It was a time both of dwindling and booming enrollment at Kansas University, of wartime shortages of labor and housing, and of retreat from the integrationist philosophies upon which the city was founded.

Lawrence’s second 50 years — from 1904 to 1954 — offer much to celebrate, mourn and regret.

Sandwiched between two world wars came the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, and as they did for the nation and world, the global events brought much change to KU and Lawrence.

But World War II and its aftermath, which started a period of rapid growth, left the most lasting impact.

“After the war started, Lawrence went through so many changes, so did KU,” said Scottie Lingelbach, who enrolled at KU in the fall of 1940. “It’s just amazing to look back on those days.”

Perhaps the most lasting changes came in the postwar years.

Boosted by an influx of students attending KU on the G.I. Bill, Lawrence’s population began to boom, ending the relatively slow growth of the city’s first several decades.

In the 1946-47 school year, KU had more than 10,400 students, more than twice the 1942-43 enrollment. Of those students, 6,536 were veterans.

This 1912 photo shows Lawrence women campaigning for the suffrage movement on Vermont Street. Mrs. Frank Strong, wife of the former KU chancellor, is in the middle of the back seat.

The period also marked an increase in car ownership, a lifestyle change that made it easier for residents to travel longer distances across a growing town. Commercial development followed the auto traffic, pushing the city’s boundaries ever wider.

With more development springing up and streets getting busier, city planners built the first bypasses around the city. In 1948, the city widened 23rd Street to serve as a southern bypass. In 1953, Iowa Street was widened as a western bypass.