Wisconsin State College of Milwaukee was a predecessor institution of 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 Wiscons ...

. Founded in 1885 as Wisconsin State Normal School, it became Wisconsin State Teachers College-Milwaukee in 1927, and Wisconsin State College–Milwaukee in 1951. Originally at a downtown site, the Normal School subsequently moved to the Lakeside campus. In 1956, it became part of the then University of Wisconsin, and subsequently the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee's primary (Eastside) campus.

History

Wisconsin State Normal School at Milwaukee opened for classes in 1885 in a specially constructed building on the corner of 18th and Wells streets, with six teachers and 46 students. At the beginning, it was a

normal school A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...

: a teacher preparation school for

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 is ...

's soaring population at that time. After the turn of the 20th century, the school introduced several new areas of study including

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

and

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

education. In 1909, the school moved to the new Kenwood campus, on which had been erected a single building which would later be named ''Mitchell Hall''. The north wing opened three years later. The original building is now used as the

Milwaukee Rescue Mission The Milwaukee Rescue Mission (MRM) provides meals, shelter, education and recovery services to struggling men, women and children. MRM's mission statement says: ''Sharing God's love by caring for those who are poor in body, mind and spirit, to s ...

. After moving to the new site, the school also began to offer even wider curriculum including

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

, home economics,

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

pre-medical Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med course ...

and pre-law. The broadened curriculum proved to be popular and accounted for over one-third of the enrollment. Wisconsin State Normal School continued to grow after absorbing the Milwaukee School of Art and, in 1913, the school of music. The broadened curriculum, however, was attacked by the Carnegie Endowment for the Advancement of Teachers, arguing that

s should not stray from their role as trainers of teachers. In 1922, the State Normal School Regents voted to discontinue college courses in an effort to refocus on the instruction of teachers. The Wisconsin State Normal School then began to offer education-related four year degrees. In 1927, the Wisconsin State Normal School changed its name to the Wisconsin State Teachers' College-Milwaukee, popularly known as "Milwaukee State." Known for its innovative and experimental programs in teacher education, the Wisconsin State Teacher's College was a national prominence at that time and was considered one of the top teacher training colleges in the nation by the 1940s. In 1951, when the Legislature empowered all state colleges to offer liberal arts programs, Wisconsin State Teachers College-Milwaukee changed its name to Wisconsin State College of Milwaukee, which merged with the University of Wisconsin–Extension's Milwaukee branch five years later to form the present day University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

Notable alumni

* Ruth Asawa, Japanese American sculptor *

John C. Becher John C. Becher (15 January 1915 – 20 September 1986) was an American stage and television actor. He made his professional debut in 1946 at the McCarter Theatre. Life and career Becher was born on 15 January 1915 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to p ...

, American stage and television actor * Allen Busby, teacher, attorney, Progressive state legislator and businessman * Florian Cajori, Swiss-American historian of mathematics *

Timothy T. Cronin Timothy T. Cronin (June 27, 1884 – September 20, 1955) was the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Biography Cronin was born to Timothy and Mary (Swanson) Cronin on June 27, 1884, in Chicago, Illinois. He later moved ...

, U.S. Attorney *

Frank A. Dudley Frank Alonzo Dudley (January 30, 1864 – September 21, 1945) was an American lawyer, politician, hotelier and business owner associated with Niagara Falls, New York. Dudley established the United Hotels Company of America and the "Lewiston He ...

, American lawyer, politician, hotelier and business owner * Dorothy Fuldheim, American journalist and anchor, "First Lady of Television News" *

Paul C. Gartzke Paul Coulter Gartzke (October 6, 1927September 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and judge. He served 18 years as presiding judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in the Madison-based District IV court. Early life and education Born in Milwauke ...

, former Presiding Judge of the

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, former South Carolina state legislator and college football coach *

Herschel Burke Gilbert Herschel Burke Gilbert (April 20, 1918 – June 8, 2003) was an American orchestrator, musical supervisor, and composer of film and television scores and theme songs, including ''The Rifleman'' (starring Chuck Connors), ''Dick Powell's Zane Grey ...

, composer of film and television theme songs *

Frederick Hemke Fred Hemke, DMA ''(né'' Frederick Leroy Hemke Jr.; July 11, 1935 – April 17, 2019) was an American virtuoso classical saxophonist and influential professor of saxophone at Northwestern University. Hemke helped raise the popularity of classi ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

saxophonist and former Professor of Music at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

School of Music A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

* Marguerite Henry,

writer of

children's books A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

Clara Stanton Jones Clara Stanton Jones (May 14, 1913 – September 30, 2012) was the first African-American president of the American Library Association, serving as its acting president from April 11 to July 22 in 1976 and then its president from July 22, 1976 ...

, the first African American president of the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

Frank Tenney Johnson Frank Tenney Johnson (June 26, 1874 – January 1, 1939) was a painter of the Old American West, and he popularized a style of painting cowboys which became known as "The Johnson Moonlight Technique". ''Somewhere on the Range'' is an examp ...

, painter of the AmericaWest *

John Kaney John Kaney (December 5, 1869 in Sandusky, Wisconsin – December 20, 1935) was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. He graduated from high school in Sextonville, Wisconsin before graduating from what was then the Wisconsin State College ...

, Wisconsin State Assemblyman * Ken Kranz, former NFL football player *

Golda Meir Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and ''kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1 ...

, former Prime Minister of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Paul Meyers Paul Duncan Meyers (November 19, 1895 – July 2, 1966) was an American football player. He played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) with the Rochester Jeffersons, New York Brickley Giants and the Racine Legion. Brickley's New Y ...

, professional football player *

Clem Neacy Clement Francis "Clem" Neacy (July 18, 1898 – March 19, 1968) was an American football end and tackle in the National Football League. He played professionally for the Milwaukee Badgers, Duluth Eskimos, Chicago Bears, and the Chicago Cardinal ...

, NFL football player * Mark Ryan, Wisconsin State Assemblyman *

Virginia Satir Virginia Satir (26 June 1916 – 10 September 1988) was an American author and psychotherapist,http://www.psychologistanywhereanytime.com/famous_psychologist_and_psychologists/psychologist_famous_virginia_satir.htm recognized for her approach to ...

('36 BA Education) noted author and psychotherapist * Douglas C. Steltz, Wisconsin State Assemblyman *

George H. Sutton George H. Sutton (1870–1938) known as the "handless billiard player", was a carom billiards professional in the United States and Europe in the early 1900s. He was called a "billiard expert" and he competed with other notable billiard profess ...

, professional billiard player, the "handless billiard player" *

Whitey Wolter Herbert Max "Whitey" Wolter (August 22, 1899 - 21 August 1947) was an American football player in the National Football League for the Kenosha Maroons in 1924. Early life Wolter was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and played football at North Side ...

, NFL football player

Notable faculty

Herbert Eugene Bolton Herbert Eugene Bolton (July 20, 1870 – January 30, 1953) was an American historian who pioneered the study of the Spanish-American borderlands and was a prominent authority on Spanish American history. He originated what became known as the ''Bo ...

, American historian *

Lorenzo D. Harvey Lorenzo Dow Harvey (November 23, 1848 – June 1, 1922) was an American educator who served as Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin in the late 1880s and early 1900s. Early life and career Harvey was born in Deerfield, New Hamps ...

, President 1892–1898 * J. Martin Klotsche, President 1946–1956 *

Guy Penwell Guy Oscar Penwell was the head basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee from 1930 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1952. He previously served as an assistant basketball coach at the University of Minnesota under Dave MacMillan. H ...

, long time men's basketball coach from 1930–1942 and 1946–1952 *

Russ Rebholz Russell "Doss" Rebholz (September 11, 1908 – August 1, 2002) was a professional football player for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and later a high school and college football and basketball coach. College A native of Portage, Wisconsin, Rebholz was ...

, head basketball coach 1952–1956 * W Otto Miessner, American composer and music educator * S. Anna Gordon, first principal of the State Normal school of Wisconsin.

History

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

See also

References

Further reading