Pollock House

Name

Namesake: William Edward (W.E.) Pollock, one time president of the Oshkosh Overall Company and the first and only homeowner, who entrusted the property to the University.

Facts

Completion Date: 1920

Original Purpose of Building: Private residence. After purchase by the Teachers College, a woman's dormitory.

Current Use: Offices

History

The Pollock House was built in 1920 for W.E. Pollock, once the president of the Oshkosh Overall Company, known today as Oshkosh B'Gosh. The house was designed in the Spanish Revival style with a red barrel roof and three chimneys capped with campaniles. Near retirement, Pollock feared for his home’s deterioration and he offered to help the College purchased his property. Approved by the Board of Regents, the Wisconsin State Teacher’s College at Oshkosh gained title to the house on September 29, 1943 through a combination of donated and appropriated funds.

With the acquisition of the property during World War II, President Forrest R. Polk used the house as a social center for members of the 96th College Detachment, the unit of Army Air Corps cadets training on campus to meet their families and friends. 

 President Polk visualized the house as either a student union or dormitory after the war’s conclusion.  In the end, the Regents and Polk settled on the latter and from 1944-1967 it housed women students.  In 1967, the Pollock House became the headquarters for the newly established School of Nursing. By 1971, the building became knowns as the “Pollock Alumni House” and housed the Alumni Association and Alumni Relations.  The building welcomed alumni and hosted special events for over 40 years until the program moved to the Culver Family Welcome Center. 

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