Browse Items (216 total)

This photo is of a male student sleeping; the table adjacent to him is covered in snack bags (such as cookies), bottles and cans of Miller beer, Kool cigarettes, and what appears to be a ceramic water pipe. Currently, while alcohol is allowed in…

These girls are relaxing in their decorated dorm room. Six pennants cover the walls, and appear to be breaking the rules by either being pinned or taped up. Stuffed animals claim space on the low dormitory beds and framed pictures cover their desk…

A student, Jean Addison, lounges on her bed surrounded by posters on her wall. Fewer framed personal pictures and more posters of popular culture icons were a marked difference from earlier photographs of school dormitory rooms. However, the…

Once more, a stuffed animal resides on the bed of one of these girls, who are reading and discussing in the background. A large doily, often referred to as a dresser scarf, covers the dresser on the right. Freshmen were advised to bring these for…

Girls sit and chat in a Spotswood dorm room. Plants decorate the windowsill and what appears to be a fishbowl sits on top of a bookshelf on the left. All the girls sport curled and coiffed hairdos. A doll and a leather or wooden box sit on the top…

Technology has greatly influenced our daily lives, and technology has likewise been incorporated into dormitories. This image from a residential living brochure shows a student conversing on a rotary phone in her own dorm room. Previously, students…

These students have matching bedspreads and pillows, which can be seen occasionally in historic dormitory photographs. The window sill is decorated with photographs, a yearbook, small porcelain figurines, a lamp, and shells. They have also included…

The transition to dormitories with individual cooking areas placed great trust in residential students. At first, students would be served meals in a dining hall. Later, dormitories each had kitchenettes on their floors for communal use. Things like…

Students relaxing and reading in a dorm room. LIFE Magazine, a radio, a glass bottle of soda, and a pennant between the windows all combine to create an image of a happy dorm room environment. Many Madison students wrote to enlisted servicemen during…

Eloise Lohr, left, and Ann Hearl, right, straighten up a dormitory room. What could possibly be a small sewing kit sits on the windowsill. Students were urged to keep their rooms tidy as stated in a freshmen advice booklet: “Keep your room neat!…