Washington University in St. Louis
private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in the St. Louis metropolitan area, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for the first U.S. president George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth and Medical campuses. It comprises 10 schools and offers more than 150 undergraduate, 80 master's and professional, and 50 doctoral degree programs. As of 2024, Washington University enrolled 16,399 students representing all 50 U.S. states and more than 110 countries.
Established due to a concern of a lack of institutions of higher learning in the Midwest, the university held its first classes in 1854 in downtown St. Louis. In 1905, Washington University relocated to a new campus northwest of Forest Park, which allowed for expansion and new facilities to support its growing academic programs and student body. Construction of the first building, Busch Hall, began in 1900, followed by Brookings Hall, Ridgley, and Cupples.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Washington University in St. Louis” as private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q777403. VIAF identifies the subject as 312764918. The Library of Congress control number is n79069796. Authority coordinates are 38.648, -90.305. 3 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1853, 2024, 1854 and 1905.
Official terminology may obscure informal participation, dissent or communities documented only indirectly. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Washington University in St. Louis” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.