Madison, Wisconsin

Madison is the capital of Wisconsin, a state in the United States of America. As of the 2000 census, it has a population of 208,054, making it the second largest city in Wisconsin. It is the county seat of Dane County. Madison is also home to the University of Wisconsin.

Politics

Madison will always be associated with the name of "Fighting Bob" La Follette and the Progressive movement. La Follette's Magazine, The Progressive, founded in 1909, is still published in Madison today. City voting patterns have supported the Democratic Party in national elections in the last half-century, and a liberal and progressive majority is generally elected to the city council. Detractors refer to Madison as The People's Republic of Madison, or as "30 square miles surrounded by reality." This latter phrase was coined by former Wisconsin Republican governor Lee S. Dreyfus while campaigning in 1978, as recounted by campaign aide Bill Kraus.

Related Topics:
"Fighting Bob" La Follette - Progressive movement - The Progressive - Democratic Party - People's Republic - Lee S. Dreyfus

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The counterculture was centered in the neighborhood of Mifflin and Bassett streets, referred to as Mifflin-Bassett or Miffland. The area contained many three-story apartments where students and counterculture youth lived, used illegal substances, painted murals, and operated the co-operative grocery store Mifflin Street Co-op. The neighborhood often came into conflict with authorities, particularly then Republican Mayor Bill Dyke, a one-time personality on WISC-TV who was later to run for vice-president with segregationist Lester Maddox. Dyke was viewed by students as a direct antagonist in efforts to protest the Vietnam War, due to his efforts to suppress the campus riots that resulted in property damage.

Related Topics:
Bill Dyke - WISC-TV - Lester Maddox

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Madison is also home to the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which attempts to influence government in matters of removing any and all religious references from governmental entities and activities. The foundation is known for its lawsuits against religious displays on public property, among other things. In recent years, they have made removal of In God We Trust from American currency a main focus.

Related Topics:
Freedom From Religion Foundation - In God We Trust - Currency

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, thousands of students and other citizens took part in anti-Vietnam War marches and demonstrations, with more violent incidents drawing national attention to the city and UW campus. These include:

Related Topics:
1960s - 1970s - Anti-Vietnam War marches and demonstrations

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• the 1967 student protest of Dow Chemical Company, with 74 injured;
• the 1969 strike to secure greater representation and rights for African American students and faculty, which necessitated the involvement of the Wisconin Army National Guard;
• the 1970 fire that caused damage to the Army ROTCheadquarters housed in the Old Red Gym, also known as the Armory; and
• the 1970 late summer pre-dawn ANFO bombing of Sterling Hall which housed the Army Mathematics Research Center, killing a post-doctoral student, Robert Fassnacht. Four bombers in the "New Year's Gang" were linked to the bombing, one of whom remains at large

These protests were the subject of the documentary The War at Home http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=52754. Tom Bates also wrote the book Rads on the subject (ISBN 0060924284). Bates wrote that Dyke's attempt to suppress the annual Mifflin Street block party "would take three days, require hundreds of officers on overtime pay, and engulf the student community from the nearby Southeast Dorms to Langdon Street's fraternity row. Tear gas hung like heavy fog across the Isthmus." In the fracas, student activist Paul Soglin, then a city alderman, was arrested and taken to jail. Soglin was later elected mayor of Madison, serving from 1973 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1997, by his latter term aligned ideologically in the moderate wing of the Democratic Party.

Related Topics:
The War at Home - Tear gas - Paul Soglin - Alderman - Jail - 1973 - 1979 - 1989 - 1997

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Madison city politics has remained dominated by activists of liberal and progressive ideologies, particularly in the downtown and east side of the city. In 1992, the local third party Progressive Dane was founded, which organizes to influence local politics through the city council and the Dane County Board of Supervisors. Recently enacted city policies supported in the Progressive Dane platform have included an inclusionary zoning ordinance and a city minimum wage. The party holds multiple seats on the Madison City Council and Dane County Board of Supervisors, and is aligned variously with the Democratic and Green parties.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~