Exhibit, oral histories, public programs part of " U District Museum Without Walls"

April, May 2009 

Seattle—Community history is the focus of several upcoming projects driven by the University District MuseumWithout Walls (UDMWW). 

An outdoor exhibit highlighting the history of social and political activism in the University District during the 1960s and 70s opens to the public on April 4, 2009, at the north plaza of the University of Washington Tower (corner of N.E. 45th Street and Brooklyn Avenue N.E.). The exhibit, Open to Question: Activism in the U District, Opening Doors From the 60s to the Present , uses historical images to tell a story of dissent and reconciliation that has shaped one of Seattle's most vibrant communities. The outdoor exhibit was designed by visual communications design students at the University of Washington and will be on display until May 30. 

Video oral histories, documenting some of the most outspoken voices in various social and political movements of the past several decades, will accompany the exhibit, and will be made available online and as part of an archive. Over a dozen interviews have already been conducted with members of the University District community.  

Free public programs, including an opening reception and presentation by Seattle historian Paul Dorpat, a facilitated oral history panel and roundtable featuring notable figures in University District history, and two brown-bag lunch discussions about the importance of social activism today, will be held during April and May. 

UDMWW has been funded by a Department of Neighborhoods Large Projects Matching Fund and a donation by the University District Rotary, with additional support from the University of Washington and the Greater University Chamber of Commerce. UDMWW is a project organized by the University District Arts and Heritage Committee.