During World War II, Central’s students, staff, and faculty wanted to find a way to recognize students and faculty who were serving in the armed forces.
In 1945, Josephine Burley, assistant professor of art, was selected to carve a wooden Honor Roll Plaque, designed by professors Sarah Spurgeon (art) and H.J. Whitney (mathematics), listing the names of Central students and faculty in the service. Burley carved the words, “For Home: An Enriched Life, For School: An Enduring Wisdom, For Country and All Humanity, For God: A Spirit Over All, For These, We Fight.”
She also carved relief images of churches, a globe, skyscrapers, people from various walks of life, an academic building, a schoolhouse, and a farm. Beneath the words and images were rows of small rectangular metal plates engraved with the names of those serving in the armed forces. The plaque is still mounted on the south wall of the first floor of Barge Hall on the CWU Ellensburg campus.
Burley taught at Central from the 1940s to the early 1950s, and was an award-winning artist. She won first place in the 1949 Northwest Arts and Crafts Fair in Bellevue and took second place in the 1949 Northwest Water Color Show in Seattle.
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