Meet the past Student Historians of the UW-Madison program. Since 2018, these students have researched and documented diverse campus histories and student movements.
T.J. Braxton served as a UW-Madison Student Historian (2020-2021). Explore his research on the university’s diversity initiatives and his experience documenting Black student identity.
Student Historian Marena Fox-Baker explores the impact of the American Indian Movement (AIM) on 1970s Native student activism and advocacy at UW-Madison through archival oral histories.
Learn how to conduct research at the UW-Madison Archives. Explore access policies, search catalogs and finding aids, register for an account, and discover instruction tools.
Explore the history of “On, Wisconsin!”—from its origin as a contest entry for Minnesota to the enduring campus debates regarding its authorship, copyright, and legacy.
Explore the history of “On, Wisconsin!”—from its Civil War origins to its adoption as a popular fight song by numerous colleges, high schools, and in creative parodies.
Learn about Clarence Dykstra, who served as president of the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1937 to 1945, navigating the university through the challenges of World War II.
Learn about Edward A. Birge, who served as acting president of the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1900 to 1903 following the illness and death of Charles Kendall Adams.
Explore the life and career of H. Edwin Young, who served as Chancellor of UW–Madison from 1968 to 1977 during the Vietnam War era and oversaw the formation of the UW System.
Paul Ansel Chadbourne served as the University of Wisconsin’s president from 1867 to 1870, overseeing university expansion, the Law School’s founding, and early co-education policies.
Glenn Pound served as acting chancellor of UW-Madison in 1977. Learn about his career, leadership as dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and lasting legacy.