Milwaukee-Downer College was a

women's college Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, in operation from 1895 to 1964.

History

Milwaukee-Downer College was established in 1895 with the merger of two institutions: Milwaukee College and Downer College of

Fox Lake, Wisconsin Fox Lake is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,519 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is located within the Fox Lake (town), Wisconsin, Town of Fox Lake. History E ...

. Milwaukee College began as the Milwaukee Female Seminary founded by Mrs. W. L. Parsons, wife of the pastor of the Free Congregational church. It opened on Sept. 14, 1848, in a house in downtown Milwaukee. Two years later

Catharine Beecher Catharine Esther Beecher (September 6, 1800 – May 12, 1878) was an American educator known for her forthright opinions on female education as well as her vehement support of the many benefits of the incorporation of kindergarten into children's ...

and her associate Mary Mortimer became connected with the Seminary. Beecher, a reformer and eldest sister of Harriet Beecher Stowe, had designed "The Beecher Plan" for educating women through the college level for professions. She was invited to launch her plan in Milwaukee and came there first in April, 1850. "The Beecher Plan" focused on four professions most open to women:

teaching Teaching is the practice implemented by a ''teacher'' aimed at transmitting skills (knowledge, know-how, and interpersonal skills) to a learner, a student, or any other audience in the context of an educational institution. Teaching is closely ...

child care Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

, and "conservation of the domestic state". The school was incorporated in March, 1851, as the Milwaukee Normal Institute and High School, and moved to new quarters. In 1852, through the influence of Beecher, $17,894 was received from her friends in the East and the American Woman's Educational Association; Milwaukeeans raised another $13,540; and a permanent home for the school was commissioned on the corner of Juneau Avenue and Milwaukee Street (near the site later to be occupied by the

Milwaukee School of Engineering The Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) is a private university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The campus is in the List of neighborhoods of Milwaukee, East Town neighborhood of downtown Milwaukee. The school's enrollment of 2,820 includes 224 g ...

). The school opened there in the fall of 1852, though the building was not yet finished.Watrous, Jerome A., ed.
Memoirs of Milwaukee County
'. Madison: Western Historical Association, 1909, pp. 424-425. By act of the legislature the name was changed in April, 1853, to Milwaukee Female College. In March 1876 the name was changed to Milwaukee College. Wisconsin Female College was founded in

in 1855. In 1889, its name was changed to Downer College in honor of trustee and benefactor Jason Downer. In July 1895, Milwaukee College and Downer College merged to become Milwaukee-Downer College with Downer College's Ellen Clara Sabin as president. A new site was chosen on a tract of about ten acres on the northern end of the city of Milwaukee, halfway between Lake Michigan and the

Milwaukee River The Milwaukee River is a river in the state of Wisconsin. It is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 19, 2011 Once a locus of industry, the river is now the c ...

. Two buildings (Merrill and Holton Halls) were constructed, and were first occupied in September, 1899, when Milwaukee-Downer opened in its new quarters. In 1901 a residence hall for students in the college department was completed. According to the report of the state superintendent of public instruction for 1906 the college had 356 students, 32 instructors, and owned property valued at $354,787. In 1910, the Milwaukee-Downer Seminary

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

was separated from the College (prior to that date it was the pre-collegiate section of the College), although a separate corporation was not obtained until 1933.

Leadership

Three presidents led Milwaukee-Downer College from 1895 to 1964: Ellen Clara Sabin from 1895 to 1921,

Lucia Russell Briggs Lucia may refer to: Arts and culture * ''Lucía'', a 1968 Cuban film by Humberto Solás * ''Lucia'' (film), a 2013 Kannada-language film * '' Lucia & The Best Boys'', a Scottish indie rock band formerly known as ''LUCIA'' * "Lucia", a Swedish c ...

from 1921 to 1951, and John B. Johnson from 1951 to 1964. Under Sabin's leadership, the college established a curriculum emphasizing the liberal arts and the cultivation of moral and religious values. Two of the college's long-lasting curricular specializations were home economics and occupational therapy. The program in home economics was established in 1901, and the occupational therapy program was one of the first in the country, established in 1918-1919. Enrollment peaked during Lucia Briggs' tenure at 444 students in the 1946-47 scholastic year. Briggs was succeeded by John B. Johnson, a

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

professor with teaching and administrative experience at only one place,

Park College Park University is a private university in Parkville, Missouri. It was founded in 1875. In the fall of 2017, Park had an enrollment of 11,457 students. History The school which was originally called Park College was founded in 1875 by John A. ...

Parkville, Missouri Parkville is a city in Platte County, Missouri, United States and is a part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The population was 7,177 at the 2020 census (2021 est, 7,810). Parkville is known for its antique shops, art galleries, and hist ...

, before coming to Milwaukee-Downer. Under Johnson, the number of men on the faculty increased in almost every year, and the residence halls were closed to women faculty. Johnson also initiated a policy of hiring part-time, ''ad hoc'' faculty to teach one or two courses. Through the 1950s and early 1960s, enrollment declined in almost every year, from 278 in 1951-52 to a low of 176 in 1962-63.

Consolidation

In 1964, the college's trustees agreed to a consolidation with

Lawrence College Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second college in the U.S. to be founded as a coeducation ...

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh) is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...

. The campus was sold to the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscon ...

, and 49 female students and 21 faculty members transferred to Lawrence. Buildings and land from its former campus still form part of the present-day campus of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. At Lawrence, some Milwaukee-Downer traditions have been adopted, such as the assignment of class colors.

Notable people

* Elda Emma Anderson (1899-1961), professor of physics, health physics pioneer, isolated

uranium-235 Uranium-235 (235U or U-235) is an isotope of uranium making up about 0.72% of natural uranium. Unlike the predominant isotope uranium-238, it is fissile, i.e., it can sustain a nuclear chain reaction. It is the only fissile isotope that exi ...

as part of

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

Helen Daniels Bader Helen Ann Daniels Bader (20 May 1927 – 21 November 1989) was an American social worker and philanthropist. She was born and raised on the Great Plains in the railroad town of Aberdeen, South Dakota. She became half-owner of the Aldrich Chemic ...

(1927-1978), alumna, philanthropist and businesswoman. * Ethelwynn Rice Beckwith (1879-1955), taught mathematics and astronomy at Milwaukee-Downer from 1925 to 1947 *

Emily Hale Emily Hale (27 October 1891 – 12 October 1969) was an American speech and drama teacher, who was the longtime muse and confidante of the poet T. S. Eliot. Exactly 1,131 letters from Eliot to Hale were deposited in Princeton University Libra ...

(1891-1969), speech and drama teacher long associated with T. S. Eliot * Mary Mortimer (1816–1877), British-born American educator * Ellen Torelle Nagler (1870–1965), American biologist, author, lecturer * Minerva Brace Norton (1837-1894), American educator and author *

Emma May Alexander Reinertsen Emma May Alexander Reinertsen (, Alexander; pen name, Gale Forest; also known as, Mrs. R. C. Reinertsen; January 6, 1853 – March 22, 1920) was a pseudonymous American writer of prose sketches, and articles on social reform issues. As "Gale Fore ...

(1853–1920), writer, social reformer *

Liz Richardson Elizabeth Ann Richardson (1918–1945) was a volunteer for the American Red Cross who served in a Clubmobile serving coffee and doughnuts to US troops during the invasion of France in the Second World War. She was killed in a Piper Cub plane ...

(1918–1945), Red Cross volunteer and clubmobiler in WW2

References

External links