MILWAUKEE — At the Wisconsin Black Historical Society and Museum (WBHSM) Saturday, Joyce Mcghee was surrounded by memories of her youth, as images of Milwaukee’s Open Housing Marches filled the room.
During the height of the civil rights movement, at just 14 years old Mcghee and hundreds of her fellow NAACP youth council members took to the streets to help bring about a new anti-discrimination housing law in Milwaukee.
“I thought it was something that needed to be remembered,” Mcghee said.
The WBHSM in partnership with the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS), and several other groups hosted a Black History Month celebration to introduce a series of nine new state historical markers.
Mcghee is a member of March on Milwaukee, a committee brought together by WHS. Their goal is to commemorate the 200 consecutive days of marching from August 1967 to March 1968 that Milwaukee youth undertook in the face of hostile opposition.
“We marched across the 16th Street viaduct and I got bombed by cocktail bombs,” Mcghee recalled, “and teargassed by the people who were supposed to be protecting us.”
For the past two years, the committee worked with community members to identify sites significant to the marches.
Of the nine sites chosen, five are still pending and three others are projected to be installed by the summer of 2024.
The first marker was installed at St. Boniface Catholic Church in the fall of 2023. The church is considered to have been the epicenter of Milwaukee’s civil rights movement, receiving visits from civil rights activists like Fannie Lou Hamer and Jesse Jackson.
There under the leadership of Father James Groppi, who served as an advisor to the NAACP's Youth Council, the church helped supply food, lodging, and medical attention to marchers.
Groppi and the Youth Council later joined forces with Alderwoman Vel Phillips to rally for open housing in Milwaukee.
On April 11th the US government passed a national Fair Housing Act prohibiting discrimination based on race. On April 30th of that year, Milwaukee passed its own fair housing bill, 6 years after Phillips introduced it to the city’s Common Council.
“We made a small dent in a big problem," Mcghee said. “Yeah we can live in places where we couldn’t live before but there’s still a lot more work to do and I’m proud that we were at least part of starting the flame.”
It's work 17-year-old Taylor Thompson current president of the NAACP Youth Council is in awe of.
"You see them now and it's like 'Wow you were my age once.' It's crazy," Thompson said. “They don’t really teach about it in school.”
“I’d like to make a difference like that," she added. "I don’t know they can but I’ll try my best.”
Mcghee, now in her seventies said she is ready to pass the torch off to the next generation, hopeful about the future.
"We have some warriors out there," she said. "They may not be like we were but we have warriors out there."
WHS has over 600 historical markers across the state covering all aspects of Wisconsin history.
The Wisconsin Historical Society shared the following details on the new sites.
Confirmed State Historical Markers:
1 – 16th Street Viaduct
The site where NAACP Youth Council members gathered on August 28th, 1967 to march from Milwaukee’s predominately black north side to the majority white south side, facing thousands of rioters.
2 – St Boniface Catholic Church (W. Clarke St & N.11th St.)
The former site of the church is considered to have been the epicenter of Milwaukee’s civil rights movement. Under the leadership of Father James Groppi strategies and routes for marches were organized in the church’s basement.
3 – 5th Street Freedom House (James W. Beckum Park)
In August 1966, the Freedom House was the first site for the Youth Council’s headquarters which was later targeted by opposition including a firebombing.
4 – 15th Street Freedom Housing (King Park)
In the Spring of 1967, this site became the second Freedom House which helped expand the Youth Council’s cause and presence. After a march on August 29th, 1967 police fired tear gas canisters into the property, destroying it. Youth Council members were inside the house when the fire began but managed to escape.
Pending State Historical Markers:
5 – March on Kosciuszko Park
The site where Youth Council protestors were met with 8,000 then 13,000 counter-protestors over two consecutive days in August 1967 as they crossed into the mostly White south side of Milwaukee. Police dispersed the crowd with tear gas.
6 – Rally at Metropolitan Baptist Church (905 W. North Ave.)
On the 37th consecutive day of fair housing demonstrations in 1967, around 200 protesters held a rally at this site, their first at a Black Baptist Church.
7 – Milwaukee’s Fair Housing Movement (Location to be finalized on Wisconsin Ave.)
This site will commemorate the efforts made by Milwaukee activists throughout the 1960s to combat racial discrimination and segregation in housing, employment, and education as a part of the broader national civil rights movement.
8 – Police Confrontation with Marchers (Location to be finalized)
On October 8, 1967, at 20th St. and North Ave. Open Housing marchers blocked traffic. Police declared the march an unlawful assembly, despite their parade permit leading to a confrontation where many marchers were beaten and arrested.
9 – Sunday, March to Wauwatosa Location to be finalized)
After a rally at St. Boniface Church, Youth Council members protesting housing segregation marched into the suburb of Wauwatosa singing freedom songs.
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