Senator Warren G. Magnuson was honored and remembered at an event in April 1998 sponsored by the University Libraries and the Friends of the UW Libraries. A panel including moderator Gerald Grinstein, with Eric Redman, Ed Sheets, Michael Pertschuk, Stan Barer and Norm Dicks, the Senator's "Bumblebees," and Shelby Scates, author of Warren G. Magnuson and the Shaping of 20th Century America, paid tribute to the Senator's many achievements. The Senator affectionately named his staff the Bumblebees after John Erlichman, President Nixon's domestic advisor, complained that "Washington was full of young staffers buzzing like bumblebees around the honey of power."
The event was the culmination of a fundraising program to establish the Warren G. Magnuson Endowed Library Fund. Initial solicitations raised $37,500 to establish this new endowment for the University Libraries. Those present, all donors to the fund, were warmly welcomed by UW President Richard McCormick who introduced Jermaine Magnuson, the Senator's widow. Dr. McCormick remarked that the State of Washington would be a very different place if Warren Magnuson had not devoted 44 years of his life to promoting and protecting it and its people.
The University Libraries is the repository of the Senator's papers. Income from the Magnuson Endowed Library Fund will supplement the Libraries' collection in areas relevant to his legacy of public service, such as political science and history, law, health care, consumer protection, natural resources, science, and transportation policies.
During the reception following the panel discussion, many stories were told and fond remembrances shared by the Senator's family, friends and colleagues. The event was so well received that plans are underway for the second annual celebration of the Senator's life and times in early 1999.