Milwaukee-Downer College. Records.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archives Department.

Milwaukee-Downer College.

Records, 1852-1964.

Milwaukee Manuscript Collection L and Milwaukee Micro 78

53.4 cubic ft. (133 boxes, 38 volumes, and 3 manila envelopes) + 3 microfilm reels (35 mm)

ABSTRACT: Records of the College and its predecessor institutions, Milwaukee College and Downer College, mostly dating from after 1895. Collection includes correspondence, financial records, subject files of the alumnae association, business office, college presidents, dean of students, faculty, presidents of the board of trustees, public relations office, and registrar. Also includes bulletins and catalogs, copies of student publications, newspaper clippings, photographs, reports from student organizations and activities, transcripts, and some records of the predecessor institutions. The collection also contains correspondence between Increase Lapham and Catherine Beecher on their educational philosophy.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: Student records from the Milwaukee-Downer College are restricted in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. For access to student records of the Milwaukee-Downer College, please contact the Registrar at Lawrence College (Appleton, Wisconsin).

Originals of microfilmed materials are restricted due to their poor physical condition. Researchers should use the microfilm copy.

There are no access restrictions on the rest of the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law. However, the researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE: Records of the College and its predecessor institutions, Milwaukee College and Downer College. Most materials date from after 1895. Includes president's correspondence with benefactors, faculty members, students, and others (1895-1964); reports from departments; subject files and correspondence of W.W. Wight and E.E. White, presidents of the board of trustees (1896-1962); business and financial records of the business office (1888-1964); subject files of the dean of students, including reports from student organizations and activities, and minutes of committees (1911-1964).

Also includes registrar's subject files, including student grade transcripts (1904-1964); subject files and correspondence of the faculty, including course outlines (1878-1964); records of student organizations and copies of the student's literary magazine Kodak, annual Cumtux, newspapers Snapshot and Dial, and photograph albums (1895-1964); records of the Alumnae Association (1887-1964); subject files of the public relations office (1900-1964); history files, including catalogs and bulletins, newspaper clippings, and some records of the predecessor institutions (1852-1964); and photographs (1850-1962). Also contains correspondence between Increase Lapham and Catherine Beecher on their educational philosophy.

Some records were placed in bound volumes; some of the volumes are housed in boxes, others are not. The finding aid provides a volume number if it is available. If a box number is provided, the volume is housed within the box.

The collection is organized into eleven series:

Office of the President, 1895-1964. The series contains the correspondence of the three presidents with benefactors, colleagues, faculty members, parents, prospective students, students, trustees, and each other. The subject files contain correspondence, memos, speeches, and notes on the activities of the administration, faculty, and students. The reports are to various professional and accreditation associations and the yearly report to the president of the board of trustees. Boxes 1-10 contain records of President Sabin, and several boxes of her personal papers, noted as "additions" are intellectually integrated into Series 1. Boxes 11-26 contain records of President Briggs; and boxes 27-33, records of President Johnson.
Board of Trustees, 1896-1959. The series contains the correspondence and subject files of W.W. Wight and E.E. White, presidents of the board of trustees, concerning meetings of the board, college finances and property, legal cases, and college policies.
Business Office, 1888-1964. The series contains the correspondence and subject files of the assistant treasurer, cashier, and treasurer. The files include financial reports, information on purchased equipment, specifications for buildings and equipment, insurance reports, payrolls, scholarship grants, gifts to the college, and endowment statistics.
Dean's Office, 1911-1964. The series contains the dean's subject files containing yearly office and budgeting reports, reports from various student organizations and activities, and minutes of various committees.
Registrar's Office, 1904-1964. The series contains the registrar's subject files concerning content of courses, entrance of students, examinations, scholarships, and student records. Includes the correspondence of the field and executive secretaries who were responsible for student recruitment and related activities.
Faculty, 1900-1964. The series contains correspondence and subject files of faculty members concerning their departments and functions. Some files contain course outlines and content.
Student Activities, 1895-1964. The series contains the files of student activities and organizations, such as the Student Government Association, including minutes of meetings, photo albums; scrapbooks, senior essays (1905-41), and treasurer's records. The series also contains copies of the students' literary magazine Kodak, the annual yearbook Cumtux, and the newspapers Dial and Snapshot.
Alumnae Association, 1887-1964. The series contains the records of the Alumnae Association, including biographical data on graduates, class newsletters, the publication Hawthorn Leaves, and reunion registers. Also contains a 1945 recording of presidents Ellen Sabin and Lucia Briggs reading from the Bible.

Public Relation's Office, 1900-1964.

History Files, 1878-1964. The series contains the "historical" records of Milwaukee-Downer College, such as bulletins and catalogs, newspaper clippings, printed histories, programs from clubs, dramatic productions, and exhibits. The series also contains the files, which are mostly financial records, of Downer College and Milwaukee College; and Catharine Beecher's correspondence (1855-1864) with Increase Lapham.
Photographs.

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY: The college was created in 1895 by the merger of Milwaukee College and Downer College. Each institution, founded for the education of women, had a distinct history of its own. In August 1849, a meeting of Milwaukee citizens, organized by Increase Lapham, discussed women's education and approved a plan proposed by Catherine E. Beecher to found a school. The school was formally organized in May 1850 and incorporated by the State legislature in March 1851 as the Female Normal Institute and High School at Milwaukee. The name changed to the Milwaukee Female College in April 1853, and in March 1876 to Milukee College. Downer College was originally chartered in January 1855 as the Wisconsin Female College, organized by the Wisconsin Baptist Educational Society. It became incorporated and non-sectarian in 1862. In the late 1870s, due to changing administrations and character of the school, it was sometimes referred to as the Fox Lake College or Fox Lake Academy. After the bequest of Jude Jason Dower in 1884, the name was officially changed in 1886 to Downer College. Milwaukee-Downer College merged with Lawrence College in 1964. Its buildings are now occupied by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The presidents of Milwaukee-Downer College were:

Ellen C. Sabin (1895-1921)
Lucia R. Briggs (1921-1951)
John B. Johnson (1951-1964)

The Teakwood Room: Miss Alice Chapman ordered the Teakwood Room from a sample of carved teakwood at the Chicago World's Fair of 1892-1893. Mr. Lockwood de Forest, a brother of Mr. Robert de Forest connected with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, had the sample on exhibition because he was interested in the East Indian native arts. At that time, six rooms of carved teakwood were ordered. We believe that the other five have been dismantled, and that the only similar room in existence is in Windsor Castle, England, where the teakwood has been painted white. Our room is the natural color of the wood. The walls are somewhat lighter than the furnishings because before they were installed, the grime of city dust and fireplace smoke was removed by six washings in water with Lux or Ivory flakes). The black teakwood often seen is stained. The wood was hand-carved in India. Before it could be shipped, the plague broke out and it had to be fumigated. After that it was sent to London, then to Tiffany's in New York, and then to Milwaukee, where the room was built to order for it. In Miss Chapman's house, it was used as her music room. (She herself played beautifully and composed). In her will, she left this room and the paneled room to the College to be incorporated into the Library. (In her house, the folding doors were opposite the fireplace. There were windows at the left as you entered, looking out on the porch, - i.e. west; and windows beside the fireplace, looking out on the vacant lot to the north of her house, The east end was a plain wall). It was to be built with a part of her bequest. All the rugs and furnishings of the room, except the piano and piano-bench, were also part of her bequest. The wall and ceiling covering was from Tiffany's dark green with an elaborate interlocking gold pattern. The light fixtures were the same as those now in the room but had covers like the bowls so that the lighting wan not indirect in the Library. The room was built to measurement for installation of the teakwood. The wall covering are from the Herter looms, woven particularly for us for this room. The ceiling is aluminum paint stenciled. The small medallions were designed by Miss Emily Groom of the Art Department, a friend of Miss Chapman for many years. The paneled room was Miss Chapman's dining room, installed in her house on Cass Street under the direction of Mr. Richard Philipp, architect. The long settee formerly stood on the landing of Miss Chapman's stairs. The carved cabinet was given from her house and contains many foreign cards which were hers. The rug was also hers. The leaded glass windows were brought from her house. The glass-fronted boe, where rare books are kept, was made at the time of the installation of the room in the Library. The ceiling was made from a mold taken of the ceiling in her house because it could not be moved. The front door which leads into the serving-room, led in her house into a small conservatory which she kept full of flowers. Glass in the door made them visible from the dining room. Teakwood Room Painting: Hindu deity, Saraswati, goddess of speech, music, arts and letters. Painted for the Teakwood room (31 x 2'6") by N. S. Bendre of Bombay, India, former president of the Arts Society of India. He was commissioned by Mrs. Kamala Nimbkar, wife of a leading industrialist of India. Both are philanthropists of the painting, a gift to Milwaukee-Downer from Mrs. Nimbkar. The artist wrote: "The motives of the wood carving are mainly Hindu and the picture of Saraswati, goddess of learning, has been done in traditional style and painted to suit the color of the old teakwood." Multiple armed figures have been painted in the art of India since the seventh century. The multiple aspects of the gods. The hand gestures are mudras. The foot positions are asanas. Saraswati sits padmasana - on a lotus leaf, symbol of enlightenment and creative power. The spot on his forehead is the third eye of spiritual insight. The expression is one of inwardness and contemplation.

COLLECTION CITATION: This collection should be cited as:

Milwaukee-Downer College. Records, 1852-1964. Milwaukee Manuscript Collection L. Wisconsin Historical Society. Milwaukee Area Research Center. UWM Libraries. University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

ACQUISITION: The Milwaukee-Downer College Board of Trustees donated the collection to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin on 11 June 1964.

PROCESSING: This finding aid is a revision of another written in 1965. It retains the original eleven series of the collection, but the folder headings have been reorganized into an alphabetical sequence within each series. The finding aid also retains the distinct box numbering sequence for each series.

MARC RECORD SEARCH TERMS: The following terms were used in the online bibliographic MARC record to this collection:

American--Wisconsin--Milwaukee--College students' writing.
Beecher, Catherine Esther, 1800-1878.
Best, Fred C.
Briggs, Lucia R., (Lucia Russell), 1887-1960.
Chapman, Alice Greenwood.
Chapman, Hamlin L., d. 1921.
College administrators--Wisconsin--Milwaukee--Selection and appointment.
College students' writing, American--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
College trustees--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
Crowell, Mary, b. 1823.
Diner, D. H., 1829-1923.
Downer College.
Downer, Jason, 1813-1883.
Farrar, Charles S. (Charles Samuel), 1826-1903.
Fox Lake Academy.
Fox Lake College.
Lapham, Increase Allen, 1811-1875.
Milwaukee-Downer College Athletics.
Milwaukee-Downer College Buildings.
Milwaukee-Downer College Faculty.
Milwaukee-Downer College Presidents.
Milwaukee-Downer College Students.
Milwaukee-Downer College Students Yearbooks.
Milwaukee (Wis.)--History--Sources.
Mortimer, Mary, 1816-1877.
Parsons, Lucy Seymour, 1819-1901.
Quarles, Louis B.
Sabin, Ellen C., (Ellen Clara), 1850-1949.
Universities and colleges--Wisconsin--Milwaukee--Mergers.
Upham, Horace A. J.
Upham, Mary Green.
White, Edwin E.
Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
Wisconsin Association of Occupational Therapy.
Wisconsin Association of Presidents and Deans of Institutions of Higher Learning.
Wisconsin Foundation of Independent Colleges.
Women college administrators--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
Women college presidents--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
Women college students--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
Women college teachers--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

SERIES 1. OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, 1895-1964.	BOX	FOLDER
Academic Freedom and Responsibility, 1957-1961	27
Academic Freedom and Responsibility, 1961-1964	27
Addresses, 1921-1936	9	1
Addresses, 1937-1951	9	2
Advertising, 1911-1922	1	1
Alumnae Lists, 1851-1893	1	2
American Association of University Professors, 1956-1963	27
American Council on Education, 1918-1921	1	3
American Council on Education, 1926-1944	9	3
Anderson, Dorothy, 1936-1953	31
Annual Report to the Trustees, 1961-1962	27
Applications, Dean of Seminary, 1920	1	4
Applications, Presidency and Related Materials, 1919-1921	1	5
Applications, Presidency and Related Materials, 1921	1	6
Appointment Announcements, 1915-1921	1	7
Art Department Reports, 1915-1920	1	8
Association of American Colleges, 1917-1920	1	9
Association of American Colleges, 1930-1931	9	4
Association of College Alumnae, 1917-1919	1	10
Association of College Alumnae, Committee on International Relations, 1918-1921	1	11
Autograph Collection, 1900-1920	1	12
Best, Fred C., Gifts, 1932-1941	9	7
Blank Forms, undated	1	13
Bureau of Education, Department of the Interior, Reports, 1897	1	15
Bureau of Education, Department of the Interior, Reports, 1917-1920	2	1
Bureau of Education, Department of the Interior, Reports, 1922-1930	9	6
By-Laws, 1917	1	14
Carnegie Foundation, 1906-1911	2	2
Carnegie Foundation, 1919	2	3
Catalog Costs, Printing Estimates, 1912-1917	2	4
Certification, 1917-1918	2	5
Chapel Notes, 1916-1921	2	6
Chapel Services, 1934-1951	9	5
Chapman Library, Architects and Builders, 1935-1936	20
Chapman Library, Architects and Builders, 1936-1938	21
Chapman Library, Blueprints, 1936	21
Chapman Library, Committee Correspondence, 1935-1936	20
Chapman Library, Committee Correspondence, 1936-1938	20
Chapman Library, Committee Meetings, 1935-1938	20
Chapman Library, Construction Specifications, 1936	21
Chapman Library, Dedication, 1936-1938	21
Chapman Library, Drawings and Specifications, 1936	21
Chapman Library, Furnishings, 1936-1937	21
Chapman Library, Librarian's Notes, 1935-1938	20
Chapman Library, Open House, 1937-1938	9	8
Chapman Library, Other College Libraries, 1935	20
Chapman Library, Prospective Architects, 1935	20
Chapman Library, Teakwood Room, 1935-1937	21
Chapman Library, Young, J. W., Assistant Treasurer, 1936-1938	21
Centennial, Founder's Day, 1950	9	11
Centennial, Invitations, 1951	10	1
Centennial, Plans, 1950-1951	9	9
Centennial, Programs, 1951	9	12, 13
Centennial, Symposium, 1951	9	10
Circular Letters, 1919-1920	2	7
Clark, Eunice, W., 1936-1952	31
Colleges of the Interior, 1914-1919	2	8
Commencement, 1938-1940	10	2
Commencement Addresses, 1909-1921	2	9
Commencement Addresses, 1922-1951	10	3,4
Committee of Accredited Schools Reports on Seminary, 1900-1916	2	10
Committee on Teachers and Course of Study, Minutes, 1895-1921	2	11
Committee of Teachers and Studies, 1895-1921	1
Committee on Faculty and Studies, 1899-1920	1
Correspondence, 1891-1900	2	12
Correspondence, 1901-1910	2	13
Correspondence, 1911-1914	2	14
Correspondence, 1915	2	15
Correspondence, 1916	2	16
Correspondence, 1917	3	1
Correspondence, 1918-1921	3	2
Correspondence, A, 1919-1921	3	3
Correspondence, B, 1918-1921	3	4
Correspondence, C, 1918-1921	3	5
Correspondence, D, 1918-1920	3	6
Correspondence, E, 1919-1921	3	7
Correspondence, F, 1919-1921	3	8
Correspondence, G, 1918-1920	3	9
Correspondence, H, 1918-1921	3	10
Correspondence, I, 1918-1920	3	11
Correspondence, J, 1919-1921	3	12
Correspondence, K, 1918-1921	3	13
Correspondence, L, 1919-1921	3	14
Correspondence, M, 1918-1921	3	15
Correspondence, Mc, 1919-1921	3	16
Correspondence, N, 1919-1920	3	17
Correspondence, O, 1918-1921	3	18
Correspondence, P, 1919-1921	4	1
Correspondence, R, 1918-1920	4	2
Correspondence, S, 1918-1921	4	3
Correspondence, T, 1918-1924	4	4
Correspondence, U, 1919-1920	4	5
Correspondence, V, 1919-1921	4	6
Correspondence, W, 1919-1921	4	7
Correspondence, XYZ, 1918-1920	4	8
Correspondence, Application and Appointment A-J, 1919-1921	4	9
Correspondence, Application and Appointment K-Z, 1919-1921	4	10
Correspondence, Briggs, 1921	12	13
Correspondence, Faculty, 1921-1922	4	11
Correspondence, Faculty to the Trustees, 1910-1913	4	12
Correspondence, Miscellaneous, undated	4	13
Correspondence, Miscellaneous, undated	4	14
Correspondence, N. W. Ayer and Son, 1917-1919	4	15
Council of Church Boards of Education, 1917-1919	4	16
Dedication Speeches, 1922-1951	10	5
Department of Hygiene and Physical Education, Reports, 1909-1919	4	17
Delegates for the College, 1937-1962	27
Departmental Reports to President Sabin, 1917-1918	5	1
Department and Organization Reports, 1921-1928	18
Department and Organization Reports, 1928-1932	19
Downer Glacier (Alaska), 1910	5	2
Edwards, Grace, 1954	31
Endowment, 1910	5	3
Endowment Campaign, 1916-1918	5	4
Endowment Campaign, 1922-1924	10	6
Enrollment Statistics, 1895-1910	5	5
Executive Committee, 1937-1951	10	12
Expense and Other Reports, 1919-1934	11	6
Expense and Other Reports, 1935-1951	11	8
Faculty Applications, 1914-1916	5	6
Faculty Applications, 1917-1921	5	7
Faculty Applications, Dean of Seminary, 1921	5	8
Faculty Appointments, 1921-1932	22
Faculty Appointments, 1933-1940	23
Faculty Appointments, 1940-1945	24
Faculty Appointments, 1945-1951	25
Faculty Meetings, Notes, 1916-1921	5	9
Faculty Reports, 1927-1933	19
Faculty Reports, Special, 1933	19
Faculty-Staff Fund Grants, 1952-1963	27
Faculty-Staff Bonuses, 1946	10	8
Food Survey Report, 1918	5	10
Founder's Day, 1936-1944	10	7
French Students, 1918	5	11
General Education Board, 1916-1917	5	13
General Education Board, Reports, 1908-1916	5	12
Gilbert, Amy M., 1937-1945	23
Greene Memorial Museum, 1959-1963	28
Greene Memorial Museum, Report to President, 1914-1919	5	14
Guest Book, 1911-1951	26
Hat Hunt, 1953-1960	27
Hawky, Elizabeth, 1948-1958	31
Historical Information, 1928	12	11
Home Economics Department, Reports, 1914-1921	5	15
Independent Colleges of America, 1960	27
Infirmary, Report to the President, 1908-1916	5	16
Instruction Salary Schedules, 1921-1951	11	1
Instructional Salaries, 1951-1953	27
Insurance Appraisal, 1920	6	1
Interchurch World Movement, 1919-1920	6	2
Interchurch World Movement, Reports for the College, 1920	6	3
Interchurch World Movement, Reports for the Seminary, 1920	6	4
Invitations to Colleges, 1941-1942	10	9
Kerr, Mina, 1921	10	10
Kodak, Downer College Newspaper, 1891	6	5
Land, 1952-1962	28
Land, Milwaukee-Downer Seminary, 1954-1959	27
Land, UW-Milwaukee Controversy, 1960-1963	27
Land, UW-Milwaukee North, 1956-1961	28
Lawyers, Lines, Spooner and Quarles, Correspondence, 1937-1939	14	4
Lectures and Engagements, 1918-1921	6	6
Lees, Katharine, 1937-1940	23
Library, Reports, 1908-1914	6	7
Lipscomb, Winifred, 1944	31
Living Endowment Fund, 1941-1947	10	13
MAT Degree, 1962-1963	28
Milwaukee County Council of Defense, 1917-1918	6	8
Miscellaneous, 1916-1920	6	9
Miscellaneous Reports, 1902-1921	6	10
"Mobilization," World War I, 1917	6	11
Music Department, Reports, 1915-1916	6	12
Music Program, Public School, Music Certificate, 1926	12	2
National Education Association, 1917-1919	6	13
North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, 1902-1921	6	14
North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, 1942-1943	11	9
North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, 1958-1960	28
North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, Reports, 1922-1927	11	2
North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, Reports, 1931	11	3
North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, Reports, 1932	11	4
North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, Reports, 1932-1935	11	5
North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, Reports, 1935	11	6
North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, Reports, 1945	12	1
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, 1962-1963	28
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, Self-Study, 1959	28
Notes, undated	6	16
Nursing Program, 1953-1954	28
Occupational Therapy, 1918-1919	7	1
Occupational Therapy, Radio Script, 1948	12	9
Occupational Therapy, 10^th Anniversary, Correspondence and Related Materials, 1948	12	10
Payrolls, 1896-1911	6	17
Pensions, 1925-1926	12	8
Personnel, A, 1953-1958	31
Personnel, B, 1920-1958