Greetings from the Center for Campus History, and happy Spooky and/or Pumpkin Spice Season, whichever you choose to celebrate. It’s also the season for the inaugural season of Reorientation, the CCH’s brand new history podcast! Read more about it below, along with event updates, Halloween photo finds, 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.  

Meet one of our new student researchers, Andrea Linsmeier!

Andrea is in her final year of UW–Madison's Library and Information Studies graduate program where she has been focusing on archives and digital collections. Andrea is very passionate about sharing history with others and making it accessible.

With an undergraduate degree in history, Andrea says she’s especially excited about conducting archival research for the Center!

What’s the deal with campus police? How did UW–Madison and hundreds of other universities across the country end up with their own deputized law enforcement agencies? And what does their existence mean for the communities they police, both on and off campus?

Those are the questions we’re digging into on the inaugural season of Reorientation, an original podcast from the Center for Campus History! Each season we’re giving a historical topic the deep-dive treatment with new archival research finds, interviews with experts and scholars, and stories from the past brought to life in a new way.

Listen to Episode 1 on our website and mark your calendars for the release of the whole six-episode season on November 11! For instructors out there, each episode will be paired with a complete teaching guide.

UW–Madison is home to one of the oldest and most prestigious astronomy programs in the nation, and at its heart sits Washburn Observatory. The new book, Chasing the Stars, How the Astronomers of Observatory Hill Transformed Our Understanding of the Universe, outlines the history of the Observatory since its creation in 1878 and its tremendous influence on the field of astronomy since then. 

Join coauthors James Lattis (Director of UW Space Place) and Kelly Tyrrell (Assistant Vice Chancellor for Content Strategy in the Office of Strategic Communication) for a book talk, Q&A and reception. More info here.

Tuesday, October 29, 2024  5:00-7:00 PM

Wisconsin Historical Society Auditorium

Each month, we like to share one of the many (many… many… ) books that have helped the Center’s research.

For October, we’re recommending A Forgotten Migration by Crystal R. Sanders. The book tells the little-known story of "segregation scholarships" awarded by states in the US South to Black students seeking graduate education in the pre–Brown v. Board of Education era. Instead of using funding to educate these students locally, many states paid to send Black students out of state for graduate education.

Sanders examines Black graduate students who relocated to the North, Midwest, and West to continue their education with segregation scholarships, revealing the many challenges they faced along the way, including long and tedious travel, financial hardship, racial discrimination, isolation, and homesickness.

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 all of Bucky’s Halloween costumes? Is there any history there?

The answer: We appreciate every question we get, but the answer to this one is a little obvious — Bucky dresses up because he’s like me and you. He loves to celebrate Halloween! But don’t worry. In lieu of some obscure historical story, we have some pics of Bucky’s recent fits for your enjoyment (and inspiration). 

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. 

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 a concurring endorsement from CCH Communications Manager John Wilson), the Sixteenth Minute (of Fame) podcast. Focusing on history of a decidedly recent vintage, host Jamie Loftus takes a closer look at the internet’s main characters. Whether it’s an enduring meme or a dreaded Character of the Day distinction, Loftus explores how these stories raise issues of unwarranted attention, blurred lines of consent and the impact of more notoriety than any one person is built to handle. 

Just in time for Election Day, take a listen to a two-part episode featuring Ken Bone, the red-sweatered undecided voter everyman who became a symbol of the wackiness that was the 2016 cycle.