Communication Takes Many Forms

 

Protest and Social Activism: People have used forms of protest and social activism to bring change to society for hundreds of years and Milwaukee has a rich history of such activism. In 1967, Father Groppi and thousands of African Americans led two weeks of marches against segregated housing. In 1969 a group of priests and college professors burned draft cards in protest of the Vietnam War. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s women’s rights groups fought to bring awareness to women’s issues such as job equality and violence against women. More recently activists in ACTUP sought to raise consciousness of the growing threat of AIDS.

 

 

Mass Media: Milwaukee was a pioneer in the field of television and radio innovation. Our own WTMJ-TV was the first television station in Wisconsin and the first commercial station in the Midwest. Jack Krueger, a reporter and news editor at WTMJ-TV witnessed the evolution of cable TV and fought censorship throughout his long career in television news. Milwaukee’s Mayor Henry Maier used television to communicate with the public during some of the most tumultuous times in the city’s history. Al Rainovic, a sports and political cartoonist, used illustration to show the ups and downs of the sports world using humor and insight.

 

Creative Expression: The Milwaukee area has been home to many fascinating creative forces. The Milwaukee Repertory Theatre began as a regional theatre and grew to be a nationally respected company. Wisconsin was the birthplace of the nationally renown folk group the Kingston Trio. Charlotte Partridge and Miriam Frinck co-founded the Layton School of Art in Milwaukee and helped advance the arts in Wisconsin. And writer Margaret Anderson established a groundbreaking literary magazine, The Little Review, and fought literary censorship in the early part of the century.