Greetings from the Center for Campus History and happy Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Heritage Month! April's newsletter celebrates APIDA history at UW-Madison and includes new center research, event updates, book recommendations, and more!

The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Rebecca M. Blank Center For Campus History is an ongoing effort to expand and enrich UW-Madison’s historical narrative by centering the voices, experiences, and struggles of marginalized groups. 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.  

This semester, the CCH had the opportunity to partner with the Gender & Women’s Studies Department by working with a student in GWS 660 on the development of a historical research project.   

Our intern, Michael Rozier, conducted archival research on the history of the enrollment and retention of Black students at UW–Madison. He presented his poster “Where Are We? Black Enrollment at UW” at the Women’s & Gender Studies Consortium spring 2025 conference and engaged dozens of attendees on questions about identity and enrollment at UW, his research limitations, and systemic barriers for Black students at UW. Michael also won a student award for his work. Take a look at Michael's poster here.

Bienvenue from Montreal! Poutine and public history anyone?

A few weeks ago the whole CCH team had the chance to visit Quebec 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, get inspiration from diverse projects and explore a new city, even if none of us on staff speak even passable French. 

How does student community building and space-making become a practice that spans across decades?

Rice Paper was a student publication at UW–Madison in the mid 1970s that aimed to serve as a voice for Asian American students across the Midwest. The magazine only lasted three years, but for CCH student researcher T. Ngọc Phan Kim, the work of its producers resonates 50 years later. 

The latest post in CCH’s Siftings features Kim’s research and reflections on Rice Paper, along with original poetry engaging with the text of the magazine.

Have you ever wondered how history and social studies pedagogy and reforms during the interwar period in the US (1919–1939) shaped the contentious political battles we see over classroom teaching today? 

Well, even if you haven’t wondered that specifically, the answer is still fascinating! And you can learn all about it thanks to CCH Curricular Programs Manager Daniel Berman, who just had his research on the topic published in the journal Revista de Educación. (Don’t worry if you don’t speak Spanish, there is an English version available as well!) Congratulations Dan!

Earlier this month we were honored to host poet, cultural critic, and MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Hanif Abdurraqib on campus along with the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives as part of their 18th annual Line Breaks Festival!

Hanif was gracious enough to participate in three separate events: a fireside chat hosted by CCH Director Kacie Lucchini Butcher, Just Bust! Open Mic, and Just Bust! workshop. It was an honor to have Hanif in conversation with UW students and community members on topics like the art of writing, poetry and performance, history, nostalgia and grief, and much more throughout each event. We learned so much from him during these events and hope our community did, too.

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 A Perfect Mess: The Unlikely Ascendancy of American Higher Education by author and Stanford education professor David F. Labaree. 

With political debates over higher education front and center in the national conversation, Labaree’s book provides much needed context, detailing the struggles and successes that have shaped American universities from the beginning. 

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

This month: When did UW students start decorating their graduation caps for commencement? How did the tradition start? 

The answer: It’s pretty much impossible to nail down the first time a graduating student scrawled out some sort of message on their mortarboard. But according to a writeup from the Wisconsin Alumni Association, the practice really took off as an act of protest in the 1960s when student activists used their caps to display political messages. In the decades since, the decorations have become much more varied and elaborate, giving graduates a chance to express personal identities, school spirit or just about anything else they can think up. 

Have a question? Let us know! Email us at centerforcampushistory@wisc.edu.

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, Kacie is giving one more plug to Hanif Abdurraqib (who we had on campus this month!) with her all-time favorite of his books, They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us.

In this collection of essays spanning everything from Bruce Springsteen to mass violence to finding refuge in pop punk, Abdurraqib uses artifacts of American culture to reflect on deeper truths in a way that only he can.