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 university, public Urban university, urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropo ...

. 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 teacher preparation school for

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 ...

'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 () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

and

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

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 encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences (often shortened to FCS or FACS), is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and f ...

commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

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 of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

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

and

pre-law In the United States and Canada, pre-law (or prelaw) refers to any course of study taken by an undergraduate in preparation for study at a law school. The American Bar Association (ABA) requires law schools to admit only students with an accredi ...

. 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 normal schools 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 Ruth Aiko Asawa (January 24, 1926 – August 5, 2013) was an American modernist artist known primarily for her abstract looped-wire sculptures inspired by natural and organic forms. In addition to her three-dimensional work, Asawa created an ext ...

, 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 Florian Cajori (February 28, 1859 – August 14 or 15, 1930) was a Swiss-American historian of mathematics. Biography Florian Cajori was born in Zillis, Switzerland, as the son of Georg Cajori and Catherine Camenisch. He attended schools firs ...

, 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, American lawyer, politician, hotelier and business owner * Dorothy Fuldheim, American journalist and anchor, "First Lady of Television News" * Paul C. Gartzke, former Presiding Judge of the

Wisconsin Court of Appeals The Wisconsin Court of Appeals is an intermediate appellate court that reviews contested decisions of the Wisconsin circuit courts. The Court of Appeals was created in August 1978 to alleviate the Wisconsin Supreme Court's rising number of appe ...

Warren Giese Warren E. Giese (July 14, 1924 – September 12, 2013) was an American state legislator in South Carolina and a college football coach. He served as the head football coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks for five years at the University of Sout ...

, 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 Gre ...

, composer of film and television theme songs *

Frederick Hemke Frederick L. Hemke ''(né'' Fred 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 to increase the popularity of cla ...

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, p ...

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

and former Professor of Music at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

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 in ...

Marguerite Henry Marguerite Henry (' Breithaupt; April 13, 1902 – November 26, 1997) was an American writer of children's books, writing fifty-nine books based on true stories of horses and other animals. She won the Newbery Medal for '' King of the Wind'', a ...

writer of

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

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. History 19th century ...

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 example ...

, painter of the AmericaWest * John Kaney, Wisconsin State Assemblyman *

Ken Kranz Kenneth Andrew Kranz (September 12, 1923 – April 8, 2017) was an American National Football League (NFL) football player. Early life Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Kranz graduated from Custer High School. He played soccer in his freshman ...

, former NFL football player *

Golda Meir Golda Meir (; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was the prime minister of Israel, serving from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government. Born into a Jewish family in Kyiv, Kiev, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) ...

, former Prime Minister of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

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 ...

, professional football player *

Clem Neacy Clement Francis "Clem" Neacy (July 18, 1898 – March 19, 1968) was an American football End (American football), end and Tackle (American and Canadian football), tackle in the National Football League. He played professionally for the Milwaukee ...

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

Virginia Satir Virginia Satir (June 26, 1916 – September 10, 1988) was an American author, clinical social worker and psychotherapist, recognized for her approach to family therapy. Her pioneering work in the field of family reconstruction therapy honored h ...

('36 BA Education) noted author and psychotherapist *

Douglas C. Steltz Douglas C. Steltz (1920-2009) was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. Biography Steltz was born on December 7, 1920, in West Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He attended Carroll University, the Wisconsin State College of Milwaukee and Marquette Univer ...

, 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, 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 ...

, American historian * Lorenzo D. Harvey, President 1892–1898 *

J. Martin Klotsche Johannes Martin "Joe" Klotsche (November 28, 1907 – 4 February 1995), was an American professor of history and the first chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, serving as the chief executive of the school and its predecessors fr ...

, President 1946–1956 *

Guy Penwell Guy Oscar Penwell (December 1, 1901 – September 8, 1984) was an American sports coach, primarily of basketball and track and field, and athletic director. He served as the head basketball coach at Milwaukee State Teachers College—now known as ...

, 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 wa ...

, head basketball coach 1952–1956 * W Otto Miessner, American composer and music educator *

S. Anna Gordon Sarah Anna Gordon (''née'' Steele; January 10, 1831 – before 1900) was an American physician and author of ''Camping in Colorado with Suggestions to Gold-Seekers, Tourists and Invalids'' (1879). Early life Gordon was born in 1831 in Cha ...

, first principal of the State Normal school of Wisconsin.

History

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

See also

References

Further reading