Exhibition

Spanning over 150 years, Sifting & Reckoning: UW–Madison’s History of Exclusion and Resistance brings to light stories of struggle and perseverance. Through archival objects, photographs, and oral histories the exhibit will illuminate under-recognized histories in the university’s past. Visitors will meet the university’s first students of color, explore early struggles for equality in social organizations, housing, and athletics, and learn about protest movements on campus.

Sifting & Reckoning is part of the UW–Madison Public History Project, an initiative started in 2019 by Chancellor Rebecca Blank to uncover and give voice to the histories of discrimination, exclusion, and resistance at the university. The project will make its research accessible to the public through the exhibition at the Chazen, an exhibit website, curricular materials, events, and more. The exhibition will open September 12, 2022 and run through December 23, 2022.