WHEN WE WERE NORMAL
A Historical Augmented Reality Walking Tour
Gender Segregation in School
LOCATION: SECOND FLOOR HALLWAY NEAR MILLER 202
Male students were a rare oddity at the Fitchburg Normal School in the years before the Practical Arts Program. When they did enroll, they were housed in off-campus apartments until Palmer Hall, a former women’s dormitory, was made available to them in 1933. This was their primary residence until 1958, when it reverted to housing for women. By the late 1960’s, the question of co-education became a hot topic on many campuses, and Fitchburg was no exception.
When Palmer was a men’s dorm, women were not allowed on the second and third floor. Likewise, men were not allowed on Miller’s second and third floors. There were a few exceptions to this rule–when male garbagemen came up to empty bins or when a girl’s father or brother helped them move in or out. For these occasions, a bell would be rung and someone would yell: “MALE ARRIVING ON SECOND/THIRD FLOOR.”
Surprisingly, the question of whether or not the college should become a co-ed campus started earlier than one might expect. Even as early as the 1930’s, articles in college publications discussed the values of a co-ed system. One article from May 1936 advocates for more interaction between the men and women of Fitchburg, comparing it to the Civil War:
“We certainly haven’t the enmity that existed between the “Blue and The Gray” but we just as certainly have the deranging factors. Our student organizations are just as distinct and separate as the North and South of old.”
Some three decades later, the college community was ready to discuss co-ed housing. A 1972 campus-wide survey polled 607 students, and 527 of them supported the concept of co-ed dorms at Fitchburg State. Of those 527 in favor, 407 answered that they wished to live in a co-ed dorm themselves.
Co-ed dorms and campuses are so common now that the gender segregation in housing, dining, and classroom space that existed less than a century ago seems wholly foreign.
The women lived in Miller Hall, but the cafeteria was in Palmer Hall. When it was mealtime, the women would walk through the underground tunnels that connected Miller to Palmer. The men of Palmer used these tunnels, too, but for a more devious purpose: it was their tradition to travel down the tunnel to Miller to embark on the annual panty raid.