In February of 1969, less than one year after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., black students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, "propelled by longstanding grievances and fresh flashpoints, called for a campus-wide student strike until administrators agreed to 13 demands." The roughly two-week protest that followed was joined by both black and white students and "was among the largest in university history." To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of this historic event and reflect on its impacts, the university created this website, which incorporates archival photographs, digital storytelling, and recent oral histories recorded with six of the strike participants. Readers will also find an interactive timeline that traces events leading up to and immediately following the strike, beginning with the unjust expulsion of 94 black college students in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in November 1968 and ending with the university faculty agreeing to establish a Black Studies Department on March 3, 1969. For educators, links to a teaching kit and other relevant resources are provided. This digital project was produced in partnership between University Communications and Marketing, the campus Black Cultural Center, and The Black Voice, a student-led publication.
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