shkosh has been the home of quality and innovative higher education for more than 135 years. The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh has attracted visionary leaders and dedicated faculty. It has gloried in its successes. It has weathered economic depression, wars and a devastating fire while evolving from a teacher-training institution to a major, comprehensive university.
Founded as a state normal school, this institution came into being as a tough-minded, practical response to the demands of an earlier era. In the years following the Civil War, immigrants streamed into the state. There was an urgent need to train qualified teachers to bring out the best in the new arrivals and their children.		Oshkosh State Normal School, ca. 1880s
To compete with its sister cities for the state's third normal school, the Oshkosh Common Council pledged $30,000 and a six-acre site. Costs for the elegant, three-story building exceeded estimates so far that there was no money to staff or furnish the school. The Board of Regents of Normal Schools allowed it to stand empty on its Algoma Boulevard site for one year. Yet, the Oshkosh Normal School was destined to become the state's foremost institution for educating teachers, producing thousands of educators and contributing to Wisconsin leadership in education.
George Sumner Albee	In fall 1871, President George S. Albee headed a faculty of five normal school teachers, the model school director and three instructors. The 43 students who attended the first day of classes had been interviewed personally by Albee to ensure they met his academic and moral standards. In the early years, tuition was free to all who declared an intent to teach in Wisconsin public schools. There was a $1 book rental fee for each of the three terms in an academic year. The big expense at the time was room and board—up to $4 dollars a week for board and a furnished room with "lights and fuel."
Oshkosh Normal became the first state normal school in the nation to have a kindergarten. Rose C. Swart, a powerhouse in the model school department for half a century, introduced practice teaching in 1872. Under President John H. Keith, one of the best-equipped gymnasiums in the nation was constructed. The school added domestic science and industrial education and, in 1912, gained the Industrial Arts Building—later named Harrington Hall.		Rose C. Swart, 1875
Normal School fire, 1916	Witnesses to the fire that destroyed the main building on a snowy March night in 1916 recalled heroic attempts to save collections and equipment.
Dempsey Hall replaced the landmark building in 1918.		Dempsey Hall
Enrollment slumped when the United States entered World War I, but college faculty and administration did their best to support the war effort. In fall 1918, a War Department telegram notified President Harry A. Brown of the arrival of a U.S. Army officer who would establish a Students' Army Training Corps (SATC) on campus. The Army would supply "uniforms, boots and overcoats." One of the school's temporary buildings was taken over by the SATC to be used as barracks. The campus green spaces became parade grounds, and practice trenches were dug behind the Industrial Arts Building.

	After a fierce fight in the state legislature, President Harry A. Brown helped the school and others like it become a degree-granting institution. The school was renamed Oshkosh State Teachers College . By 1930, Brown's dream of a model school building, the Rose C. Swart Training School , had become a reality.
Forrest R. Polk, a faculty member and WWI combat veteran, was named president of the college in 1931. His tenure spanned the Depression, World War II and the Korean War. The Great Depression struck hard in Winnebago County . Faculty reported that students sometimes fainted from hunger in class. Still, enrollment increased during this time. Many students from north-eastern Wisconsin unable to afford the tuition and expenses at the University of Wisconsin in Madison found opportunities to continue their studies closer to home for far less money.
During World War II, some 1,500 students joined the armed forces. Forty-two died in combat. The near empty college was forced to layoff staff until the school was selected for aviation cadet training. During 18 months in 1943 and 1944, more than 1,000 cadets passed through OSTC. The cadets lived in the Swart Hall "barracks" and conducted drill practice on Algoma Boulevard .		96th college detachment, 1943

	Under the GI Bill of Rights, veterans flocked back to school. Making rapid transitions, veterans with still-fresh combat experiences returned to a placid campus little changed since the 1930s. It was not long, however, before both the mission and landscape of the school would expand significantly. As soldiers poured into the school and more high school graduates became the first in their families to attend college, the teaching college model became increasingly outdated.
To appeal to a growing population of college students, teacher colleges statewide were given the privilege to offer liberal arts programs. The new curricula would enable the schools to train students for a variety of occupations beyond teaching. A change in name to Wisconsin State Colleges reflected the shift in the schools' direction.		Good times return to Oshkosh after war

	Under the leadership of Roger E. Guiles, the school's postwar mission and course offerings broadened as the school entered the state university system. The College of Business Administration and the College of Nursing were added, and the School of Education became the College of Education and Human Services. In 1963, Oshkosh State College began a graduate school, transforming the one-time normal school into a fully-developed university.
Radical and explosive politics were late in coming to Oshkosh . It was not until the late 1960s that the University began to experience the unrest and dissent that touched colleges and universities nationwide. The Vietnam War was only one of a great many issues that stirred the student body. In a nationally known event, African American dissent over culturally germane course offerings, housing discrimination and other issues cumulated in November 1968 with a protest and office takeover known as "Black Thursday." Over the next three years, the University responded with increased funding and support for a multicultural center and courses in African American history, literature and political science.		October 15, 1969 Vietnam Moratorium Day

In its centennial year, 1971, President Guiles guided the university into the merged University of Wisconsin System . With 11,500 students and 35 buildings, UW Oshkosh was the largest of the "comprehensive universities."

Chancellor Robert Birnbaum arrived in 1974. A new calendar was instituted with 14-week semesters and three-week interims that offered blocks of time for faculty research. With the time came the innovative and much-envied Faculty Development Program that has given impetus to hundreds of faculty research projects. Birnbaum was chancellor just four years, yet the innovations of the 1970s laid the groundwork for successes in the next decade when the University gained recognition as a regional university of merit. The University's eighth leader, Chancellor Edward M. Penson, served from 1978 to 1989. "Excellence" became the byword in teaching, scholarship and quality of students. The University evolved from open admissions to the institution of choice for many students.

John E. Kerrigan was named chancellor in 1990. Faced with the twin demons of budget cuts and rising costs, Kerrigan helped to institute programs to benefit faculty and students. Endowed professorships, based on a $750,000 fund donated by area businesses and individuals, encouraged the scholarly work of faculty members. Entering students of exceptional merit were attracted by academic and leadership scholarships. By mid-decade, 100 of these $1,000 grants were being awarded annually. Investment in emerging technologies has enabled the campus to remain current and relevant to its students. Over the years, UW Oshkosh has adjusted its mission and created new programs, institutes and degrees that keep its curriculum and services salient to the marketplace of ideas and jobs. Finally, during the past 10 years of challenging economic times and under the leadership of Chancellors John Kerrigan and Richard H. Wells, the campus has looked inward to reinvest in its aging facilities. The expanded Reeve Memorial Union, renovated Halsey Science Center , soon to-be-completed Student Health and Wellness Center and a new academic building on the horizon are all evidence of the University's growth and ability to create facilities that match and improve the outstanding work being performed inside of them.
At the same time, the University has engaged the community by working with regional businesses to provide university solutions to local industrial and commercial problems, while strengthening scholarship and internship opportunities for its students. Communications between the University and community organizations regarding projects and programs of mutual interest are a daily occurrence. The faculty, staff and students contribute to the community by working, volunteering, serving and healing. The students, staff and faculty members work to expand knowledge and improve the area's social, cultural and educational environment. Today, Chancellor Richard H. Wells holds true to the Wisconsin Idea , the belief that the University should meet the needs of the people of Wisconsin . His direction in revising the Strategic Plan and the Governing Ideas has set the future course for UW Oshkosh to continue as a premier regional university.