Arrigo Mazzucato Young (civil engineer/mechanical engineer), were constructed between 1955-1957.
Namesakes
Lander Hall is named after Edward Lander, chief justice of the territorial supreme court from 1853 to 1857. He, along with Charles Terry, bought Carson Boren’s downtown land claim for $500. They subsequently donated two acres of land, along with Arthur Denny, who donated eight, to form the first campus of the University of Washington, which opened in 1861. The university owns the Metropolitan Tract to this day, though it moved to its present location in 1895.However, Phillip H. Hoffman asserts that the correct namesake is Edward Lander’s brother, Frederick William Lander (1821-1862). The street was named by Edward Hanford (S Hanford Street) when he filed the plat of Hanford’s Addition to South Seattle in 1869. Hanford also named streets for George McClellan and Isaac Stevens. All three men - McClellan, Stevens, and Frederick Lander - were part of the Northern Pacific Railroad Survey (1853-1855), and all three were likewise Union generals in the Civil War. Besides this,Edward Lander was a political foe of and was jailed by Stevens [then governor of Washington Territory] when Lander opposed Stevens’ 1855 martial law declaration and actions. Stevens and Edward Lander maintained a widely recognized lifelong enmity. It is unlikely that Hanford would have memorialized this hostility.
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Modernization and Expansion
In the early 2010s, the University of Washington undertook a significant project to modernize and expand its student housing options. This led to the demolition of the old Terry and Lander Halls in 2012. Rhine Demolition LLC of Tacoma, WA, had the demolition contract. As it was very large building, it took Rhine several months (well into 08/2012) to it tear down and haul away the debris.
The construction filled the University of Washington's West Campus between 2010-2015, when the university completed multiple dormitory projects, including a new Lander-Terry complex, the tree-named dormitories, Alder, Elm, Cedar, Maple and Poplar Halls, and the nine buildings of the Mercer Court dormitory complex, as well as the new Ethnic Cultural Center #2, located just to the south of Lander Hall.
The new Lander Hall opened on January 6, 2014, with 602 residents of the condemned Terry Hall moving next door to the new building. These new residence halls on the west side of the UW Campus had more amenities and space than previous dormitories, but also charged higher monthly costs. The average room in Lander Hall #3 was 302 square feet, while in the old Terry Hall, built in 1952, an average room contained 178. Lander #3 cost $49 million to construct and another $29 million to cover furnishings, demolition of Lander #2, and design costs. The three dormitories lined up on the south side of NE Campus Parkway--Lander, Maple and Terry, will be the last constructed during the $470 million, 2011-2016 West Campus dormitory project.
As part of this project, Maple Hall was constructed between Terry and Lander Halls. As of 2017, the new Lander Hall has 243,000 ft2 (22,600 m2) of space, while the new Terry and Maple Halls together have 406,310 ft2 (37,747 m2). Terry and Maple Halls are each eight stories tall, and Lander is seven stories tall.
Student Life During the Great Depression
The Great Depression had a significant impact on student life at the University of Washington. The University was a well-respected, well-attended university in 1929, with numerous academic and vocational opportunities, a growing faculty, a beautiful campus, and an energetic and involved student body. There were countless groups, clubs, activities, committees, and organizations available to foster a lively student community, sponsoring eleven formal and informal dances in 1929 alone. The Great Depression, however, forced the University onto a much smaller scale and budget, reducing the formal academic and social opportunities of students. However, students during the Depression years found ways to keep their school spirit alive and contribute to the welfare of the University community despite the budget cuts.
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From 1929-1934, there were two ways to be admitted into the University of Washington: obtaining a certificate from an accredited high school along with a letter of recommendation from that high school principal, or by passing a general admission examination. Once admitted, all students were required to have a medical examination and pass an intelligence test. After being accepted to the University of Washington, students were admitted to a specific college depending on their major.
Tuition for students at the University of Washington stayed fairly consistent from 1929 to 1934. Fraternities and sororities were popular living options, and each was given its own page in the yearbook as shown here from 1931. Room and board expenses were also a concern of UW students. Lewis and Clark residence halls were available to female students and cost $32.00 per month. The University added several women’s halls between 1929 and 1932, but the price of room and board remained the same. Lander Hall, for male students, cost $36.00 per month in 1929-30, with a slight increase in 1931.
Enrollment numbers at the University of Washington began declining as the Great Depression took hold in the Northwest. The table below shows a sharp decline in enrollment beginning in the 1931-32 school year and continuing decline through the 1932-33 terms. There was a tremendous increase in 1933-34, but it would take a couple of years to rebound fully.
The Great Depression was a difficult time for the students of the University of Washington, but it was also a difficult time for the faculty. The number of professors on staff began to decline from 100 in 1930-31 to 80 in 1932-33 before rebounding significantly from 1933-1935 to just over 100 again. There was also a decline in the number of Associate Professors, Assistant Professors, Lecturers, Instructors, and Associates during the Depression because of lower enrollment numbers as well as financial difficulties. Those who did keep their jobs were subject to a ten percent pay cut in 1932 and again in 1933 when one of the headlines in The University of Washington Daily paper read, “Faculty Salaries Again Cut; Regents Readjust U.
In 1929, the University of Washington had five publications: The University of Washington Daily, the main student news source; Columns, a monthly humor magazine; The Forest Club Quarterly, The Washington Law Review, ASUW News Service, and The University of Washington Tyee, the University yearbook. The Depression affected all of these publications, and those that survived faced budget cuts.
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Athletics at the University of Washington were an important component of bringing students together to show their school spirit, just as they are now. Major men’s sports included football, crew, basketball, track, baseball, and tennis. There were also some intramural and minor sports, including boxing, wrestling, golf, and cross-country. There were no cheerleaders, but there was a yell staff of five enthusiastic men with huge megaphones to rouse the crowd. Times were tight, and while it cost students $2.00 to attend football games in 1929, the cost of tickets didn’t seem to deter student fans.
Women at the University of Washington had a large variety of activities and sports to choose from. There were the traditional sports: baseball, basketball, volleyball, tennis, swimming, and golf, but there were also some sports/activities that have since left the University: badminton, horseshoes, horseback riding, clogging, canoeing, dance drama, archery, and fencing. There was even a women’s “W Club,” for women who showed exceptional ability in sports and exhibited good sportsmanship. There was a women’s debate club, a women’s glee club formed in 1933, and the traditional junior girls’ vaudeville show every spring. As with the men’s intramural and minor sports, many of these women’s sports and activities were eliminated during the Depression.
The University of Washington was also home to many community service and religious clubs. The Knights of the Hook was an organization of underclassmen who provided community service to the University, while the Spurs, a national service organization for underclass women, also provided various services on campus. There was an annual tree planting day and a campus day where students did gardening and caretaking of the campus grounds. There were also many religious clubs on campus that represented a variety of Christian denominations, among them Catholic, Baptist, Episcopal, Methodist, and Presbyterian. The religious clubs survived and in many cases thrived during the Depression because many people were looking for someway to keep faith during this difficult time.
Two things that University of Washington students did not lack during this period were school spirit and a flair for the dramatic. Homecoming was a particularly huge celebration for students, involving a giant wood sign-making contest. In 1932 the University of Washington Huskies played Washington State’s Cougars homecoming weekend, and the fruits of the sign-making competitions could be seen at the game involving the school mascots. One sign read “Give the Cougar a Husky Boot,” and pictured a UW student in boots kicking a cougar in the hindquarters. The other was the “K-9 Bar-B-Q,” which advertised a homecoming special of “Fresh Cougar Meat,” being freshly prepared by a Husky dog. UW students also used signs to show their school spirit in the stands at games or to send a message to their opponents.
Dramatic flair was also exhibited by students’ theatre productions. UW students liked to watch as well as perform. There was a “Theatre Page” in The University of Washington Daily where students could find out which shows were playing in the Seattle area and where.
Although the significant budget cuts during the Great Depression caused the elimination of many clubs, activities, organizations, sports, dances, and extracurricular activities, UW students never lost their school spirit. Students provided community services on campus and in the community, supported their sports teams, and found ways to keep campus social life vibrant, all of which laid the groundwork for the University’s resurgence and growth after the Depression.
Focus on Student Preferences
The UW Housing and Food Services surveyed students to determine their changing preferences for dormitory layout and appointments. According to Pam Schreiber, Director of UW Housing and Food Services: "Ideas have bubbled up from the students and we have listened. We are also working to foster a sense of community that is so important, particularly to freshmen who can be daunted by a large campus environment." As per student wishes, rooms became larger than in the previous Lander Hall, and all rooms contained their own bathrooms. Kitchens were made available to allow students to cook for themselves, if desired. Lander Hall also opened with an expanded food court--called Local Point-- and an information/postal center. The "slow food" movement became very important on campus at this time; an example of this was the restaurant, "Cultivate," that opened in Elm Hall across the street, which served comfort food with locally-sourced ingredients. Another added amenity in the neighborhood was the District Market, a fully-stocked grocery store, located on the first floor of Alder Hall, across the street.
Influence of the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition
The Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition was the single most profound influence on the layout of the University. Although most of the AYPE buildings were demolished shortly after 1909, the landscape retains much of the physical form of that event. Rainier Vista is the most obvious remnant, but the influence can also be seen in the layout of much of the central campus. The HUB Yard area had a circle with a band stand. Frosh Pond/Drumheller Fountain was larger in 1909, but was in the same location. Stevens Way is essentially the same route as the parkway in the 1909 layout. Some of the AYPE structures were put to use as institutional buildings for years or decades-the Forestry Building, at the site where the HUB now stands, was used until 1930, when its rustic timbers were deemed too rotted to save. The Washington building was used first as a library and then as the High Energy Physics Lab until demolished in 1961. Its foundation survived as a landscape element (not shown) until the construction of the Allen Library. Gradually, over the years, most of the surviving Exposition buildings were torn down.
Changes to the Campus Over Time
At the end of and just after WWI, from 1917-1922, barracks stood briefly where Guggenheim Hall is now. The original Lander and Terry halls were built on the site that is now the Sound Transit University of Washington Station (at Husky Stadium). in 1937, 15th Ave NE was widened to the east. This necessitated the construction of the retaining wall along the west edge of the UW campus.
In 1937, the University’s grand boulevard to and from nowhere, Campus Parkway, was cut through what was a neighborhood of modest single-family homes, removing scores of houses. The era of urban renewal hastened the change. Properties were condemned by the city and deeded to the University, allowing the consolidation of lots, the re-routing of streets, and the construction of most of the University-owned structures in the area. in 1962, I-5 was completed. NE Pacific Street was re-routed in the 1970’s. The UW’s suburban office-park buildings along Boat Street were completed in the 80’s and 90’s. 15th Ave NE was re-routed in the late 90’s, in between the construction of the first nasty Portage Bay Garage that cut The Ave off from the waterfront and the second nasty Portage Bay Garage addition that was ironically LEED-certified.
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