Property Record
209-211 N BROOKS ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | James and Rosa Bitney House |
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| Other Name: | Women's Studies House (UW#0788) |
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| Reference Number: | 95208 |
| Location (Address): | 209-211 N BROOKS ST |
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| County: | Dane |
| City: | Madison |
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| Year Built: | 1929 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 198520192022 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Front Gabled |
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| Wall Material: | Asphalt |
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| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | House is clad with composition siding simulating brick, compromising its integrity. Possible significance under criterion A as the home of the UW Women's Studies Program, from its establishment in 1975 until moving to Ingraham Hall in 1996, was considered. However, this building was primarily the administrative office for the department, as all the professors has joint appointments (Feldman p.135). City of Madison, Wisconsin Underrepresented Communities Historic Resource Survey Report: The University of Wisconsin’s institutional response to the Women’s Liberation Movement was initially peripheral. In 1970, the University of Wisconsin Extension developed a four-session course on the movement itself and how women might relate to it. The course was offered at Midvale Community Lutheran Church in Madison and simultaneously by phone in other locations around the state. In the mid-1970s, when it was clear that movement was making significant progress in shifting American culture, the University of Wisconsin system’s response was more direct. University regents made it a system-wide policy in 1974 that all University of Wisconsin institutions initiate a Women’s Studies program. The University of Wisconsin-Madison established a Women’s Studies program in 1975. The former house at 209 North Brooks Street was home to the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Women’s Studies Program from its founding until 1997. The house at 209 North Brooks Street was built in 1902 for James and Rosa Bitney, who owned it until 1947 when it was purchased by the Wisconsin University Building Corporation. It was rented as a residence for the University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty and students through the 1950s. In 1962, the corporation transferred the title to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It was converted in the mid-1960s for use as program office space affiliated with the university. The new Women’s Studies program was shaped in this house as the program’s faculty and Executive Committee debated the issues of sexual orientation, the development of courses in lesbian studies, the needs of women of color, and whether male faculty should be allowed to teach in the program. In 1981, the University of Wisconsin-Madison established a graduate program in women’s history. The house was the site of intense discussions of feminist issues that drew crowds in the 1980s. By 1988, the program was called “probably the best women’s studies program in the US” by the woman who pioneered the academic field. By 1996, the program had outgrown the house and was relocated the following year to Ingraham Hall, located at 1155 Observatory Drive. |
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| Bibliographic References: | University of Wisconsin-Madison: Update to the Preliminary Evaluation of Buildings and Structures for Eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places, June 13, 2023. University of Wisconsin-Madison: Preliminary Evaluation of Buildings and Structures for Eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places. September 2009. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |