Property Record
848 W. Lakeside Street
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Rev. James C. and Jackie Wright House |
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| Reference Number: | 241098 |
| Location (Address): | 848 W. Lakeside Street |
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| County: | Dane |
| City: | Madison |
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| Year Built: | 1947 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2019 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Colonial Revival/Georgian Revival |
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| Wall Material: | Brick |
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| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | City of Madison, Wisconsin Underrepresented Communities Historic Resource Survey Report: James C. Wright was born in Camden, South Carolina in 1926. He attended Virginia Union University, became involved in the civil rights movement, and later studied theology and philosophy at Payne Theological Seminary and Wilberforce University in Ohio. After serving as a pastor in South Carolina and Ohio, Wright and his family moved to Madison, where he completed a degree in psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1968, Wright was appointed the executive director of Madison's Equal Opportunities Commission after serving as chairman for four years. In 1975, under the leadership of Wright who directed the Commission from 1968 to 1992, the ordinance was amended to extend its protections based on "sexual orientation." The inclusion of sexual orientation as a protected status as a response to a dramatic increase in complaints to the EOC of unequal treatment based on sexual orientation in the preceding years. Madison's ordinance was the first municipal ordinance in Wisconsin to extend such protections. Reverend Wright also served as an associate minister at Mt. Zion Baptist Church from 1960 to 1984. For more information on Mt. Zion Baptist Church, please see the Religion chapter. He was a member of many organizations including serving as president of the National Institute for Employment Equity, president of the Madison Association of American Baptist Churches of Wisconsin, the National Association of Human Rights Workers, the International Personnel Managers Association, the NAACP, and was a founding member of the Madison Urban League. In 1992, Wright retired from his position with the City of Madison, during which time he led the drafting of the city’s first Affirmative Action Ordinance and developed a complaint resolution process for the Equal Opportunities Commission. From 1990 to 1995, Wright again served as the pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church. He died in 1995. In 2000, a new school was named James C. Wright Middle School in his honor. |
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| Bibliographic References: |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |