Greetings from the Public History Project and happy Pride Month!  June’s edition of the newsletter celebrates LGBTQ+ history at UW-Madison and includes links to project research, events, archival finds, new book recommendations, and more!

The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Public History Project (soon to be the Rebecca M. Blank Center For Campus History) is a multi-year 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 publichistoryproject@wisc.edu.

Meet one of the Project’s student researchers — Amaya Boman! 

Amaya (she/her), is an incoming third-year history honors and neurobiology student. Her research interests center on civil rights law, policy, and politics related to black internationalism and Pan-Africanism in the interwar years. In contrast, her neurological interests focus on neurological gait disorders and nerve graphing/transplants.

Amaya grew up in north central Wisconsin and plans to move to the East Coast for graduate school. Amaya is extremely indecisive, so she is keeping her options open and looking at DPT programs, medical school, law School, and history Ph.D. programs.

Amaya enjoys advocating for students through student government and civil rights advocacy in her free time.

How much do you know about the history of LGBTQ+ resistance at UW? 

Have you heard about the systematic “purges” of gay men at the university by law enforcement and administrators in the 1940s-60s? How about campus protests in the 1980s and 90s decrying the military’s discrimination against gay service members?

Discover those stories and much more Project research on our blog!

The Madison Alliance for Homosexual Equality (MAHE) became the first gay liberation group in the state of Wisconsin and on UW–Madison’s campus when it held its inaugural meeting in November 1969.

The initial announcement stated that the group was “dedicated to the creation of a society characterized by responsible sexual freedom.” It continued, “We do not seek tolerance; we demand human dignity and respect.” 

This poster from the archives advertises a gay liberation event on campus.

Student job alert! UW Archives is hiring for two positions: a Duplication and Copyright Assistant and a Media Processing Assistant.

See the full job descriptions here and here, or contact Digital and Media Archivist Cat Phan (catherine.phan@wisc.edu) with questions. 

Applications are due by Monday, June 26.

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

For June, we’re recommending Making History: The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Equal Rights, 1945-1990 by Eric Marcus. First published in 1992, Marcus’ collection of oral histories has become a definitive account of the unfolding of the LGBTQ civil rights effort from a group of small, independent underground organizations and publications into a national movement. 

From the period in history when homosexuals were routinely beaten by police to the day when gay rights leaders were first invited to the White House, Making History is the story of an against-all-odds struggle that has succeeded in bringing about changes in American society that were once unimaginable.

Usually we use this spot to answer your questions about UW history, but this month we’re flipping it around. We want to hear from you! 

We want to know: What does the future of queer history look like at UW?

Let us know at uwpublichistoryproject@wisc.edu.

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

This month From The Desk of KLB, Babel, a startlingly creative historical fantasy novel from R.F. Kuang.

Set in an alternate 19th century Oxford, the book touches on everything from classical academia to colonialism to magic, telling a story that is both epic and personal.