Brown rowing was founded June 4, 1857, with the establishment of the University Boat Club, and consisted of a single six-oar shell, the Atalanta.

According to the Encyclopedia Brunoniana, on September 11, 1857, the Brown Paper wrote: "...She was there received by the club, borne to the water's edge and launched on the waves of Narragansett Bay with enthusiastic demonstrations from an assembled crowd."

– The Brown Paper, September 11, 1857[2]Described as "a cumbersome lap-streak, weighing three or four hundred pounds,"[2] the shell only competed once, in a race on July 27, 1859, against Harvard and Yale at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Massachusetts.

[2] Following the 1961 season, in which the crew posted a 5–1 record, fifth at Eastern Sprints, and seventh in the IRA, rowing became an officially recognized and supported intercollegiate sport at Brown University.

[3] That August, Brown crew hired its first full-time coach, Victor H. Michalson, and in 1962 it became a regular member of the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges.

In 2008–2009, Brown documented a historic season, finishing second in the Champ 8 at the Head of the Charles, sweeping the heavyweight events at Eastern Sprints, placing third overall at Nationals, and capturing the Ladies' Plate Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta in England.

A renovation of the interior of Marston Boathouse, with enhanced spaces for indoor rowing and weightlifting, as well as new locker rooms, was completed in April 2021.

Considered to be one of the tougher courses in the Ivy League, the Seekonk is known for its difficult rowing conditions, particularly heavy wind and waves, as well as a strong current.