The 1940s: WWII brings changes to DCP
Right when the economy seemed to be bouncing back from the stock market crash, the 1940s brought the U.S. into yet another earth-shattering event: World War II.
On Dec. 7, 1941, the U.S. officially entered into the war, causing thousands of college-aged men to be drafted into the military. Whether you were a young entrepreneur entering college for the first time or a recent graduate hoping to start your profession, imagine immediately changing your plans in order to serve in the war.
Early records indicate that once the country became involved in the war, student enrollment plummeted, making it seemingly impossible for the college to progress forward in the early- to- mid 1940s.
However, those statistics also show a great post-war student enrollment boom after the war ends in 1945, as thousands of students enlist and create a great spike in the charts.
Although the beginning of the 1940s seemed to be off to a rough start, by the end of the decade, DCP managed to add two more programs under the department of architecture: Interior Design in 1948 and Planning in 1949. The school even received a new director in the 1947: William T. Arnett.
The National Architecture Accrediting Board accredited the School of Architecture and Allied Arts in 1948, permitting it to become the College of Architecture and Allied Arts with Arnett as the dean.
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Below are a list of facts that helped shape the 1940s:
DCP facts
- 1947: William T. Arnett becomes Director of School of Architecture and Allied Arts until 1948
- 1948: Instruction in Interior Design was added
- 1948: The School of Architecture was accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board and was changed to the College of Architecture and Allied Arts with Arnett as Dean (1948-65)
- 1949: Fifth-year curriculum of planning for architecture students is created, as well as a master’s degree in community planning
UF facts
- 1947: Post-war student enrollment boom has an increase of 7,413 students registering for that school year
Campus-wide student enrollment:
- 1940: 3,299
- 1941: 3,074
- 1942: 2,604
- 1943: 588
- 1944: 755
- 1945: 1,503
- 1946: 6,344
- 1947: 8,778
- 1948: 10,143
- 1949: 10,573
(Statistics from: UF Office of Institutional Planning and Research
World events
- 1941: Attack on Pearl Harbor
- 1944: D-Day
- 1945: Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- 1946: The bikini is introduced
