Black on the Wisconsin Frontier, 1725-1868

Free. Register at seniorcenter@cityofmadison.com or (608) 266‑6581.

media release: Presented by UW Madison professor Christy Clark-Pujara. Black people have lived, labored, and raised families in the region that became the Midwest since the 16th century. They called the settlements and towns of Prairie du Chien, Racine, Green Bay, Lancaster, Milwaukee, and Menominee home. Yet their stories remain largely untold. Much of the historiography concerning the experiences of Black Americans has focused on the South, and large Northern and Midwestern cities, yet the full dimensions of the African American and American experience cannot be appreciated without reference to how black people managed their lives in places where they were few. This presentation will explore the histories of Black people in what became the state of Wisconsin, from the French colonial period in the 1720s through the American Civil War.