The Center for Campus History developed these teaching guides to provide educators with resources about historical moments of discrimination and resistance at the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus. Almost all of the primary sources in these teaching guides come from archival research conducted by historians working at the center. We encourage educators to modify and adapted these guides and sources to best fit the needs of their particular lesson plans, students, and classrooms. Instructors can also find these materials on Canvas.
Each teaching guide includes:
- Recommended primary sources with a description of each source.
- Recommended secondary readings to help students contextualize the primary sources.
- Additional primary sources with descriptions and secondary readings.
- Discussion questions for all recommended primary and secondary sources and secondary sources.
- Suggestions for a Socratic seminar discussion norms.
- Citations for all the primary sources.
The oral histories found here are part of a larger effort to center the voices, stories, and experiences of discrimination and resistance at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Madison community. These stories were shared with members of the Center for Campus History, and we encourage individuals to explore additional resources that explain the center’s mission and teaching resources that highlight the experiences of other students.
Each oral history guide explores a student’s experience at UW and also relates to a larger phenomenon on campus. Each guide contains:
- A brief description of the interview.
- Audio clips from the interview, typically, a 2-3, 5-7, and 8-10min section.
- All of the segments combined into one file.
- A transcript of the interview (if available).
- Discussion questions about the complexities of oral history and questions that address the content from the interview.
Similar to our teaching guides, there is no right or wrong way to use this material. We encourage educators to select audio clips and questions that best facilitate their goals and objectives for their courses, lectures, and discussions.
All of the audio files are saved as an MP3 format and can either be downloaded or will play in your internet browser when you click the link.
These histories were collected with collaboration and support from the UW Archives Oral History Program, and are part of a the Program’s larger collection featuring hundreds of recorded interviews. This is an ongoing project, and we hope to include more oral histories and resources on this page as the Center continues its work.
Oral Histories
Dr. Victor Jew: Asian-American Studies
Sara Jackson-Brunson: Black Greek Life
Kelly Holmes: Indigenous Student Experience
Ramona Lisa Natera: Chican@ & Latin@ Studies Program
Isaac Trussoni: African American Studies Department
The Center for Campus History regularly publishes blog posts highlighting the history of UW–Madison. To see our newest blog post, please visit our website.
Our team has used the following resources to aid in the Center’s research. They have been divided by topic. This list is by no means exhaustive. If we’ve missed a book you think is important to include, please email centerforcampushistory@wisc.edu.
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Higher Education/UW–Madison History
- The University of Wisconsin: A Pictorial History by Arthur Hove
- Madison: a history of the formative years by David V. Mollenhoff
- The University of Wisconsin: A History by Merle Curti
- Madison in the Sixties by Stu Levitan
- Wisconsin, The New Home of the Jew: 150 Years of Jewish Life at UW–Madison by Jonathan Pollock
- A People’s History of American Higher Education by Philo A. Hutcheson
- American Higher Education Since World War II: A History by Roger L Geiger
- In The Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities are Plundering Our Cities by Davarian Baldwin
- Undermining Racial Justice: How One University Embraced Inclusion & Equality by Matthew Johnson
- Lean Semesters: How Higher Education Reproduces Inequity by Sekile M. Nzinga
- For the Common Good: A New History of Higher Education in America by Charles Dorn
- The Company He Keeps: A History of White College Fraternities by Nicholas L. Syrett
- They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October 1967 by David Maraniss
- Cold War University: Madison and the New Left in the Sixties by Matthew Levin
Articles
- “When perseverance is the only option: Mabel Watson Raimey” by Käri Knutson, March 3, 2021.
- “More than a footnote: Remembering the life of William S. Noland, the first known Black graduate of UW–Madison” by Käri Knutson, March 3, 2021.
Black History
- A Black Women’s History of the United States by Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross
- The Black Revolution on Campus by Martha Biondi
- The Black Campus Movement: Black Students and the Racial Reconstitution of Higher Education, 1965–1972 by Ibram X. Kendi
- The Campus Color Line: College Presidents and the Struggle for Black Freedom by Eddie R. Cole
- White Money/Black Power: The Surprising History of African American Studies And the Crisis of Race And Higher Education by Noliwe M. Rooks
- Settlin’: Stories of Madison’s Early African American Families by Muriel Simms
- Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry by Imani Perry
- The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
- Half in Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay by Shanna Greene Benjamin
LGBTQ+ History
- We’ve Been Here All Along: Wisconsin’s Early Gay History by Richard Wagner
- Coming Out, Moving Forward: Wisconsin’s Recent Gay History by Richard Wagner
- We Will Always Be Here: A Guide to Exploring and Understanding the History of LGBTQ+ Activism in Wisconsin by Jenny Kalvaitis and Kristen Whitson
- The Lavender Scare: Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government by David K. Johnson
- Departing from Deviance: The History of Homosexual Rights and Emancipatory Science in America by David Minton
- Making Gay History by Eric Marcus
- A Queer History of the United States by Michael Bronski
- Transgender History: The Roots of Today’s Revolution by Susan Stryker
- Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton
- Trans* in College: Transgender Students’ Strategies for Navigating Campus Life and the Institutional Politics of Inclusion by Z Nicolazzo
Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) History
- Hmong in Wisconsin (People of Wisconsin) by Mai Zong Vue
- The Good Immigrant: How the Yellow Peril Became the Model Minority by Madeline Y. Hsu
- Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America by Mae Ngai
- Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People by Helen Zia
- Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans by Ronald Takaki
- America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States by Erika Lee
- The Making of Asian America: A History by Erika Lee
- Hmong America: Reconstructing Community in Diaspora by Chia Youyee Vang
- A New History of Asian America by Shelley Sang-Hee Lee
Chicanx and Latinx History
- Mexicans in Wisconsin (People of Wisconsin) by Sergio González
- An African American and Latinx History of the United States by Paul Ortiz
- Occupied America: A History of Chicanos by Rodolfo Acuna
- Our America: A Hispanic History of the United States by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
- El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America by Carrie Gibson
- From Out of the Shadows: Mexican Women in Twentieth-Century America by Vicki L. Ruiz
- Campus Counterspaces: Black and Latinx Students’ Search for Community at Historically White Universities by Micere Keels
- My Time Among the Whites: Notes From an Unfinished Education by Jennine Capó Crucet
Native & Indigenous History
- Wisconsin Indian Literature: Anthology of Native Voices Edited by Kathleen Tigerman
- Indian Nations of Wisconsin: Histories of Endurance and Renewal by Patty Loew
- An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
- Playing Indian by Philip J. Deloria
- Decolonizing Museums: Representing Native America in National and Tribal Museums by Amy Lonetree
- People of the Big Voice: Photographs of Ho-Chunk Families by Charles Van Schaick, 1879-1942 by Amy Lonetree
- Plundered Skulls and Stolen Spirits: Inside the Fight to Reclaim Native America’s Culture by Chip Colwell
- Our History Is the Future by Nick Estes
- Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery by Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah
- Killing the White Man’s Indian: Reinventing Native Americans at the End of the Twentieth Century by Fergus Bordewich
- Our Brother’s Keeper: the Indian in White America by Edgar S. Cahn
- Custer Died for Your Sins by Vine Deloria Jr.
- Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science by Kim TallBear
- Ojibwa Warrior: Dennis Banks and the Rise of the American Indian Movement by Dennis Banks
Disability Justice & Disability History
- A Disability History of the United States by Kim Nielsen
- The Ugly Laws: Disability in Public by Susan Marie Schweik
- Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century by Alice Wong
- Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist by Judith Heumann with Kristen Joiner
- Accessible America: A History of Disability and Design by Bess Williamson
History of whiteness in the United States
- The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter
- Love & Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class by Eric Lott
- The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class by David R. Roediger
- Working Toward Whiteness: How America’s Immigrants Became White: The Strange Journey from Ellis Island to the Suburbs by David R. Roediger
- Roots Too: White Ethnic Revival in Post–Civil Rights America by Matthew Frye Jacobson
- Whiteness of a Different Color: European Immigrants and the Alchemy of Race by Matthew Frye Jacobson
Departments and units across campus are doing important work to recognize the history of the racism and discrimination in the United States and to provide educational opportunities and resources for our campus community to learn more about building an anti-racist future. The following is a small sample of these resources.
Our Shared Future
Our Shared Future is more than a heritage marker. Our Shared Future represents UW–Madison’s commitment to respect the inherent sovereignty of the Ho-Chunk Nation and the other First Nations of Wisconsin. It is a first step that calls on each of us—faculty, staff, and students—to deeply consider our shared past and present with Indigenous peoples in this place, Teejop, and to make our own personal and institutional commitments to achieve a shared future with them. Their website includes more information about Our Shared Future and lists resources for learning more about Indigenous history.
Division of Diversity, Equity, and Educational Achievement
The Division of Diversity, Equity, and Educational Achievement (DDEEA) supports the mission of the University of Wisconsin–Madison as it works to create a diverse, inclusive and excellent learning and work environment for all students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners at the university. Visit the DDEEA’s website to access resources, educational materials, and to learn more about upcoming training and events.
Multicultural Student Center Social Justice Toolkit
The Multicultural Student Center (MSC) has compiled resources to start individuals on their education. Many of these resources are centered on the white experience of seeking to be anti-racist but they can be useful as well for non-black POC seeking to reflect and take action against anti-blackness within their communities.
Office of Inclusion Education
Inclusion Education was formed in August 2020 to elevate and prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion for all students at UW. They offer a broad array of learning opportunities for students that contribute to their Wisconsin Experience. They have compiled an expansive list of campus resources.
Office of Access, Inclusion, and Compliance – Division of Extension | Anti-Racism Resource Library
The Office of Access, Inclusion, and Compliance has compiled a list of resources for Extension professionals and others in the UW community to learn about anti-racism. This library includes books, articles, videos, podcasts and more.
UW Archives
The UW Archives preserves University records and information of permanent historical value, provides records management services and serves as an educational resource encouraging research in its collections.
Inclusion@UW
Inclusion@UW is specifically designed for employees to learn and practice skills that build our collective capacity to promote UW–Madison’s commitment to “value the contributions of each person…and create a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background.”
Through interactive workshops, shared discussion, intentional practice, and researched strategies, each course aims to empower you with knowledge and skills that support—fully and actively—healthy, inclusive, and engaging practices. For more information on upcoming offerings, visit their website.
Learning Communities for Institutional Change and Excellence
The UW–Madison Learning Communities for Institutional Change and Excellence (LCICE) provide a forum for active participation in dialogue focused on creating working, learning, and teaching environments where everyone is heard, valued and included. Through dialogue, one learns how to engage in transformative changes of behaviors, policies, and procedures that collectively impact the campus climate for ALL community members. LCICE offers academic year and semester-long Learning Communities (LCs) that provide space for active participation in dialogue around issues of diversity and inclusion.
Humanities Education for Anti-Racism Literacy in the Sciences and Medicine (HEAL)
HEAL is a 3-year project funded by the Mellon Foundation’s Just Futures Initiative. They are a large, cross-racial and interdisciplinary team that seeks to improve equitable access to higher education by drawing on humanities research to advance anti-racist practices and pedagogy in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM). Their aim is to center the educational experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students to build more accurate narratives about histories of racism in the sciences and medicine to better understand persistent underrepresentation and to develop educational tools for building a more equitable university and society. As their project progresses, resources will be made available.
UW Libraries Anti-Racism Resources
The UW–Madison Libraries have a large collection of materials about anti-racist theory and practice, a number of which are available electronically. Made available on their website are a selection of anti-racist works electronically available through the UW–Madison Libraries.
We believe that everyone has an active role to play in researching and interpreting the history of UW–Madison. To help students, faculty, staff, and scholars more easily find and access research materials related to UW–Madison’s history, we are in the process of creating research guides. Please check back soon.