Vietnam War protesters and police clashed here
The Madison Heritage Series
During the 1960s and early 1970s, many American college campuses smoldered over political issues, especially the draft and the Vietnam War. The University of Wisconsin, however, burst into a full blaze.
Groups demonstrated regularly on campus and State Street. Police sometimes responded with tear gas or even beatings. In 1967, radicals took control of the student movement, and vandalism of campus and State Street businesses became common. Many stores closed, moved or opened new locations to serve patrons afraid to come downtown. During the period of greatest unrest, the National Guard helped state and local police enforce curfews.
Following the deadly campus bombing of Sterling Hall in 1970, students began backing away from aggressive protests. Eventually the United States withdrew from Vietnam. And Madison police developed cooperative approaches to law enforcement, becoming a model for other cities.
Sidebar:
Madison’s movement against the Vietnam War turned violent during a 1967 protest against Dow Chemical Company. Students objected to Dow’s campus recruiting because the company manufactured napalm, an incendiary weapon used by the United States in the war. Madison’s unrest peaked in 1970. Four protesters bombed Sterling Hall, a University of Wisconsin building housing an army research lab, unintentionally killing one person.
Marker is on State Street near West Gilman Street, on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
