Over the years, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s campus has gone through gradual changes. These changes, often minor ones, can be unrecognizable to newer generations of students. A recent tour allowed the community to trace back the roots that led to the campus that now stands.

At its foundation, UW-Whitewater’s Continuing Education program has one goal: the promotion of lifelong learning. Its sponsored events aim to engage both the campus and community. Its most recent event, The History of the Whitewater Normal School Grounds Tour, took place Sept. 3, and was the last of the summer’s Prairie, Garden, Arboretum and History Tours.

“I think the goal of this tour is for people [who] either appreciate history and just want to learn more about this institution for whatever it means to them,” said Wes Enterline, sustainability coordinator and lead of the tours. “In the case of some of the participants tonight, people that actually were here, that can learn a little bit about the history that maybe was happening around them or right before them that they might not have known about as a student here.”

Tour stops highlighted key locations, most of which were south of the University Center: the Old Main Alumni Center, the bust of Albert Salisbury, Hyer Hall, the Little Red Schoolhouse and the Halverson Log Cabin. At each site, serving as a historical marker in the university’s or community’s timeline, points of significance were discussed.

“The regents decided to locate one normal school in each of the congressional districts,” Enterline said. “On Feb. 28, 1866, it was voted to locate schools at Platteville and Whitewater, with heavy competition from at least 16 cities and villages in southeastern Wisconsin, including Milwaukee, Kenosha and Racine.”

As its name suggests, the Whitewater Normal School had its emphasis on preparing future teachers. As part of their requirements, these future teachers taught students spanning from elementary school to high school directly on campus.

Jerome Converse, a tour participant and a former student of these teachers, shared his experience.

“I attended third grade in the west wing of Old Main,” Converse said. “It was interesting because of the juxtaposition of college people, and the fact they were practice teachers who were using you as their practice to learn how to teach elementary students.”

In addition to institutional history, the tour also focused on the natural history and how former faculty helped shape it. Prior to 1855, the hill where the Little Red Schoolhouse and the Halverson Log Cabin now stand was regularly burned, leaving little indigenous undergrowth. Albert Salisbury, the fourth president of the Whitewater Normal School, reversed this policy and personally tended to the young bur oaks.

“As an environmental science major, it was really fascinating to learn about the campus’s history in environmentalism,” senior Maren McDonnell said. “Salisbury was also a huge contributing force towards making campus beautiful.”

The same history is shared on the second floor of the University Center, open to all to explore. Both are just a glimpse into the story of the UW-Whitewater campus, a reminder of much left to be learned.