WAC Magazine

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

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34 WAC Magazine | wac.net 1930s & 1940s Steam shovels broke ground on the corner of Sixth and Union on December 16, 1929. Exactly one year later, the art-deco Washington Athletic Club designed by Seattle architect Sherwood D. Ford opened its doors. In its earliest days, the WAC navigated the Great Depression and became one of the country's first private clubs to welcome women members. High-level athletics flourished. Leg- endary swimmer Helene Madison trained in the 6th Floor pool and went on to win three gold medals at the 1932 Olympics. Other WAC Olympians followed. So did high-level Club support. Early WAC members Royal Brougham, a legendary Seattle journalist, and booster Torchy Torrance, for whom Torchy's Restaurant is named, helped raise funds O U R E A R LY Y E A R S for the University of Washington eight-man crew that famously took gold at the 1936 Berlin Games. Five years later, WAC member support for American servicemen in World War II and their families began in earnest. A WAC Victory Work Center was estab- lished, and members sewed surgical dressings, sold war bonds, and orga- nized entertainment events with proceeds donated to the Red Cross. By the end of the war, the WAC was esti- mated to have contributed nine years' worth of hours in support of the troops. Helene Madison Royal Brougham

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