Editing Central Washington University (section)

==History==
In 1890, the state Legislature established the Washington State Normal School (WSNS) in Ellensburg for "the training and education of teachers in the art of instructing and governing in the public schools of this state."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mohler|first1=Samuel M|title=The First 75 Years: A History of Central Washington State College|year=1967|publisher=Central Washington State College|location=Spokane, WA|url=http://www.lib.cwu.edu/sites/default/files/cwu_history001.pdf|pages=5–6|access-date=2013-06-09|archive-date=2018-09-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909150411/http://www.lib.cwu.edu/sites/default/files/cwu_history001.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> WSNS opened on September 6, 1891, with its first classes held at the Washington Public School in Ellensburg.<ref name=Mohler_12>{{Harvnb|Mohler|1967|pp=12}}</ref> In 1893, the school's first building was constructed and named Barge Hall, in honor of the first WSNS principal, [[B. F. Barge|Benjamin Franklin Barge]]. Barge Hall was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1976.

In subsequent years, the university constructed additional campus buildings to accommodate a growing student body including: Kamola Hall (1911); Smyser Hall (1925); Munson Hall (1926); Sue Lombard Hall (1926); and McConnell Auditorium (1935). While Barge Hall's architecture reflected a Richardsonian Romanesque style, the designs of later buildings incorporated elements of proto-Modernism, along with Spanish Colonial Revival, Neo-Classical and Classical Revival styles.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Walton|first1=Lauren|title=Building a History: Evaluation of Central Washington University Campus Buildings to Determine Eligibility for Listing on the National Register of Historic Places|url=http://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/148/|journal=All Master's Theses|date=January 2015|publisher=Central Washington University|access-date=2 September 2016|archive-date=August 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807103850/https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/148/|url-status=live}}</ref> In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, as academic programs expanded, construction of new buildings took place: the Science Building I (1997); Black Hall (1998); the Student Union and Recreation Center (2006); Jerilyn McIntyre Music Education Facility (2007); Wendell Hill Hall and Mechanical Building (2008), Barto Hall (2012), Science Building II (2016), and the Samuelson STEM Center (2018).

In 1937, the Washington Legislature authorized a name change to Central Washington College of Education. In 1961, reflecting that the curriculum had expanded into new areas of study in addition to teacher education, the school's name was changed to '''Central Washington State College'''. With addition of graduate programs and curricula, it became Central Washington University in 1977.

In 1998, the United Faculty of Central was founded as a trade union to represent the university's faculty members.