All Stories Matter

Barb Constans and Deb Rohde have been aware of the Wisconsin Historical Society since their days as UW-Madison students in the 1970s. The Society’s large, historic headquarters building on Library Mall, which opened in 1900, was hard to miss. 

It wasn’t until becoming members years later, however, that they began to truly understand the vast scope of services the Society offers. 

Rohde started doing family genealogy research and found the Society’s library and archives to be an essential resource. They were also impressed by an exhibit on women’s suffrage. And in recent years, they particularly appreciated the Society’s increased effort to document, preserve and share the history of traditionally underrepresented groups. 

It is especially meaningful to the retired Madison couple, who have been together for 42 years and married for 18. 

“The Society does amazing work in preserving the rich history of Wisconsin and its residents,” says Constans, a Green Bay native. “It is especially important to us to preserve the history of gay people, women, and the native peoples of our state. The Society has shown a focus on telling the stories of these often-forgotten groups of people, which drew our attention. From our perspective, it really is about how all stories matter. Everybody’s individual story matters.” 

Their story is not unlike thousands of others across Wisconsin — the 2020 census showed over 15,000 same-sex couples living in the state. But until recent years, those stories had rarely been fully, and publicly, shared. 

The Society’s commitment to change that led Constans and Rohde to increase their financial support with multiple gifts. They also became members of the Robert B.L. Murphy Legacy Circle by including the Society in their estate plan. 

“It is important to us personally as gay women,” says Rohde, a Sheboygan Falls native. “We want to make sure that part of our estate is used to help organizations we feel are doing this vital work.”  

Donations support Wagner book project 

Constans and Rohde increased their relationship with the Society in 2017 by making the first of multiple contributions to support author R. Richard Wagner’s two-volume series of books on gay history in Wisconsin, published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press. 

The first book, “We’ve Been Here All Along: Early Gay History in Wisconsin,” was released in 2019, followed a year later by “Coming Out, Moving Forward: Wisconsin’s Recent Gay History.” Wagner’s groundbreaking achievement won numerous awards and inspired further exploration of the subject.  

They sparked an additional Society Press book in 2021 for young readers, “We Will Always Be Here: A Guide to Exploring and Understanding the History of LGBTQ+ Activism in Wisconsin,” by Jenny Kalvaitis and Kristen Whitson. In 2022, the Society produced a companion traveling exhibit, “We Will Always Be Here: Wisconsin’s LGBTQ+ Historymakers,” that has been displayed across the state. And in 2023, PBS Wisconsin partnered with the Society to produce and broadcast a companion documentary, “Wisconsin Pride.” 

In 1966, Wisconsin had the first public call by a political body for abolition of restrictions against queer people so they could have “freedom of action.” In 1982, Wisconsin became the first state to enact a gay rights law prohibiting discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations based on sexual orientation. Wisconsin was also the first state to elect three openly gay/lesbian persons to Congress: Steve Gunderson, Tammy Baldwin, and Mark Pocan.  

Wagner’s first book, covering the period before the 1969 riots outside the Stonewall Inn, an LGBTQ bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village, shows the dominant negative narrative about homosexuality in Wisconsin maintained by legislators, courts, and the culture in general. 

“For all those who have been part of the post-Stonewall gay generation that has claimed the American dream of full and equal citizenship, it is important to know how that happened, and in particular how it happened here in Wisconsin,” Wagner wrote. “In discovering their hidden stories, I hope to balance out a regional history that has largely left them, or at least their identities, out of the narrative. As the title suggests, we have been here all along, even if not positively acknowledged.” 

Wagner’s second book outlines the challenges that LGBT Wisconsinites faced in their efforts to right past oppressions and secure equality in the post-Stonewall period between 1969 and 2000.  

When they heard of the Wagner book project, Constans and Rohde knew they wanted to increase their support to ensure that it would come to fruition.  

“The publishing of Dick Wagner’s books and the stories that will be shared in (the Society’s new Wisconsin History Center) are important to us personally as gay women,” Constans said. “We are thankful and proud that the Society is committed to providing an inclusive and full history of Wisconsinites.” 

Honest tribal history also a priority 

Constans and Rohde were similarly impressed by the Society’s growing relationship with the American Indian Nations of Wisconsin, especially with the recoveries of 1,500- and 3,000-year-old dugout canoes, in 2021 and 2022, respectively, from Madison’s Lake Mendota. After the canoes were found by staff maritime archaeologist Tamara Thomsen, the Society consulted tribal representatives to ask if they wanted to move forward with a recovery effort, then involved them in the process. 

“Preserving the history of the native peoples of Wisconsin is important to us,” says Rohde, who explored the subject during her genealogy research. “I’ve always had a special feeling for Native Americans and my whole family has.” 

The couple has made additional financial contributions to support the creation of Native American exhibits in the Society’s new history center, scheduled to open in 2027. They look forward to seeing an honest history portrayed, including how indigenous people were here thousands of years before any white person set foot on the land. 

“It’s important to see both the good and the bad,” Constans says. “There has been a lot of whitewashing in this world, and I don’t want to be a part of it. I want this truth of our history to be out there because that’s how people learn and maybe that’s how we can avoid repeating the bad stuff.”  

Future generations benefit from estate gift 

Both Constans and Rohde have lived in Madison for over 45 years. Rohde worked for University Hospital as a point of care testing coordinator for 33 years before her 2008 retirement. Constans, a former grants administrator for the City of Madison, retired in 2010 after 31 years.  

They say they are pleased to be leaving an estate gift to the Society to ensure that future generations will learn from our shared history. They encourage others to join them. 

“We are proud to support this important work,” Constans says. “It makes us feel like we are taking part in preserving our wonderful Wisconsin history.”