Milwaukee Girls' Trade and Technical High School is a historic school complex located in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, United States, which housed the Milwaukee Normal School from 1885 to 1909 and the Girls' Trade and Technical High School from 1909 to 1954. The complex was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1986.

History

The site is made up of four adjoining structures built in stages. Built in 1885, the central and oldest structures of the complex are the former State Normal School (later the Wisconsin State College of Milwaukee and now the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a Public university, public Urban university, urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropo ...

), with the central section a Queen Anne design by master-architect E. Townsend Mix. The second structure was built in 1894 on the west side of the original school, with a similar design. This "normal school" was the fifth public teacher training school in the state, and was a valuable complement to Marquette and Concordia universities, which lacked teacher training programs. In 1909, the normal school moved to Downer and Kenwood, and eventually evolve into UW-Milwaukee. With . The Milwaukee Public Schools bought the old normal school building and converted it to the Girls' Trade and Technical High School. This progressive school was an achievement of

Lizzie Black Kander Elizabeth Black Kander (1858–1940) was an American progressive reformer, philanthropist and author, founder of a settlement house in Milwaukee, where she originated her best-known work, '' The Settlement Cookbook''. Early life Elizabeth Black wa ...

and Milwaukee's

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

. Kander wanted young women to be equipped with skills which would get them gainful employment instead of menial jobs. The initial courses of study were dressmaking and

millinery Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners made and sold a range of accessories for clothing and hairstyles. ...

. In 1919, classes were added in

shorthand Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to Cursive, longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Gr ...

, touch-typing, bookkeeping, and business calculations. The school complex was expanded in 1918 with a Tudor-Gothic wing designed by Van Ryn & DeGelleke, and again in 1932 in a similar style. After WWII enrollment declined as families wanted a broader education for their daughters, and the trade school was converted in 1955 to the Wells Street Junior High. The junior high operated until 1979. In 1982, the complex was sold and converted to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, a

homeless shelter Homeless shelters are a type of service and total institution that provides temporary residence for homelessness, homeless individuals and families. Shelters exist to provide residents with safety and protection from exposure to the weather whi ...

References

{{National Register of Historic Places School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin High schools in Milwaukee Defunct schools in Wisconsin Homeless shelters in the United States Queen Anne architecture in Wisconsin Tudor Revival architecture in Wisconsin School buildings completed in 1885 University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee National Register of Historic Places in Milwaukee 1909 establishments in Wisconsin History of women in Wisconsin