Madison in the Sixties

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Stuart D. Levitan

A compellingly-told and heavily-illustrated account of ten pivotal years that transformed and reshaped the identity of Wisconsin’s capital city.

528 pages, 8 x 9, 161 b&w photos, 2 maps
Paperback: $29.95 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-883-6
Ebook: $19.99 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-884-3
Publication Date: 11/19/2018

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Description

Madison came into its own during the 1960s, a decade marked by historic civil rights legislation, defining student protests, and a spring block party that escalated into a three-night riot. Add to this the turmoil of urban renewal, a fierce controversy over Frank Lloyd Wright’s Monona Terrace, and the growing impact of the University of Wisconsin, and it’s clear why the era holds a storied place in the city’s history and mindset.

In this first comprehensive account of that transformative decade, Madison historian Stu Levitan weaves together political shifts, educational reform, rising crime, construction booms, and more with vivid detail and scholarly depth. Richly illustrated and thoughtfully annotated, the book includes photographs that capture the sweeping changes downtown, on campus, and in the Greenbush neighborhood. Madison in the Sixties offers a compelling portrait of ten pivotal years that reshaped the city’s identity.

Author Bio

Stuart D. (Stu) Levitan is a journalist, lawyer, historian, and author. He began his media career in 1975 as a Washington correspondent for The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin, then later pivoted to law, serving as a staff attorney at the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission until his retirement in 2015. An active civic leader, Levitan served five years on the Dane County Board of Supervisors and held leadership roles on numerous Madison commissions, including chairing the Landmarks Commission. He has authored several prominent historical books, including Madison: The Illustrated Sesquicentennial History (2006) and Madison in the Sixties (2018). Levitan lives in Madison.

‘Madison in the Sixties’ is at once the story of a unique time and place and a revealing slice of modern American social history, told with clarity and insight by Stuart Levitan, Madison’s expert chronicler.

David Maraniss

Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author, Madison West High School Class of 1967

“A thorough and eye-opening narrative of the fight for civil rights in Madison, from pickets on the Capitol Square to fixed bayonets on the UW campus. An exciting and important account; I couldn’t put it down.”

—Nelson Cummings, first executive director of the Madison Urban League

“In Madison in the Sixties, Levitan has given us a book worthy of the decade it documents.”

—Bill Lueders, Isthmus