The Varsity Bell (also called the Denny Bell) is a large bell that, as of 2016, is installed in the cupola of

Denny Hall Denny Hall is a building on the main campus of the University of Washington, in Seattle, Washington, United States. Built between 1894 and 1895, it is named after Arthur A. Denny. Design Denny Hall was designed by Charles Saunders and constructe ...

at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. The bell was cast in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...

in 1861 and purchased by the Territorial University of Washington for $368. It was shipped to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, around the

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...

, to be installed in the original building of the university in 1862. After installation, its first ringing was conducted by Clarence Bagley on March 19, 1862. During its service at the Territorial University, the bell was rung to announce the start of classes and also used to sound citywide alert at other critical moments: it solemnly tolled to mark the announcement of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

's assassination; during the riot of 1886 it was used to call-out the

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

; three years later it was rung to sound the alarm at the start of the Great Seattle Fire. When the University relocated from its original downtown site to its current location in the 1890s, the bell was moved and installed in the new campus' first building, Denny Hall. From 1996 to 2005, the bell was removed from Denny Hall for restoration work. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the bell has typically been rung only once annually, during

Homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia. ...

. From 1961, until his death in 2013,

Brewster Denny Brewster Castberg Denny (1924 - June 22, 2013) was an American academic from Seattle, Washington known for his long association with the University of Washington. Early life and education The great-great-grandson of Seattle founder Arthur A. Den ...

was responsible for the annual ringing of the bell. Since then, the bell has been rung by Denny's daughter.

Notes

References

{{University of Washington, state=collapsed Individual bells in the United States University of Washington

See also

Notes

References