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