Milwaukee-Downer College

TIME AND TRADITIONS: 1900s



View of Holton, Merrill, and College halls, 1901


1900 Super sports

A gymnasium with state-of-the-art equipment is built on the Milwaukee-Downer campus, leading to the formation of an athletic association and the organization of a sports program. This is in keeping with Catharine Beecher's and Ellen Sabin's firm belief in physical education for women.

Holton Hall Gymnasium

1903 Christmas play

Emily Brown, professor of English, produces the first Christmas play, beginning a revered tradition which continues throughout Miss Brown's tenure at Milwaukee-Downer. The productions, which mark the climax of Downer Yule festivities, feature either Elizabethan or Dickensian themes. Casts for the play are announced on the day of the first snowfall.

1907 Hawthornden

When Albert Memorial Music Hall is dedicated and joined by arches to Holton and McLaren halls, it forms a natural enclosure which becomes known as Hawthornden, for the hawthorn trees that grow there. It becomes the scene of Class Day exercises, the May Day celebration, and graduation activities.



Hawthornden

1908 Jane Addams inspires

Jane Addams, social reformer and 1931 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, speaks on "How to Make Your Education Serve Humanity," at the dedication ceremony of Kimberly Hall.


One of the many gargoyles who watch over the Greene Library


Elizabeth Greene Memorial Library, 1905
Three hundred Downer students participate in the
Tennyson Pageant of 1909, marking the 100th anniversary
of the birth of poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

On to the 1910s

Lawrence in the 1900s

Back to the 1890s
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