Desegregation and Civil Rights
African Americans in Wisconsin had been struggling for their civil rights for more than a century before the movement began to attract headlines in the 1960s. In 1866, for example, Milwaukee's Ezekiel Gillespie successfully sued for the right to vote, and in the 1930s, William Kelley of the Milwaukee Urban League began to fight for the rights of black teachers to work in the public schools. These early efforts were especially difficult because African Americans made up only a very small percentage of the state's residents before the middle of the 20th century. For information about early civil rights history... more...
Original Documents and Other Primary Sources
| African American housing conditions in Milwaukee in 1955 |
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| Former slaves who settled in Madison and Racine |
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| Wisconsin voting and civil rights legislation, 1846-1929. |
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| The KKK parades through Madison in 1924 |
| A block-print wall hanging from the Milwaukee Handicraft Project |
| A 1950 guide to African American businesses |
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| Wisconsin's African American population from statehood through 1910 |
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| A survey of black families in rural Wisconsin, 1959 |
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| The effects of Milwaukee school desegregation efforts, 1992 |
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| Milwaukee residents discuss the city's racial problems, 1965 |
| Milwaukee civil rights leader, Lloyd Barbee |
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| Fr. James Groppi leading Milwaukee civil rights demonstrations, 1966-1969. |
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| Photograph of attorney Byron Paine, ca. 1860 |
| A detailed look at Milwaukee's black community in 1946 |
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| An African American woman describes her migration to Wisconsin in 1917 |
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| Wisconsin passes the country's first gay rights law, 1982 |
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| William Rasche advocates on behalf of African American workers |
| Segregated company housing takes shape in Beloit |
Primary Sources Available Elsewhere
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| Wisconsin Blue Books |
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| Wisconsin celebrates 50 years of black freedom, 1915 |
| Documents relating to the integration of Milwaukee Public Schools |
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| Explore 400 years of African American history and migration |
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| African American students describe their lives in Milwaukee, 2000 |
Related Links
 Discover classroom resources available from our Office of School Services
Search our catalogs for materials on this topic that aren't yet available online.
Borrow books about this topic through our interlibrary loan service
Borrow manuscripts about this topic through our Area Research Center network.
Learn about other topics from our new book, Wisconsin History Highlights
Check the progress of school desegregation, 1968-2000
Visit the Wisconsin Black Historical Society
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