Dorm Living – Then and Then

Some things change, some things stay the same. Check out this selection of dorm room photographs of students living in dorms at the University of Wisconsin from 1899 to 1980s. There will always be students in dorms studying, chatting and playing guitars alongside iconic dorm room fixtures – college pendents, bunk beds, cinder blocks (maybe some hanging plants). But in 1899 students lived in a proper homey bedroom, a striking contrast to the 1950s rise of the hard-faced cement walls and cold linoleum floors which college kids still inhabit today. Just throw down a shag rug over the linoleum, turn on the record player, and DEAL!

ca. 1912-1913

1952

1980s

1980s

1961

ca. 1945-1955

1980

1976

1965

1983

Leila Bascom reading in dorm room, 1899