The Make History Madison Program
To coincide with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, Whose Land is working with Madison Public Library, the Aldo Leopold Nature Center, City of Madison Parks, and the Ho-Chunk Nation among others to build a crowd-sourced history of Greater Madison and its land. Anyone can participate and enjoy adding to the collection.
How It Works:
Participants collect and present their own stories about specific locations - their homes, a former factory site, a park - using a digital story map platform called Map250. In July, the archive comes to life outside in a series of “Make History Madison” events including projections, music, and live discussion about places that matter in Greater Madison - all in conjunction with local 250th celebrations.
Project Launch!
February 3rd 5-7 pm
Doors open at 3:30 for browsing displays
Madison Public Library Central Branch
201 West Mifflin Street, Madison, WI
Join us to launch the Make History Madison Project, a citywide project celebrating Madison as a place - its land, buildings, history and people. Over six months, residents across the city will collectively build an archive of stories, memories, photos and other memorabilia linked to specific sites in Madison. The project will culminate in July with outdoor neighborhood gatherings and community dialogues.
Through this collection process, the project seeks to preserve histories at risk of being lost - from geological and ecological histories to Indigenous, Black and other social and cultural histories.
The Feb 3rd launch event will introduce attendees to the project - how it works and what activities to expect in the upcoming months. The event will feature displays of memory-collecting and digitization tools and a group discussion with Q&A about place and history in Madison. All are welcome to participate. Please drop in to learn more about the project!
Making It Happen with Help from Everyone
Massive cuts to nonprofit funding (including ours) have created one of the toughest environments to find resources for broad public projects like Make History Madison in years.
So while we were are hard at work to get sponsors and in-kind donations, we won’t be able to pull this off without the involvement and financial support of all people across Madison. People like you.
Please consider a contribution - large or small - to our program and become part of our growing community of collaborators across the city.
