Webster Hall

Name

Namesake: Emily Webster

Emily Florella Webster was born July 9, 1849 in Kingsville, Ohio to a farming family that relocated to Winneconne, Wisconsin in the early 1850s. Webster worked as a schoolteacher there until 1871, when she attended the newly founded Oshkosh Normal School to improve her teaching.  Finishing in 1875, Webster was a member of the first graduating class. So impressed was the Normal School with their student, they immediately offered her a position as an instructor of mathematics and Latin. Her career at Oshkosh spanned an awe-inspiring 52.5 years – allowing her to “grow up” with the Normal School. 

Emily Webster built a reputation as a stern instructor with a passion for those who gave their best effort. According to her contemporaries, she would say, “If girls would spend as much time decorating the inside of their heads as they do the outside, they would be better off.” Rose Swart, no stranger to teaching excellence, credited Webster as “one of the best teachers of arithmetic,” that she knew. Another of Webster’s many contributions to the growth of the university was her   responsibility as editor of The Normal Advance (known today as the Advance Titan), officially founded by 1894.

Emily Webster retired from her position in 1925 and, honored with the position of Arithmetic Emeritus, remained at the Oshkosh State Teachers College until 1928. She resided in the home of fellow instructor Frederick R. Clow until her death on July 26, 1933.

Facts

Completion Date: 1957

Cost: $557,000

Original Purpose of Building: Formerly, a women’s dormitory.

Current Use: Currently, a coed dormitory.

History

Constructed in 1957, Webster Hall, the second oldest residence hall at UWO, was officially opened as an all-female community. In 1958, the first hall director, or “Dorm Mother,” as she was known, was Mildred M. Henderson, who served dutifully for the first few years. The opening of the hall served two important functions. In addition to serving as a much needed residence hall to accommodate the growing numbers of the Oshkosh State College, the Webster Hall basement served as interim union during the construction of what is now Reeve Union. In the basement, one could enjoy a snack bar and a bookstore, along with recreational activities for students to indulge themselves.

By 1997, Webster hall was facing low female enrollment, eventually resulting in the combination of the Donner and Webster Hall administrations. The buildings themselves remained separate communities; however, staffing for the buildings was combined. The full time Residence Hall Director lived in Donner Hall while a graduate student was hired to work in Webster as the Assistant Residence Hall Director. Subsequently, by 1999, Webster Hall became a coeducational environment, ending Webster Hall’s 40 year reputation as an all-female residence hall.

The Donner and Webster Hall community combination allowed for the creation of a single Donner/Webster Hall Government, which began to take charge on “Donster Traditions.” One well-known tradition, beginning in the early 1990s, was an annual Thanksgiving Dinner, held in the Webster Basement. This tradition was discontinued in 2016.

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