Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to understand the broader historical events and ideas that influenced post-World War II housing development at UW.
Students will be able to understand why and how the university expanded during the second half of the 20th century and why they chose to develop specific areas.
Students will be able to understand how the university engaged in discriminatory housing policies and how students resisted these policies.
Podcast Questions:
Why is the GI Bill critical to understanding the boom of post-World War II higher education?
Why did the university decide to develop the west side instead of the south area? How does this decision fit into a broader history of urban planning?
Why do you think it took more than twenty years to construct these dormitories? What were the consequences of this delayed construction?
Why was in loco parentis so important to understanding the university’s relationship to its students and housing discrimination?
How did the university both implicitly and explicitly discriminate against students looking for housing? Consider on and off campus housing and housing policies.
How did students combat housing discrimination?
Recommended Readings:
Center for Campus History Blog, Siftings: “Building the Southeast Dormitories: How UW’s Postwar Building Program Unleashed Relentless University Expansion in Madison.” By Siobhan Ryan. Read Article Here
Lee, Philip. “The case of Dixon v. Alabama: From civil rights to students’ rights and back again. “Teachers College Record 116, no. 12 (2014): 1-18. View article here
Dayne D. Batten, “The G.I. Bill, Higher Education and American Society,” Grove City College Journal of Law and Public Policy 2, no. 1 (Spring 2011): 13-30. Read article here
Primary Sources:
We recommend exploring student experiences found on our Sifting and Reckoning website.
“Housing Denied:” View sources here
“Students Fight Housing Discrimination:” View sources here
“University Housing:” View sources here
Campus Maps: This National Parks Services article provides overviews and primary source maps of Frederick Law Olmsted designed campuses. View article here
Other Resources:
Sifting and Reckoning Online Exhibit. “Housing.” View Website Here