Greetings from the Center for Campus History! We hope everyone is enjoying the last few days of summer and getting excited for the new school year! For August’s edition of the newsletter we have events and news to look forward to this semester, new Center resources, 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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you haven’t heard, this year’s Go Big Read selection is something special: Percival Everett’s James, a reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from the perspective of Jim, the enslaved man who journeys down the Mississippi alongside Huck.
If you’re an instructor planning to include the book in your classes, or you’re just really excited and want to dive into more context, the Center has a brand new teaching guide for James developed as part of the Go Big Read programming!
It includes both primary and secondary sources that reflect broader historical themes and topics of the Antebellum era that appear in the novel, from slavery to the Enlightenment to blackface minstrelsy.
|
|
|
|
Interested in getting involved in a multicultural student organization on campus? Or just want to see a good show? The UW Multicultural Student Center is kicking off the semester with a series of welcome back events!
MCOR: Cultural Showcase
Kick off the year with a spectacular showcase of performances by multicultural students and organizations, from dance and music to stepping and strolling.
Friday, September 5, 6:00-9:00 P.M. at Shannon Hall
The Meet Up and Comeback Carnival
Meet MSC affiliated multicultural student orgs and get involved. Hosted at the start of each semester.
Friday, September 12, 6:00-8:00 P.M. at the Red Gym
|
|
|
|
Speaking of the Go Big Read above, mark your calendars for this year’s keynote event with James author and National Book Award winner Percival Everett.
The event is free and open to the public with no tickets required. It will also be livestreamed.
Tuesday, November 4, 7:00 – 8:30 P.M.
Union South — Varsity Hall
|
|
|
|
We get asked a lot of questions about UW history. Each month we’ll answer one in the newsletter.
This month: It seems like move-in day (week?) every fall just keeps getting more crowded and chaotic. Has housing around campus become more jam-packed or has it always been this way and the U-Hauls and Ikea furniture are just getting bigger?
The answer: The short answer is yes and yes. The history of housing at UW is one of the things we get asked about most at the Center. (So much so that the new season of our podcast, Reorientation, is all about it!)
But back to this question, the student population has continued to grow over the decades and the supply of housing – both dorms and off-campus rentals – hasn’t kept pace. So it is more crowded than ever before. BUT problems like high rents, limited supply and discrimination have made housing for students a persistent challenge for most of the university’s history.
To learn a lot more about this history, keep your eyes and ears peeled for Season 2 of Reorientation coming this fall.
Do you have any burning questions about UW history? Stories or people you think we should look into? Let us know! Email us at centerforcampushistory@wisc.edu.
|
|
|
|
Student moving into a UW dorm in 1983. UW Archives
|
|
|
|
Usually Center Director Kacie Lucchini Butcher will use this space to share a book, podcast, movie, quote, or something else she thinks has been adding to the CCH. We call it "From The Desk of KLB". But this month Center Assistant Director Taylor Bailey is filling in with a recommendation.
This month From the Desk of TLB, Black Women Writers at Work, edited by Claudia Tate. Featuring interviews with 14 Black women writers, including Maya Angelou, Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison and Alice Walker, this newly republished collection highlights the practices and critical connections between the work and lived experiences of these authors whose writing laid the foundation for many who have come after.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
