Alums give their regards to Broadway

Talk about being true to your school.

Though Seattle's Broadway High School closed in 1946, 2,400 alumni around the world still receive its newsletter, Broadway Whims, several times a year.

And yesterday, 200 of them gathered at the site of their old school, now home to Seattle Central Community College, to celebrate what would have been Broadway's 100th anniversary. Through proclamations signed by Mayor Greg Nickels and Seattle Central President Charles Mitchell, the alumni were once again allowed to rule the roost when the campus was officially renamed "Broadway for a Day."

"Broadway's meaningful to this city," Mitchell said. "At Broadway, we graduated great individuals who went on to make their mark not only in Seattle but nationally and internationally as well.

"Now, (Seattle Central's) doing the same thing. The highlight of carrying on that Broadway spirit was us being named Community College of the Year. We've been carrying on education for a long time on this corner."

Opened in 1902, after a boom in the city's population that followed the Great Northern Railroad's arrival and the Alaska gold rush, Broadway was Seattle's first high school. The school property, at Broadway and Pine Street, was purchased by the Seattle School Board for $13,000; the school was built for $250,000.

In 1946, to accommodate returning veterans seeking to complete their educations, Edison Vocational School took over the building and Broadway students were moved to schools around the city. In 1966, Seattle Central acquired the site and became the city's first community college.

Today, the most noticeable piece of Broadway that remains is the school's old auditorium, preserved as the Broadway Performance Hall.

After the 100th anniversary celebration, many alumni made their way to the old building and recalled how its stone facing earned the school its "Pine Street Prison" nickname.

The centennial celebration provided graduates a chance to recall both pleasant and sad memories.

1943 graduates Henry and Patsy Love, who have been married 56 years, met as freshmen in Latin class in 1939, they said with large smiles and sparkling eyes.

Friends Susan Brazier (1937), Anne Moldrem ('45) and Billie McLaughlin ('42) recalled how, for 2½ cents, you could ride the streetcar anywhere in the city.

Stuart Oles ('42), president of the Broadway High School Alumni Foundation, said the darkest day in the school's history was when its Japanese students were taken from their homes and placed in an internment camp in Puyallup. Teachers were so upset, he said, they traveled to Puyallup and held a graduation ceremony for them.

Without an actual high-school building to call home, Broadway alums have adopted Seattle Central. Since 1986, they have given 159 scholarships to incoming and departing students. Oles said the alumni association has contributed nearly $420,000.

College President Mitchell, who drew jeers when he announced he was a graduate of rival Garfield High, appreciates the association with Broadway High.

"They looked at the work being done here, and we all felt we were, in spirit, carrying on the work of Broadway High School," he said.

J.J. Jensen: 206-464-2386 or jjensen@seattletimes.com.