Siftings
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“The Policy of Secrecy:” Parents, Administrators, and Spies Investigating Sexual Violence Before UWPD
There was snow on the ground when a Madison police officer and a Pinkerton agent arrived on campus in February 1911 to investigate the rape of a sorority house mother. Agents kept…
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On Badger Belonging: The Complexity of Shared Identity at UW–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison has stood as the flagship university of the state since Wisconsin was founded in 1848. For nearly two centuries, there have been thousands of people who have attended…
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Public History Project Final Report
The UW–Madison Public History Project began as a temporary initiative in 2019 with a mandate to uncover and give voice to the histories of discrimination and resistance on campus. Following the successful…
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“In the Dairy State You Cannot Discriminate:” Protesting Military Homophobia at UW–Madison
In April 1990, students crowded around UW–Madison Chancellor Donna Shalala’s office demanding the expulsion of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) from campus. Student activists sought to ban the ROTC because of…
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Seizing The Day: Remembering Adela Kalvary Owen
Adela Kalvary Owen arrived at UW–Madison in the summer of 1950. After having survived the horrors of the Holocaust, Adela, with her guiding motto “Seize the Day” decided to do just that.…
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Public History Project Annual Report
Since its launch in August of 2019, the UW–Madison Public History Project and its researchers have worked tirelessly to uncover and give voice to the histories of discrimination and resistance on campus.…
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On Listening: A Reflection on the Challenges and Opportunities of Writing Native Histories of UW–Madison
Graduate student Zada Ballew spent the summer of 2021 conducting oral history interviews with Native alumni. In this blog post, she reflects on the power of listening and the opportunities for UW–Madison…
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Breaking Racial Lines: The Formation of Black Greek-Letter Organizations at UW–Madison
The Black fraternal system at UW–Madison has built a legacy of community, resistance, and perseverance. BGLOs became a crucial part of the Black Student community at the university, creating the first formally…
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“Being Hmong, you don’t really have a place”: Hmong American Alumni at UW–Madison
Hmong American students began matriculating into colleges and universities across Wisconsin in the mid-1980s, with their numbers slowly increasing into the 1990s. Within the UW system, over 3,132 Hmong American students have…
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Japanese American Badgers
In the 1940s, Japanese American students — together with Asian international students and a few other Asian American students — formed the small Asian population on UW’s majority white campus. This could…
The Center for Campus History’s digital publication of research and writing
Siftings is an ongoing collection of original historical research, writing and multimedia from the center’s staff, students, and members of the campus community.
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