WiLSWorld Shorts: The Wisconsin Latinx History Collective
This event was held on Friday, June 11th, 2021. You can find the recording of that webinar on our YouTube channel. You can visit the StoryMap website that Dr. Arenas shared which provides more details about the Collective and you can see some of her past work in the Somos Latinas Oral History collection and book.
If you are interested in connecting with Dr. Arenas with questions or to become a participant in the WLHC, she welcomes your message at .
Latinx communities in Wisconsin reside in urban areas and the smaller cities that pocket the geographic region and are the fastest-growing population in the state.
Vital to Wisconsin’s economy and civil society, members of the Latinx community are laborers, field workers, industrialists, manufacturers, physicians, artists, poets, scientists, and government officials. Yet, the historical record does not currently reflect the Latinx role in Wisconsin. Furthermore, Latinx populations in the United States, including Wisconsin, have been scapegoats and targets of racism and discrimination at unprecedented levels, especially in recent years, making “living while Brown” a daily challenge. Therefore, the WLHC is working to “retrofit” Latinx people into the Wisconsin historical narrative by increasing the number of recorded oral history interviews, archives, and artifacts at the Wisconsin Historical Society and Museum.
In January of 2020, the Wisconsin Latinx History Collective was created to document Latinx history through 2025. The WLHC members are faculty, staff, and students from eight universities. In addition, there are 32 WLHC community researchers for a total of 77 members, including the Kenosha Public Library and the Beloit Public Library. WLHC one of the first statewide public/private university and community history endeavors.
On June 11th, at 1:00 pm CT, tune into this WiLSWorld Shorts to learn more about the WLHC and how local historical societies and libraries can contribute to the WLHC research agenda by:
- Providing names and contact information for Latinx reputational leaders in your city/county for interviews.
- Conducting local research to identify important historical events, people, and organizations that WLHC could document in your locale.
- Becoming researchers to conduct oral history interviews. Training materials and coaching are available to WLHC members throughout their research.
- Identifying and collecting archives of WLHC interviewees in your community. Training and coaching are available to WLHC members.
Presented by:
Andrea-Teresa “Tess” Arenas, Ph.D.
Founder/Lead, Wisconsin Latinx History Collective
Founder/Director, Somos Latinas Digital History Project (wisconsinhistory.org/SomosLatinas)
Emerita Faculty Affiliate, Chicanx Latinx Studies, UW Madison
This presentation will also be recorded and shared with the WiLS member community.
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