Husky Union Building Mural at UW

Individuals Pictured in the Husky Union Building Mural at the University of Washington

Bro. Adam S. Alsobrook, AIA
University Lodge No. 141, F. & A. M.
27 October 2020

The author identified six of the individuals pictured in the mural at the Husky Union Building using books, newspaper reports, and firsthand recollections of the event. Brief biographical sketches for each of these individuals appear below, but the reader is strongly encouraged to seek additional information on these historical figures. As of today, the author is not aware of any document that identifies all of the persons depicted in this mural, so he opted to focus on the six individuals that could be positively identified.

Information about Most Worshipful Daniel Bagley was obtained from The Fountain and the Mountain: The University of Washington Campus in Seattle by Norman J. Johnston and History of St. John’s Lodge No. 9, F. & A. M. of Seattle Washington, by Worshipful Brother Laban H. Wheeler.

Biographical information on Most Worshipful Brother Joseph Marion Taylor and Worshipful Brother Thomas Milton Gatch can be found in the History of St. John’s Lodge No. 9, F. & A. M. of Seattle Washington, by Worshipful Brother Laban H. Wheeler.

Worshipful Brother Edmond S. Meany stood six-feet-six-inches tall and had a full head of red hair, so the tall figure holding a sheet of paper is certainly him. His long list of achievements and activities over his career are impossible to capture in a brief biographical sketch. Information about Worshipful Brother Meany can be found in the History of St. John’s Lodge No. 9, F. & A. M. of Seattle Washington, by Worshipful Brother Laban H. Wheeler and on HistoryLink.org online. His personal recollection of the laying of the cornerstone of the Administration Building (later Denny Hall) can be found in the University of Washington Special Collections online.

Arthur A. Denny was revered as the “father” of the University of Washington. Much has been written about Denny, but the brief biographical sketch is based on information obtained from HistoryLink.org online.

Finally, Adella Parker (alternately Adele Parker, Adela Parker, and Adele Parker-Bennett) is the woman in the mural holding a parasol and the notes for her speech. Biographical information on this fascinating woman is scattered widely, and it appears that some sources contain incorrect dates of important events in her life. Her obituary in the Seattle Daily Times on April 9, 1956 confirmed that she appeared in the Husky Union Building mural and also provided key details about her life and career. Her exploits as a journalist for American newspapers in Communist Russia during the 1920s are especially captivating. Additional information about Parker can be obtained from online sources such as Ancestry, Wikipedia, and HistoryLink.org.

Individuals Pictured in the Husky Union Building (HUB) Mural at the University of Washington Ernest Norling, artist, 1948.

1. Most Worshipful Brother Daniel Bagley
2. Most Worshipful Brother Joseph Marion Taylor
3. Worshipful Brother Thomas Milton Gatch
4. Worshipful Brother Edmond S. Meany
5. Arthur A. Denny
6. Adella M. Parker

Most Worshipful Brother Daniel Bagley

(7 September 1818 – 26 April 1905)

MWB Bagley was made a Mason in 1851 at Princeton, Illinois. He was elected Worshipful Master of St. John’s Lodge No. 9 on 22 December 1860, the same evening he was elected to affiliate with the Lodge. He was elected Grand Master of Masons in Washington Territory in September 1861.

MWB Bagley served as president of the University Land Commission in 1861. WB John Webster, the first Worshipful Master of St. John’s Lodge No. 9, also served on this board with MWB Bagley.  MWB Bagley was responsible for the construction of the first University Building and the development of the first curriculum. He became known as ”the man who stole the University for the City of Seattle.”

MWB Bagley was appointed Grand Chaplain in 1893 and served in that position through 1904. He also served as Chaplain of St. John’s Lodge No. 9 during the same period of time. He died in Seattle on 26 April 190S.

Most Worshipful Brother Joseph Marion Taylor

(3 June 1854 – 22 September 1932)

MWB Taylor was made a Mason in 1882 in Weston Lodge No. 6S, Weston. Oregon. He relocated to Seattle in 1885 where he affiliated with St. John’s Lodge No. 9 on 26 December 1885. He became Chair of Mathematics and Astronomy at the University of Washington in 1887. He served as Worshipful Master of St. John’s Lodge No. 9 from 1889 to 1892.

MWB Taylor, along with Senior Deacon Laban H. Wheeler, saved the Lodge records and most of the furniture from being lost in the 1889 Seattle fire. He served as Grand Orator during 1890-1891, and was elected.Junior Grand Warden in June 1891, Senior Grand Warden in 1893, and Grand Master in 1894.

MWB Taylor remained active in Masonic activities until his death on 22 September 1932.

Worshipful Brother Thomas Milton Gatch

(29 January 1833 – 22 April 1913)

WB Gatch made a Mason in 1858 in Santa Cruz Lodge No. 38, Santa Cruz, California. He then affiliated with Pacific Lodge No. 50, Salem, Oregon in 1874, where he was elected Worshipful Master. He affiliated with Eugene City Lodge No. 11, Eugene, Oregon in 1879.

He came to Seattle with his family in June 1887 and affiliated with St. John’s Lodge No. 9 in November of that year. He served as President of the University of Washington from 1887 until 1898. WB Gatch was elected Secretary of St. John’s Lodge No. 9 in November 1888 and continued to serve in that position until he resigned in July 1897.

WB Gatch maintained his membership in St. John’s Lodge No. 9 until his death on 22 April 1913.

Worshipful Brother Edmond S. Meany

(28 December 1862 – 22 April 1935)

WB Meany was born in East Saginaw, Michigan., and arrived in Seattle in 1877 with his parents and sister. The Meany family lived on 3rd Avenue between Pike and Pine Streets, close to where Arthur A. Denny resided. WB Meany enrolled at the Territorial University of Washington in 1878 at the age of 15, but was forced to abandon his studies after his father died in 1880. He later continued his studies and graduated valedictorian of his class at the Territorial University of Washington in 1885. He was elected to the state legislature in 1891 and 1893. He then worked as secretary for the University of Washington Board of Regents in 1894 and as registrar in 1895. He began teaching at the University ofWashington in 1896, where the taught courses in forestry and history.

WB Meany was made a Mason in St. John’s Lodge No. 9, where he was initiated on 13 March 1891, passed 14 March 1891, and raised on31 March 1891. He served as Worshipful Master of St. Jobn’s Lodge No. 9 in 1897. He was a noted historian and was popular among his students. He died in 1935 and was interred at Lake View Cemetery in Seattle.

Arthur A. Denny

(20 Jone 1822 – 9 January 1899)

A native of Indiana, Denny was leader of the famous Denny Party, which landed at A1ki Point on 13 November 18S 1. The members of the Denny Party moved to the East Shore of Elliott Bay not long after, and filed their land claims in 1852.

After a brief career in territorial politics, Denny went on to become an influential figure in the Seattle business community and eventually became a wealthy and prominent member of Seattle’s social elite.

Denny was instrumental in the development of the University of Washington, and donated the land for the original site of the institution in what is now downtown Seattle. He was considered the ”father” of the University of Washington and was one of the keynote speakers at the laying of the cornerstone of the Administration Building (later known as Denny Hall) on 4 July 1894.

Adella M. Parker

(1870 – 8 April 1956)

Adella Parker was born in Michigan and moved with her parents to Seattle, where she attended the University of Washington and graduated with the class of 1893. She spoke at the laying of the cornerstone of the Administration Building (later known as Denny Hall) on 4 July 1894 as president of the Alumni Association of the University of Washington. She was an early member of the Young Naturalists’ Society, whose collections later became the basis for the Burke Museum.

After she graduated from college, Parker taught economics and civics at Broadway High School. She earned her law degree from the University of Washington in 1903, and over the next fifty years her career was a whirlwind of activity too diverse and fascinating to be adequately described here. Parker taught high school in Seattle, became a vocal advocate for the right of women to vote, practiced law, worked as a journalist for American newspapers in Communist Russia, and was elected state representative for District 37 in King County in the mid 1930s. She died in Seattle in April 1956. Her obituary in the Seattle Daily Times noted that her portrait appeared on the mural in the Husky Union Building.