Greetings from the Center for Campus History and happy almost-end of the semester! We hope everyone is getting their work wrapped up and finding some time to enjoy a bit of spring. For April’s newsletter we have Center updates, cool events, finds from the archives, book and music recommendations, and more!

The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Rebecca M. Blank Center For Campus History is an ongoing university effort to uncover and give voice to those who experienced, challenged, and overcame prejudice on campus. As always, if you have a story to share, an event you think should be researched, or a person you think has been overlooked, please email us at centerforcampushistory@wisc.edu.

What’s cooler than a hotel conference center full of public history folks? Trick question. Nothing! Earlier this month the whole CCH team and a couple of our students made the trek out to Salt Lake City for the National Council on Public History’s annual conference. 

It was an absolute privilege to hang out with and learn from others in the field, not to mention explore a new city, enjoy some mountain air and replenish our vitamin D levels! (Oh, and CCH Director Kacie Lucchini Butcher also happened to lead a standing-room-only conference session alongside UW–Madison Distinguished Oral Historian Troy Reeves!)

We get asked a lot of questions about UW history. Each month we’ll answer one in the newsletter. 

This month: What’s the deal with plastic flamingos at UW? These days it’s a fundraiser, but where did it come from?

The answer: At this point the absolutely non-native-to-Wisconsin pink birds, or at least their lawn ornament cousins, are a staple of UW’s campus and wider Madison, but they started as a political stunt. 

On the first day of classes in 1979, members of the Pail and Shovel Party celebrated their landslide electoral takeover of UW–Madison student government by buying more than 1,000 flamingos and covering Bascom Hill. With a party platform entirely dedicated to pranks, the Pail and Shovel crew went on to stage all sorts of absurdist hijinks, including the original Statue of Liberty on Mendota. 

The CCH recently cohosted an open house event with the UW Archives featuring some cool finds from their collections, including one of the original Bascom flamingos. 

And if you’re interested in learning more about Pail and Shovel exploits, stay tuned! We have Center students researching the group for inclusion in a future exhibit.

Join the UW–Madison Department of History for a showcase of student research at the annual Senior Thesis Presentations! The event features work from 18 student historians, and refreshments will be available. 

CCH student Amaya Bowman will be presenting on her thesis topic, “A History of the Student Resource Officer Program and its Implications in Madison Metropolitan School District”. 

Monday, April 29, 2024 – 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Pyle Center, Room 335

Each month, we like to share one of the many (many… many… ) books that have helped the Center’s research. This month we’re recommending historian and activist Davarian Baldwin’s In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower. 

Astute newsletter readers will notice that we’ve shared this one before. But we were honored to host Davarian on campus earlier this month for events with students and community members, so getting the word out again.

The book is a must-read for anyone interested in the state of academia, urbanism or community activism!

Each month Center Director Kacie Lucchini Butcher will share a book, podcast, movie, quote, or something else she thinks has been adding to the CCH. We're calling it "From The Desk of KLB".

This month From the Desk of KLB (with some encouragement from Center Assistant Director and Bey superfan Taylor L. Bailey), Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter.

Sure, you can simply enjoy it as a hit album full of absolute bangers, but it’s also a work that dives headfirst into the intertwined histories of music, race and power in America. For a primer on some of those themes, take a listen to this episode on the New York Times Popcast.