Date: Thu, 06 May 2010 09:21:47 -0500 From: Troy Reeves <treeves@library.wisc.edu> Subject: UW--Madison Campus Voices Message-id: <4BE2D07B.50300@library.wisc.edu>
[Some of you may get this more than once. If so, please take solace in
this: my friend/colleague at the Wisconsin Historical Society (Sally
Jacobs) will get it at least 5 times! Oh, and please forward (either the
email or the attachment, which is the same document) to anyone you think
might be interested in it. Troy]
UW—Madison Campus Voices: 1970 TAA Strike
Forty years ago this semester, another chapter in the history of
UW—Madison and its student protest movement unfolded. (For a timeline of
UW—Madison student protest movement, see
http://archives.library.wisc.edu/uwhistory.html.) This chapter involved
the classic struggle of labor versus management, as well as a
generational battle between the groups now called “The Baby Boomers” and
“The Greatest Generation.” Simply stated it was the 1970 TAA Strike.
Organized by UW—Madison graduate students in 1966, the Teaching
Assistants’ Association (TAA) entered into its first bargaining sessions
with the University in the summer of 1969 to negotiate TA funding,
working conditions, and student roles in educational planning. At the
beginning of 1970, these sessions had not produced a mutually desired
outcome, and TAA members voted to strike. The strike lasted from March
15 to April 13, 1970, ending that month with the very first contract for
student workers at UW-Madison and one of the first in the United States.
The UW—Madison Archives holds detailed information on this strike in
paper, visual, and audio formats. In the late 1970s, former UW—Madison
oral historian Laura Smail conducted over 30 interviews with graduate
students, faculty, and administrators to get their stories, memories,
and opinions about this historic labor action.
In this modern, digital era, this rich archival material should be made
available to folks in places and in ways they can access them. The
campus oral history program—a part of the campus archives—has begun this
task. Specifically, we have put the full audio and transcripts (through
the UW Digital Collections Center) of the TAA Strike online. Also, we
compiled an iTunesU album of audio clips and created a podcast and
mini-movie that tell this story. Presenting this strike has become the
first sub-project in what we have coined UW—Madison Campus Voices project.
UW—Madison Campus Voices exists to (re)capture, present, and preserve
some of the strongest historical stories and memories of UW—Madison,
through the people who lived them. We intend to publish two more
sub-projects (Sterling Hall Bombing & Badger Village) during the summer
and early fall. And we envision more campus sub-projects and perhaps a
statewide attempt, working with Wisconsinites both on and off campus to
find funding to gather and preserve historical documents and to present
stories about those documents to a wider audience.
We hope those interested will go to the front page of our UW—Madison
Campus Voices project at
http://archives.library.wisc.edu/oral-history/campusvoices.html. From
there one can click to the UWDCC’s presentation of the full audio and
transcripts, can listen to our iTunesU album of TAA Strike narrators’
excerpts and our podcast, and can watch the mini-movie. We must thank
the Brittingham Fund for their seed money to pilot this and the two
future web presentations and to hire the student staff, Katie
Gleischman, Megan Falater, and Ellen Jacks, who worked on it.
For more information about UW—Madison Campus Voices, please contact Troy
Reeves, head of the campus oral history program, at 608-890-1899, or at
treeves@library.wisc.edu.
-- Troy Reeves Head, Oral History Program Archives & Records Management Services 430 Steenbock Memorial Library 550 Babcock Dr. Madison, WI 53706 (608) 890-1899 treeves@library.wisc.edu http://archives.library.wisc.edu-- Troy Reeves Head, Oral History Program Archives & Records Management Services 430 Steenbock Memorial Library 550 Babcock Dr. Madison, WI 53706 (608) 890-1899 treeves@library.wisc.edu http://archives.library.wisc.edu