Milwaukee Open Housing Marches: 50th Anniversary
Open housing marches placed spotlight on racial discrimination, segregation
JUNE 12, 2017
For 200 consecutive days from August 1967 to March 1968, local civil rights activists protested racial discrimination in housing in marches across the city. The March on Milwaukee contributed to the national fight for civil rights for African-Americans and to passage of the federal Fair Housing Act in 1968.
High school sweethearts recall open housing struggle
JUNE 15, 2017
Ken and Joyce McGhee were brought together by the Milwaukee Open Housing marches, during which they experienced tear gas and violence by angry white mobs.
Counter-protestors driven by fear, hatred, white residents recall
JUNE 19, 2017
Several white Milwaukee residents remember how fear and unrest shrouded Milwaukee during the time of the Open Housing marches..
Former St. Boniface student says Father Groppi ‘taught me how to love’
JUNE 22, 2017
Shirley (Berry) Butler-Derge, a member of Milwaukee’s NAACP Youth Council in the 1960s, remembers the Rev. James E. Groppi as an inspirational teacher who broke down racial barriers.
Fifty years after open housing marches, residential segregation still norm in Milwaukee
JUNE 26, 2017
African-Americans living in segregated neighborhoods lack access to jobs and are more likely to live in poverty.
Rozga shares legacy of open housing marches through play, poems
JUNE 29, 2017
Margaret Rozga, who participated in the open housing marches in Milwaukee, tells the story of Milwaukee’s civil rights movement through her art.
Housing discrimination personal issue for Open Housing marcher’s family
JULY 3, 2017
Open housing was a personal issue for Lyneria McGhee and her family, who struggled to find a place large enough for eight people to live and encountered white landlords who refused to rent to them.
Anger motivated marcher to participate in open housing demonstrations
JULY 6, 2017
Prentice McKinney, who grew up on the streets of Chicago and Milwaukee, was drawn to the NAACP Youth Council in the 1960s because of his anger about housing discrimination.
‘We fought just as hard’: Women in the March on Milwaukee
JULY 10, 2017
The Milwaukee NAACP Youth Council provided leadership opportunities for young African-American women that were absent in other aspects of their lives.
Open housing marches a family affair for former Youth Council member
JULY 13, 2017
Claudette Harris, a former NAACP Youth Council member, participated in the 1960s open housing marches with family and friends seeking social justice.
Open housing marcher says ‘state of the city has gotten worse’
JULY 17, 2017 BY ALEX GROTH
Earl Bracy, a psychologist who participated in the open housing marches as a young man, says today’s young people are not as invested in social change as his generation.
Marcher sees link between open housing marches, Sherman Park unrest
JULY 20, 2017 BY MATTHEW UNGER
Barbara David Salas, a marcher in the open housing protests in 1967-1968, reflects on racial injustice in Milwaukee a half-century later. She is shown here with her mother, Mildred David (left).
Fight for equality must be rooted in community, sustainability, leaders say
JULY 24, 2017 BY JABRIL FARAJ
A new generation of black leaders, who are carrying on the work that started during the Civil Rights Movement, say the focus must change to achieve true equality.
Council is more diverse than in 1967, but city faces similar problems
JULY 27, 2017 BY JULIE GRACE
Diversity on the Milwaukee Common Council has improved since Vel Phillips was the only woman and non-white representative in 1967. But Council President Ashanti Hamilton is only its fourth non-white president. No woman has held that position.
Open housing marcher passes legacy of activism to daughter Chantia Lewis
JULY 31, 2017 BY JENNY FISCHER
Deborah Tatum, who marched for open housing in Milwaukee in the late 1960s, passed her passion for social justice on to her daughter, Chantia Lewis, alderwoman of District 9.
