Happy holidays from the Center for Campus History! We hope everyone is able to finish off the semester smoothly and can enjoy some rest over the break. But before you go, we have one last newsletter for the year with events, archival finds, holiday 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.
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We don’t know about you, but the one thing everyone at the Center has been asking for this holiday season is a virtual wine tasting with travel guide legend Rick Steves. And a meat and cheese gift box. Oh, and a fish poster, and a terrace chair plushie, and a coffee table book the the collected monotype prints of David Lynch.
You can find all that and much, much more in this UW–Madison holiday gift guide. Seriously, it’s not just Bucky sweatshirts and mugs. Who knew the vet school and that research base in Antarctica had gifts for the hard-to-shop-for Badgers in your life?
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Looking for something to help pass the time over break as you’re sitting and watching the yule log crackle in the fireplace? Why not start a new family holiday tradition of binge listening to Reorientation, the deep-dive history podcast from the CCH?
Ever wonder how UW–Madison and hundreds of other universities across the country ended up with their own deputized police departments? What about why finding a decent place to live in Madison has been so hard, decade after decade? Well we have the podcast for you!
Seasons 1 and 2 are available on our website, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all the other usual podcast places.
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UW students in the 1950s or 60s celebrate Christmas. UW Archives
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“Hey fellas, whatd’ya say we stay in tonight and put some tinsel on the tree?”
“Gee, that sounds swell! Maybe afterwards we can pull out the guitar and pluck along to some carols.”
“Should we invite Mary along? She loves festive tunes.”
“No can do. She’s stuck ironing Christmas stockings for the gals in her hall.”
“Aww shucks! Oh well, more eggnog for us!”
One of the best parts about researching UW history is that we’re constantly stumbling across interesting tidbits in the Archives that provide a window into what life was like on campus in past eras. These students in the 1950s and 60s seem to have varying degrees of enthusiasm for the holidays!
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A women looks thrilled to be ironing amidst Christmas decorations in Elizabeth Waters hall. UW Archives
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Each month, we like to share one of the many (many… many… ) books that have helped the Center’s research.
While some modern Christmas traditions like good ol’ Saint Nick only arose in the last couple hundred years, Frodsham dives into historical evidence that shows the roots of the holiday go back more than 5,000 years to the Stone Age. Through Roman times and the rise of Christianity, the book sheds light on the surprisingly layered origins of the holiday season.
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Free this Tuesday night? Join CCH Director Kacie Lucchini Butcher at Leopold's Books Bar Caffè for a Badgers on Tap talk! She’ll be walking folks through some of the surprising ways Madison’s history was shaped by housing discrimination. Come for the history, stay for the drinks, bingo and prizes!
Tuesday, December 16 at 6:30 p.m.
Leopold's Books Bar Caffè
1301 Regent St., Madison
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Normally Center Director Kacie Lucchini Butcher uses this space to share a book, podcast, movie, quote, or something else she thinks has been adding to the Center’s work. But to close out the year, we’re roping in the entire CCH staff to share personal history: favorite family holiday traditions.
This month From the Desk of KLB CCH: Center Assistant Director Taylor L. Bailey says her favorite (and pretty much only) Christmas tradition is watching It’s a Wonderful Life with her family, topped off with a secret Santa gift exchange. Director Kacie Lucchini Butcher, meanwhile, prefers an annual rewatch of A Christmas Story on Christmas morning. (“The older I get the more I love the dad.”) Curricular Program Manager Daniel Berman marks Christmas Eve by going out for Chinese food, followed by a big dessert party on Christmas Day. And Communications Manager John K. Wilson has a longstanding “tradition” of driving around on Christmas morning with his mom to figure out which local coffee shop is open this year.
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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.
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