Finding aid created by Grace Landers, October 2025
Jerry Piro (1946-2021) was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. He graduated in 1965 from Franklin High School in Portland, and then attended the University of Washington, graduating in 1969 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics. Piro joined the California company Rocketdyne (a supplier of rocket engines for NASA) after graduation and worked there until 1972, when he returned to the University of Washington to pursue graduate studies in Aeronautics and Astronautics. While at the UW, he earned two Master's degrees in the field. Piro worked as a research assistant during this time, and lived in McMahon Hall; he also met his wife, Mary Ellen, during his graduate years at UW. Piro joined the Boeing Company as a propulsion engineer in 1976, and spent the rest of his career there, retiring in 2007. As a student, Piro photographed campus life, buildings, and views.
Donated by Mary Ellen Piro, 2025.
No restrictions on access.
Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
Photographs, ephemera and papers from Jerry Piro's time as a student at the University of Washington. Slides made by Jerry Piro form the bulk of the collection. Piro photographed campus vistas and buildings, the Haggett Hall dormitory rooms, and student socializing, including a Frosh Pond prank and a water fight. Piro also captured the May 1968 visit of Stanford student Vicki Drake (birth name Victoria Bowles) at the inauguration of ASUW student president Thom Gunn. Vicki Drake had become famous by posing nude during her campaign for student body president at Stanford. The collection also includes color and black and white prints, some documenting the campus visit of Robert Kennedy in March 1968. Additional documents include correspondence from Piro's application to the university, as well as new student orientation materials.
Three pin-back buttons are housed separately. One button is from the 1966 University of Washington Homecoming game against UCLA, one is from the 1960s "Mush Huskies" KING-AM Radio promotion with the University of Washington, and the third button is from the grand opening of Jilly's East Tavern in Montlake, Seattle.
Jerry Piro's personal papers include admissions inquiries and acceptance letters to and from Piro, as well as a newspaper clipping from the UW Daily and a letter from the Acacia fraternity. This subseries also includes Piro's student ID card, Haggett Hall meal card, and ASUW member cards. Piro had the same student ID card during his undergraduate and graduate studies with new stickers added for each academic year.
The University of Washington papers include informational packets sent to incoming students as well as maps of UW and the surrounding University District. The leaflets provided to incoming students include information about residence halls, admission, and a student orientation handbook. A commencement program from 1973, the year of Jerry Piro's graduate school commencement, is also included.
Slides include one slide of Jerry Piro, intramural campus sports including baseball and badminton, and a campus car show.
Slides include the University of Washington campus, trees, and buildings. Several slides are of the Seattle skyline, Space Needle, Montlake Cut, Mount Rainier, and other mountain ranges.
Slides include Haggett Hall, with several slides of students in their dorm rooms and four slides of a water fight outside of the dormitory. There are also a dozen slides of a Frosh Pond prank where students were thrown in the fountain. Frosh Pond is now called Drumheller Fountain.
Slides include photographs of students at the Puget Sound Yacht and Cruising Club, possibly at 2321 N. Northlake Way. The facility was rented by UW students for various events. Additional slides capture the May 1968 visit of Stanford student Vicki Drake (birth name Victoria Bowles) at the inauguration of ASUW student president Thom Gunn.
Slides include the University of Washington campus, trees, and buildings. Several slides are of the Seattle skyline and Puget Sound.
Photographs include the UW campus covered in snow, the Montlake Cut, Drumheller Fountain, campus sports fields, and Robert Kennedy's speech and visit to the UW campus on March 19, 1968.
Photographs include the UW campus, Drumheller Fountain, cherry blossoms in the Quad, and track and field practice at Husky Stadium. One photograph is an aerial view of a Seattle shopping center and surrounding suburbs.