This website is a digital exhibit on the history of Macalester College’s campus, researched and developed by me (Andie Walker) for my honors project, the culmination of my individually designed major in Digital History Communication.
For my major, I have focused on using computer science and digital tools to research and communicate history scholarship, which is why this exhibit takes the form of a website. I believe that using digital tools gives us the chance to write more accessible, engaging histories that encourage people to think critically about the past.
I began to research the college’s history as a junior attending Macalester because I was curious about where I lived: the Veggie Co-op, a specialty housing option for students located under the bleachers of Macalester’s stadium. That research resulted in a timeline tracing the history of Macalester’s student housing, which uncovered many interesting stories I didn’t expect to find when researching dorms. For my honors project, I decided to expand my scope and look at the campus as a whole. The final product is this exhibit.
For my research, I relied heavily on the Macalester College Archives, which include digitized student publications and college catalogs as well as physical papers, photographs, maps, and other objects. In particular, the Mac Weekly, Macalester’s student newspaper since 1914 was incredibly helpful in piecing together the past.
I also consulted other research into Macalester and the history of college campuses. Notably, Jeanne Halgren Kilde’s book Nature and Revelation: A History of Macalester College gave me a great overview of the college’s history, while Carla Yanni’s Living on Campus: An Architectural History of the American Dormitory was instrumental in giving me an understanding of the history of collegiate architecture.
I would not have been able to bring this project to life without the help of many others along the way. My three honors examiners, Jessica Pearson, Paul Cantrell, and Aisling Quigley were great advisers for this project and throughout my college experience. Prof. Pearson helped guide my historical thinking, Paul was invaluable in helping me build this website thoughtfully, and Aisling introduced me to many great resources in the digital humanities. Additionally, Prof. Karin Vélez was a great mentor when I took her history capstone course in the Fall of 2022 and wrote the bulk of the writing now displayed in this exhibit.
Primary Sources
“All-College Revue Thrills Audience.” Mac Weekly. April 18, 1947. Macalester College Archives.
“A Situation Explored.” Mac Weekly. March 13, 1964. Macalester College Archives.
Bennett, James. “Black House: Symbol of an identity and a culture.” Mac Weekly. May 1, 1970. Macalester College Archives.
Berning, Nick, and Sarah Fazio. “Campus Center opens doors, dialogue.” Mac Weekly. February 9, 2001. Macalester College Archives.
“Campus center to open.” Mac Weekly. December 15, 2000. Macalester College Archives.
“Cards Swiped!” Mac Weekly. April 29, 1966. Macalester College Archives.
“Co-ed Invasion Crowds Boys From Kirk Hall.” Mac Weekly. September 29, 1944. Macalester College Archives.
“Coed Housekeepers Have Fun in New Home.” Mac Weekly. October 29, 1943. Macalester College Archives.
“College Dedicates New Union Today.” Mac Weekly. February 6, 1952. Macalester College Archives.
Deegan, Gordon. “Seniors, Here Through War Years, Look With Pride to Mac Future.” Mac Weekly. December 14, 1945. Macalester College Archives.
“Everyone’s Talking About the New Campus Center . . .” Mac Weekly. February 9, 2001. Macalester College Archives.
“Early birds get no food.” Mac Weekly. February 28, 1992. Macalester College Archives.
“East Old Main: A Transition.” Event program. Friday, April 4, 1986. Box RG 12.1 Buildings on Campus, folder Old Main (East & West). Macalester College Archives.
Edwards, Jack. “Dorm Hours Disliked.” Mac Weekly. April 10, 1953. Macalester College Archives.
“Exams plus Exercise plus Excitement equals Frosh Week.” Mac Weekly. September 27, 1947. Macalester College Archives.
“Food By Extortion.” Mac Weekly. January 24, 1964. Macalester College Archives.
Gehrenbeck, David. “Union Plans Move Ahead.” Mac Weekly. March 3, 1950. Macalester College Archives.
“GI’s Boost Register Past 1,000.” Mac Weekly. August 9, 1946. Macalester College Archives.
Gibson, John W. “Ode to Old Main.” Poem and photo collage. July 26, 1986. Box RG 12.1 Buildings on Campus, folder Old Main (East & West). Macalester College Archives.
Holloway, Janet. “Union? It’s Coming!” Mac Weekly. October 19, 1951. Macalester College Archives.
“Homecoming Dates?” Mac Weekly. October 29, 1948. Macalester College Archives.
Kopp, Elmer J. to Dr. Robert M. Gavin, Jr. November 13, 1985. Box RG 12.1 Buildings on Campus, folder Old Main (East & West). Macalester College Archives.
Kuklish, Jon. “Which Way Will the Door Swing?” Mac Weekly. February 18, 1966. Macalester College Archives.
Laughlin, Del. “Dormitory Associations.” Macalester College Bulletin 1, no. 1 (October 1912). Macalester College Archives.
Lebovics, Ethan. “New library opens doors to students.” Mac Weekly. September 9, 1988. Macalester College Archives.
“Library and East Old Main.” Administrative document. Box RG 12.1 Buildings on Campus, folder Old Main (East & West). Macalester College Archives.
List, Dave. “Mac gives the dope to reluctant soldiers once again this year.” Mac Weekly. October 2, 1970. Macalester College Archives.
Longley-Postema, Bryanna. “Housing shortage forces next year’s juniors off campus.” Mac Weekly. March 22, 2002. Macalester College Archives.
Macalester College. “Fifty-Eighth Annual Catalogue.” College Catalogs. Macalester College Archives. 1943. https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/catalogs/76/.
Macalester College. “First Annual Catalogue.” College Catalogs. Macalester College Archives. 1886. https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/catalogs/19/.
Macalester College. “Macalester College Bulletin.” College Catalogs. Macalester College Archives. 1964. https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/catalogs/93/.
Macalester College. “Macalester College Bulletin.” College Catalogs. Macalester College Archives. 1970. https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/catalogs/98/.
Macalester College. “Macalester College Bulletin,” College Catalogs. Macalester College Archives. 1972. https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/catalogs/100/.
Macalester College. “Sixty-Second Annual Catalog.” College Catalogs. Macalester College Archives. 1947. https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/catalogs/80/.
Macalester College. “Twelfth Annual Catalogue.” College Catalogs. Macalester College Archives. 1896. https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/catalogs/30/.
Macalester College. “Twenty-Second Annual Catalogue.” College Catalogs. Macalester College Archives. 1907. https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/catalogs/40/.
“Macalester in War Time.” Macalester College Bulletin 6, no. 1 (October 1917).
Mills, Shannon and Heather Lendway. “Gender-blind housing proposal gets media attention.” Mac Weekly. December 5, 2003. Macalester College Archives.
Morrill, Richard. “Old Gastric Problem Burps Up Once Again.” Letter to the editor. Mac Weekly. January 16, 1953. Macalester College Archives.
Neill, Edward D. “Letter from Edward D. Neill to Hon. N. G. Taylor.” Counterbalance, Macalester College Archives.
“New Dorms Get OK.” Mac Weekly. September 28, 1956. Macalester College Archives.
“New Dorms Named Turck, Dayton Halls.” Mac Weekly. October 18, 1957. Macalester College Archives.
“Preliminary design concepts for Campus Center.” Mac Weekly. October 29, 1993. Macalester College Archives.
“Prexy Candidates Present Plans.” Mac Weekly. April 22, 1955. Macalester College Archives.
Stoughton, Paul to Alexander Hill. December 23, 1985. Box RG 12.1 Buildings on Campus, folder Old Main (East & West). Macalester College Archives.
“Strike diary.” Mac Weekly. May 19, 1970, Macalester College Archives.
“Students Assist in Plans for New $500,000 Union.” Mac Weekly. January 13, 1950. Macalester College Archives.
The Mac. Macalester College yearbook. 1948. Macalester College Archives.
“The years of change: a Macalester microcosm.” Mac Weekly. May 19, 1970, Macalester College Archives.
Ule, Herberts to Geoffrey T. Freeman. December 9, 1985. Box RG 12.1 Buildings on Campus, folder Old Main (East & West). Macalester College Archives.
Vaccarella, Eric. “Mac to demolish East Old Main.” Mac Weekly. December 13, 1985. Macalester College Archives.
Waldhauser, Cleo. “New Mac Union Promises Relief To Crowded Campus.” Mac Weekly. April 20, 1951. Macalester College Archives.
Wallace Hall plans. 1906. Box ZF351.W19. Macalester College Archives.
Winter, Anne. “Macalester Women Want Right to Make Their Own Decisions.” Mac Weekly. February 25, 1966.
“Women’s Hours, Open Houses, to Go into Effect.” Mac Weekly. November 22, 1968. Macalester College Archives.
Wright, Peter. “Kirk to have new all-gender housing.” Mac Weekly. March 28, 2008. Macalester College Archives.
Other Sources
Chamness, Daria. “Macalester Land Plot History.” Counterbalance, Macalester College Archives. https://dwlibrary.macalester.edu/counterbalance/student-projects/macalester-land-plot-history/
Foucault, Michel, and Alan Sheridan. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Second Vintage books edition. New York: Vintage Books, 1995.
Funk, Henry Daniel. A History of Macalester College: Its Origin, Struggle, and Growth. Saint Paul, Minn.: Macalester College Board of Trustees, 1910.
“George Draper Dayton Hall (GDD).” Macalester College, accessed April 15, 2023. https://www.macalester.edu/residential-life/residencehalls-2/gdd/.
“History of Multiculturalism and Internationalism at Mac.” Multiculturalism at Macalester College, Macalester College Archives, accessed April 15, 2023. https://dwlibrary.macalester.edu/multicultural/.
Kilde, Jeanne Halgren. Nature and Revelation : A History of Macalester College. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010.
Kuzma, Barbara. “DML Land Acknowledgement created this summer.” Mac Weekly. October 11, 2018. https://themacweekly.com/75018/uncategorized/dml-land-acknowledgement-created-this-summer/.
Lathrop, Alan K. Minnesota Architects : A Biographical Dictionary. Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 2010. http://archive.org/details/minnesotaarchite0000lath.
Martinez, Cal. “First Year Transgender Students Denied All Gender Housing.” Mac Weekly. November 3, 2022. https://themacweekly.com/81574/features/first-year-transgender-students-denied-all-gender-housing/.
McMahon, Liam. “Who was Edward Duffield Neill?” Mac Weekly, October 31, 2019. https://themacweekly.com/76882/neill-hall/who-was-edward-duffield-neill/.
“Serviceman’s Readjustment Act (1944)”. National Archives. Last reviewed May 3, 2022.
Yanni, Carla. Living on Campus : An Architectural History of the American Dormitory. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2019.