Milwaukee-Downer Seminary was a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

girls' elementary,

junior high Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

and

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

Milwaukee 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 ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. It was separated from

Milwaukee-Downer College Milwaukee-Downer College was a women's college in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in operation from 1895 until its merger with Lawrence University in 1964. History Milwaukee-Downer College was established in 1895 with the merger of two institutions: Milwau ...

in 1910 (prior to that date it was the pre-collegiate section of the college); and added seventh and eighth grades in 1917, although a separate corporation was not obtained until 1933. In 1959, MDS purchased land on Fairy Chasm Road in

River Hills, Wisconsin River Hills is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,602 at the 2020 census. A suburb of Milwaukee, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. History In the early 19th century, the River Hills area w ...

and sold the Milwaukee campus to 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 ...

for $1.15 million. It opened its Fairy Chasm campus in 1961. MDS merged with the Milwaukee University School and

Milwaukee Country Day School Milwaukee Country Day School (MCD) was a country day school in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, United States. It operated under the headmastership of A. Gledden Santer. The school was begun in 1911 and operated as a boys-only school until 1958, when gir ...

in 1963 to form the

University School of Milwaukee The University School of Milwaukee (often abbreviated to USM) is an independent pre-kindergarten through secondary preparatory school in River Hills and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded as the result of the merger of three schools, Milwa ...

. Buildings and land from its former campus still form part of the present-day campus of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

In popular culture

A visit to a chum who is a day student at the seminary (rather lightly disguised as "Browner College" in Milwaukee) plays a prominent role in the novel '' Betsy in Spite of Herself'', a 1946 book (set in 1907) in the

Betsy-Tacy The ''Betsy-Tacy ''books are a series of semi-autobiographical novels by American novelist and short-story writer Maud Hart Lovelace (1892-1980), which were originally published between 1940 and 1955 by the Thomas Y. Crowell Co. The books are no ...

girl's book series by

Maud Hart Lovelace Maud Hart Lovelace (April 25, 1892 – March 11, 1980) was an American writer best known for the Betsy-Tacy series. Early life Maud Palmer Hart was born in Mankato, Minnesota to Tom Hart, a shoe store owner, and his wife, Stella (née Palmer ...

.Olson, Frederick "Looking Back: Downer College played role in 10 novels" ''UWM News'' August 1995

References

External links

History of University School of Milwaukee and predecessor institutions
Educational institutions established in 1910 Educational institutions disestablished in 1963 High schools in Milwaukee Defunct schools in Wisconsin 1910 establishments in Wisconsin 1963 disestablishments in Wisconsin Milwaukee-Downer College {{Wisconsin-school-stub