Before you visit the Do Your Thing exhibit, a brief announcement:

Winter 2007 - UW Oshkosh is proud to announce a two-year oral history project to better document the events of November 21, 1968 and its aftermath, known popularly as "Black Thursday."

This oral history project will provide the first comprehensive account of one of the most significant episodes of racial conflict in the modern history of Northeast Wisconsin—the “Black Thursday” student protests of November 21, 1968. The proposed oral history project and the public programming associated with it will attempt to recapture the causes and consequences of the demonstrations waged by black students attending Wisconsin State University-Oshkosh (WSU-O) on that fateful day. The ultimate goal is to share the story of the 1968 “Black Thursday” demonstrations with the people of Wisconsin upon the 40th anniversary of this event in 2008.

By confronting “Black Thursday” and its legacy—as difficult as that may be—we hope to engage the
UW Oshkosh campus in an ongoing dialogue about race and the importance of including racial diversity within our institution’s future educational mission. But the story of Black Thursday is as important to the greater Oshkosh community as it is to UW Oshkosh and the University of Wisconsin System. As Oshkosh and other communities in northeast Wisconsin grow increasingly diverse, they will benefit from a historical perspective on race relations. By supporting the Black Thursday Oral History project, you or your institution will play an important part in that process. The financial needs of
this project are in excess of $60,000. With a $10,000 grant from the Wisconsin Humanities Council, we are well on our way to making this project a success. Your financial underwriting would be acknowledged in print and on-line resources as well as in signage at the Grand Opera House presentation and Black Thursday exhibit. We welcome any questions you may have regarding the project and look forward to speaking with you.

If you or anyone you know has a story to tell, or if you are interested in donating to the
project, please contact the Black Thursday Oral History Project at:

blackthursday@uwosh
edu or 920.424.2289.