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September 01, 2005
Blackacre Trailer Camp
One of my favorite “student residences” was the Blackacre Trailer Camp, one of Western Reserve University’s responses to the need to house married veterans returning to school after World War II. There are pictures in the Dorm Life scrapbook. What surprised me was the length of time the trailer camp was in use, 1947-1955, much longer than I had expected. According to articles in the student newspaper, the Reserve Tribune, Blackacre operated as a student co-op. WRU owned the land, but each family paid for its own trailer. Other expenses were shared by all the families and each contributed communal labor to maintain and improve the facility. There seem to have been between six and twelve families in residence at a time. I’d love to hear from the Blackacre children about their recollections of University trailer living.
Jill Tatem
University Archives
Posted by jmt3 at September 1, 2005 09:21 AM
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Comments
I find the Blackacre Trailer Park absolutely fascinating. It really was a product of its times. The GI Bill, which provided government support for veterans of World War II for an education, really changed life on campus - and for its students. College was now affordable to most people who wanted to go. And with the influx of new students seeking an education, WRU and other academic institutions had to do what they could to provide them with classrooms and housing. Hence, the creation of a trailer park to house married students.
We've only touched a bit from the trailer park and would love to know what it was like to live there. Its certainly a change from the new housing at the Village of 115.
Posted by: Tom Steman at September 15, 2005 09:12 AM