UWM Urban Spelunking is a docuseries that explores several of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s most historic buildings and locations. Discover the history behind the places you see every day, and places you never knew existed right on our campus.
UWM Urban Spelunking: Bobby Tanzilo Interview
Bobby Tanzilo is a senior editor and writer for OnMilwaukee.com who writes about Milwaukee’s history and architecture. Bobby Tanzilo writes a column at OnMilwaukee called…
UWM Urban Spelunking Episode 1: Cunningham Hall
Cunningham Hall houses the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Nursing. To learn more about the building, we talked to Laurie Glass, professor emerita and manager…
UWM Urban Spelunking Episode 2: Center for Nursing History
Emeritus Professor Laurie Glass manages the Center for Nursing History at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Founded in 1973, the Center for Nursing History is the…
UWM Urban Spelunking Episode 3: RetroLab
Professor Thomas Haigh manages the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee History Department’s Retrocomputing Lab which holds a growing collection of fully functional personal computer hardware. The RetroLab…
UWM Urban Spelunking Episode 4: UWM Office of Sustainability
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Office of Sustainability was founded in 2008, and oversees all of UWM’s recycling, composting, and surplus. In this episode, we toured…
The History of The Milwaukee-Downer College Buildings
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is an amalgamation of old and new buildings. As a student, I had always wondered how UWM came to possess these buildings, and what…
Milwaukee-Downer College: Merrill Hall
The first instruction building for Milwaukee-Downer College was named Merrill Hall after Mr. William P. Merrill who gave $10,000 for the construction of the building. The building…
Milwaukee-Downer College Dormitory Buildings
Milwaukee-Downer College had several dormitory buildings to house their large student population. The dormitory buildings were designed by Alexander Eschweiler and Howland Russell in collaboration.…
Milwaukee-Downer College Seminary Buildings
In 1909, plans were underway for a new Seminary campus across the street from the college buildings. The estimated cost of these buildings and their furnishings…
Milwaukee-Downer College Libraries
In Merrill Hall, at the east end of the second floor the first library was established by Mrs. Horace A. J. Upham. It was named the Greene Memorial Library in…
Domestic Science at Milwaukee-Downer College
Milwaukee-Downer College was a pioneer in educating women in the sciences. In the spring of 1901, the college catalogue announced that they would add Domestic…
Greene Memorial Museum
Throughout the college’s existence, they received several private collections. The largest and most renowned collection received was the Thomas A. Greene geological collection which contained about 75,000…
Milwaukee-Downer College Smaller Buildings
The Powerhouse In September of 1905, the Power House was completed, containing the heating and lighting plants and the steam laundry. It was designed by Gates, Weiss, and Cramer architects. This building…
Milwaukee-Downer College Campus Through the Years
Throughout Milwaukee-Downer College’s lifetime, many maps, aerial photos and postcards were made for the college, showing it’s progression through the years. Campus Maps This map…
Milwaukee-Downer College Building Blueprints
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archives has a collection of the blueprints of many of UWM’s existing and demolished buildings. Here is a collection of the…
Milwaukee-Downer College Unidentified Photo Gallery
During my research at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archives, I sorted through hundreds of photos that were taken in Milwaukee-Downer College. Many of them were…