https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory The LatinX community has grown steadily in Milwaukee, and by 1970 there was a vibrant population of at least 30,000. Learn about the significance of LatinX food and culture and student-led social change movements in the making of Milwaukee. en-us 2021-09-19 20:46:54 UTC 2025-10-11 15:24:58 UTC hello@padlet.com MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1752378978 In the 1920s the Pfister-Vogel Tannery in Walker's Point began to recruit Mexican workers. Today the neighborhood is home to the largest concentration of Spanish speakers in Wisconsin. After the Chicago and North Western Railroad Depot was demolished in 1968, Walker's Point residents translated their concern for the deteriorating condition of Walker's Point into action. Residents formed Historic Walker's Point, Inc. (HWP) in 1973, a community-organized historic preservation nonprofit organization, to begin restoration projects and neighborhood tours.]]> 2021-09-19 21:06:26 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1752378978 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1752405053 Use this slideshow to introduce your students to primary archival photos from the Chapman Hall Takeover.]]> 2021-09-19 21:30:13 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1752405053 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754189130 Some inspiring panelists introduce themselves and their work. Filmed during the pandemic shutdown in the summer of 2020, the group discusses Milwaukee's rich history of cultural festivals and shares how much they are missed.]]> 2021-09-20 14:23:08 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754189130 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754205195 When Marcela Garcia was 9 years old she attended youth art classes at Walker’s Point Center for the Arts (WPCA). At the time Garcia wanted to grow up to be a doctor or marine biologist. Twenty-four years later, Garcia is the executive director of WPCA. Garcia, who was born in Guadalajara and raised in Milwaukee, said she was in high school when she realized that she was passionate about literature and art, and especially the stories of marginalized people...]]> 2021-09-20 14:27:16 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754205195 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754221257 One of the most interesting places to eat in Milwaukee right now is Zocalo Food Park, the city’s first food truck park located inside Walker’s Point. It’s also uniquely positioned during the Covid-19 era to welcome guests while maintaining social distancing. Zocalo originated with Mazorca Tacos, founded by Jesus Gonzalez. Gonzalez is a formally trained chef (he attended CIA in Hyde Park) whose parents came to the U.S. in the mid-70s from a small farming community in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. And, Gonzalez says, he was brought up in a culture that valued food, as well as the stories it told...]]> 2021-09-20 14:31:24 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754221257 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754243124 In Walker's Point, located south of downtown and Milwaukee's 3rd Ward, Twombly is a founding member and leader of the local neighborhood association. She continues to advocate to preserve the neighborhood's rent affordability for businesses, walk-ability, bike-ability and other features as more outside developers seek to renovate its buildings. "As architects we're trained as leaders, we're trained as visionaries and we can imagine things that maybe other people can't," Twombly said. "I think it's a natural for architects to become leaders in communities like this, just because we can see beyond the immediate trash that is laying on the street."]]> 2021-09-20 14:36:58 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754243124 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754250404 Jesus Gonzalez talks about the development of his business Mazora and creating community partnerships in order to create space for other vendors. Marcela Garcia talks about displacement, community investment, and the inclusion of community voices in urban development. "Our focus with creating this space was we wanted to cultivate relationships with food entrepreneurs and we really wanted to create an ecosystem that was going to harvest community."]]> 2021-09-20 14:38:46 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754250404 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754275975 Rob Smith and Adam Carr talk with panelists Marcela Garcia, Jesus Gonzalez, and Ursula Twombly about development in the Walker’s Point community and the importance of including community members in future development. What does it mean to create spaces that celebrate culture in inclusive ways?]]> 2021-09-20 14:45:39 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754275975 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754306199 Rob Smith and Adam Carr talk with panelists Marcela Garcia, Jesus Gonzalez, and Ursula Twombly about the economic empowerment of community members and various types of barriers communities are faced with. Participants include the discussion of community voices as it relates to development.]]> 2021-09-20 14:53:43 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754306199 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754311482 In the late 1960s, the state government began evaluating the needs and services available to minorities in Wisconsin, concluding, largely, that the state failed to provide proper funding and program coordination. In 1971, a special task force was created by Governor Lucey to investigate Wisconsin's Hispanic population, primarily in the Milwaukee area, and to make recommendations for state action. Their report, released in June of 1971, contains a list of recommendations for specific community issues, including education, housing, health services, and employment. The task force's recommendations were based on a report, part III of this document, that members of the Hispanic community prepared themselves on the problems they faced living in Wisconsin.]]> 2021-09-20 14:55:12 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754311482 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754321362 Ursula Twombly discusses some positive aspects of increased population density and Marcela Garcia explores the responsibilities of living in a neighborhood and committing to create a world that will be to the benefit of most. Jesus Gonzalez discusses the importance of personal connections and how you can be a stakeholder as well as his personal experiences as a business owner and the space he has created. The final Q & A session includes discussion of natural restoration.]]> 2021-09-20 14:57:52 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754321362 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754339870 If home is where you rest your head, this bunk bed documents the process of Chicano migrant workers learning to call Wisconsin home. It was used by the Contreras family, migrant agricultural workers from Mercedes, Texas, who worked on Waushara County cucumber farms from the 1940s through the 1980s. Learn more here.]]> 2021-09-20 15:02:43 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754339870 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754365103 The first Spanish-speaking immigrants settled on Milwaukee's near South Side, in an area once known as Walker's Point, in the 1920s. Originally settled by Yankees, Germans, and Norwegians, by the 1950s, the near South Side had the largest Hispanic community in the city and was the only remaining place that retained the sense of ethnic "urban villages" that had characterized Milwaukee in the 19th century. This study, completed in the 1970s, looks externally at the history, geography, and demographics of this community, as well as internally, through interviews with community leaders and residents.]]> 2021-09-20 15:09:36 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754365103 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754379548 Rob Smith and Adam Carr talk with Jorge Lopez about his family’s story of migration and development of their bakery business: Lopez’s Bakery. How has Lopez's Bakery impacted the community? Jorge Lopez explains how the demographics of the community have changed over the years since his family migrated.

]]> 2021-09-20 15:13:31 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754379548 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754411920 Adam Carr talks with Jorge Lopez of Lopez Bakery about Mexican and Irish cultural appreciation and the significance of Día de los Muertos for their family's bakery.]]> 2021-09-20 15:22:38 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754411920 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754432873 The LatinX community has grown steadily in Milwaukee, and by 1970 there was a vibrant population of at least 30,000. However, representation within the University of Wisconsin education system was extremely low. In protest of this, student activists and members of the Committee for the Education of Latin Americans (CELA), led by Roberto Hernández, staged sit-ins, protests, and camp outs at the office of J. Martin Klotsche in 1970. In response,
UWM launched its Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute, what would eventually become the Roberto Hernández Center.]]> 2021-09-20 15:28:23 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754432873 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754488711 Rob Smith and Adam Carr introduce the story of the Chapman Hall Takeover through historical images. They talk with Alberto Maldonado and Eric Kleppe-Montenegro about the photos of an important, student-led movement that led to the making of the Roberto Hernandez Center at UW-Milwaukee.]]> 2021-09-20 15:43:44 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754488711 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754520798 Rob Smith and Adam Carr talk with Alverto Maldonado, Director of the Roberto Hernandez Center at UW-Milwaukee, and Eric Kleppe-Montenegro more specifically about the strategies students, activists, and community members used to protest underrepresentation of LatinX students and culture in UW-Milwaukee. The importance of community - mothers, families, and faith leaders - are introduced.]]> 2021-09-20 15:53:30 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754520798 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754529522 Adam Carr uses images to discuss the significance of LatinX Women in the story of the Chapman Hall Takeover. Panelists Celeste Contreras, Dr. Stephanie Rivera Berruz, and Tammy Rivera provide insights on the photos. ]]> 2021-09-20 15:56:09 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754529522 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754557168 Alberto Maldonado was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and lived there until the age of 4, when his family moved to Utuado, Puerto Rico. He began his post-secondary education at the University of Puerto Rico, where he was admitted on a full ride scholarship for Track and Field. At the beginning of his sophomore year he moved back to Milwaukee where he continued his academic journey at the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) and later at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. In his extensive career at UW-Milwaukee, Maldonado has collaborated with multiple communities and school districts in Southeastern Wisconsin, as well as with hundreds of students and their families. In those years his has helped develop programs and initiatives to prepare students and their families for post-secondary admission, select their courses and eventually graduate from college.]]> 2021-09-20 16:04:59 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754557168 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754575936 Erik Kleppe-Montenegro is a community-oriented documentary filmmaker based in Milwaukee’s South Side. Eric’s artistic process is focused on challenging harmful media narratives and uplifting the voices of grassroots change-makers. He is passionate about using the arts as a tool for social change and popular education. Learn more about his role in MKE Film here.]]> 2021-09-20 16:10:27 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754575936 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754582019 Mitchell Street Library Artist in Residence Celeste Contreras explores themes of family, ancestry, community and social justice in her richly colored drawings and multimedia works.

]]> 2021-09-20 16:12:17 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754582019 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754599119 Stephanie Rivera Berruz is an Assistant Professor of philosophy at Marquette University. Despite nomadic movements across the US, she proudly calls Puerto Rico home. Growing up on an island has meant that she always yearns for proximity to bodies of water; their fluidity, their power, and their grandeur are inspirational. She is a lover of sonic experiences. When she is not philosophizing with a book or conversation, she is thinking through the body by dancing.]]> 2021-09-20 16:17:47 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754599119 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754609117 When people think of a community organizer, they often envision someone on the front lines leading a crowd, but Tammy Rivera often works in the background mending the building blocks of local community organizations. Rivera came into the Southside Organizing Center (SOC) as a consultant to restructure the organization and fix the finances, but after being there for six months, she knew she had to stay. Soon, she became the executive director and focused on the nuts and bolts that held the organization together...]]> 2021-09-20 16:20:58 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1754609117 MKERoots https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1755795420 After 47 years, Lopez bakery remains a south side, family-run staple. Baking is more than a business for the Lopez family. It’s part of their roots and their connection to the community…]]> 2021-09-21 01:41:03 UTC https://padlet.com/MKERoots/MKELatinxHistory/wish/1755795420