Green Lake Crew first went on the water seventy-one years ago, in the spring of 1948. GLC’s ‘origin story’—and how it has flourished for seven decades—is a uniquely Seattle tale. It is a story of breaking barriers, of a community dedicated to getting kids on the water, of a special relationship with Seattle Parks and of the incredible dedication of a long list of passionate rowers, coaches and volunteers. It is also a story with an exciting new chapter, one being written and hopefully completed in the next year or two.

That tale has touched nearly everyone who has picked up an oar in Seattle. Former UW rowers had attempted to start a junior rowing program on Green Lake even before World War II. (If you’ve read The Boys in the Boat, you’ll recognize the source of the enthusiasm for such a notion.) WWII would obviously put any such ideas ‘onto the beach’ for the interim, but the idea was refloated soon after that conflict ended. By 1947 the idea gained momentum under the leadership of a Seattle Times reporter, Alex Shultz. He recruited several North End community leaders, most notably Clarence Massart, president of the Wallingford Boys Club (and later City Council president), and Joel Woelfert, a sheriff’s deputy and director at the Greenwood Boys Club.

In need of boats and coaches, they turned to legendary UW coach Al Ubrickson. Ulbrickson responded to the call with several loaned shells and recommended as coach UW oarsman (and future UW lightweight coach) Chuck Moriarty. Moriarty immediately reconnected with Frank Cunningham, who had settled in Seattle after graduating from Harvard. In 1947, Cunningham had stroked the Crimson varsity to a record-setting victory in a 12-boat national regatta on Lake Washington, where the two had met. Chuck and Frank agreed to share responsibilities as program coaches, and Green Lake’s first junior crew launched in spring 1948. Using a borrowed, donated launch and the old Conroy Boathouse at the north end of the lake, GLC was now a reality.

Moriarty (d. 1999) would go on to the state legislature in Olympia, where he served as minority floor leader before returning to private practice in Seattle. Cunningham (d. 2013) would continue to coach the junior crew program at Green Lake until 1968. He was critical to the program’s survival and growth in those years, as he actually bought GLC’s first 4+ (along with a wherry and a single) with his own funds. Along the way, of course, Frank became a ‘founding father’ of LWRC and a Northwest rowing icon.

GLC has innovated and led throughout these seven decades. Junior women’s rowing joined the boys in 1963, nearly a decade before the passage of Title IX. Green Lake Adult Crew was founded in 1987, and Green Lake and Mt. Baker have co-hosted both USRowing’s national convention and the Masters National Championship Regatta. GLC even survived nearly total boathouse destruction in the Nisqually Earthquake in 2001!

And now? As it moves into its ‘second seventy,’ the energy at GLC has never been higher. Continuing the effort to break down barriers and get more kids (and adults) on the water, our capital campaign to build a new facility is moving into the final 500 meters. We are concluding the extensive permitting process and, if fundraising stays on track (we’ve raised over 90% of our $6.5 million goal), we are poised to break ground in June 2020 can cut the ribbon the following spring.

Interested in learning more? For more on the history of our program and its impact, we invite you to watch 70 Years of Pulling Together below. On the new community boathouse campaign, you can support the effort via a gift or pledge at https://www.greenlakecrew.org/boathouse-campaign/capital-campaign-donation/.

~Tim Amen, GLC Historian