Digital Collection
This collaboration between the Wisconsin Historical Society and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries presents a history of civil rights actions in Milwaukee. During the 1960s, community members waged protests, boycotts, and legislative battles against segregation and discriminatory practices in schools, housing, and social clubs. the efforts of these activists and their opponents are vividly documented here in primary sources, including photographs, unedited news film footage, text documents, and oral history interviews.
Prominent Wisconsin Civil Rights Collections
Collections that document civil rights work in Wisconsin include the following:
Lloyd A. Barbee Papers, 1933-1982
Papers of Lloyd A. Barbee, a Milwaukee civil rights activist, lawyer, and Wisconsin state legislator (Assembly, 1964-1977). Included are personal correspondence; legal files; campaign files; legislative subject files concerning abortion, the ERA, prison and court reform, the Assembly Judiciary Committee, the Democratic Party, the Judicial Council, and court reorganization; and files concerning his involvement in groups such as the Milwaukee United School Integration Committee, Freedom Through Equality, Inc., the NAACP, and Milwaukee Legal Services. Over half of the collection consists of research material and legal records of the class action desegregation suit Amos, et al. vs. Board of School Directors of the City of Milwaukee, et al. and its subsequent remand trial. Barbee served as counsel for the plaintiffs for the duration of the trial from 1965 to 1980. Included are correspondence; transcripts, exhibits, and other court records; as well as charts, tables, graphs, maps, reports, school board minutes, and other materials concerning research on student, teacher, and administrative assignment patterns, pupil transfer policies, and building facilities.
James Groppi Papers, 1956-1989
Papers of James Groppi (1930-1985), a Roman Catholic priest and prominent Milwaukee civil rights activist. The collection tends to be more useful for research on public attitudes toward civil rights activism than for a study of Groppi's life and work particularly in the correspondence. However, there are some materials which do offer a glimpse into the life of Father Groppi, particularly an unfinished manuscript of a proposed autobiography, sermons, and appointment books and calendars. Additionally, there are legal materials, which offer much information about his civil rights work; scrapbooks and newspaper clippings; tapes of speeches concerning his views on the church and its role in racial and social issues and various recordings of other people and activities; personal correspondence and other material about Groppi's activities as president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 998; papers of his wife, Peggy Rozga, also a civil rights activist; and photographs which include images of civil rights protests and unrest in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin and photographs relating to Father Groppi's personal life.
Vel Phillips Papers, 1946-2009 (bulk 1957-2009)
Papers of Wisconsin civil rights pioneer Vel Phillips, dating mainly from 1957 to 2009, including correspondence, speeches, notes, agendas and memoranda, documents, publications, audio recordings, photographs, and other materials documenting her career as lawyer, Milwaukee alder, Juvenile court justice, and Secretary of State.
How To Access
All materials are findable via the UW-Madison Libraries catalog. Archival collections with electronic finding aids are linked at the bottom of the library catalog record, or search across all finding aids here.
Search Tips
Combine search terms in the linked search bar. Examples that may be helpful include individual names (Vel Phillips, Daisy Bates, etc), organizations (SNCC, CORE, etc.), and keywords (freedom summer, fair housing, segregation, etc.).
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