42 Sites Nominated for a Historical Marker
In June, the Dane County Department of Planning and Development opened public nominations for Dane County’s new Historical Marker program. The program focuses on filling in gaps in the historical record (more than 400 historical markers exist within the County) with the stories of under-represented communities.
The County received 42 nominations of places important to women, indigenous American, African American, Latinx, Asian American, Islamic, immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities, as well as sites related to Dane County’s ecological and conservation history. You can view the nominations and the stories behind them in an interactive map or this historical timeline.
The new Dane County Heritage Preservation Commission will hold a public hearing on nominated sites in early 2025.
New Dane County Heritage Preservation Commission Starts Work
On September 6, 2024, the Dane County Board of Supervisors adopted an ordinance amendment (2023 OA-80) creating the Dane County Heritage Preservation Commission. The new commission will serve two important functions in Dane County government. First, it will provide expertise and guidance to the Department of Planning and Development, the Zoning and Land Regulations Committee, the County Board and the County Executive on a wide variety of site development, grant opportunities, planning and public education activities related to historic and cultural preservation. Secondly, the commission will have the capacity to serve as a regional, intergovernmental resource for local towns, cities, and villages seeking to obtain National Park Service historic preservation grants.
On November 7, the county board confirmed the following appointments to the Heritage Preservation Commission:
- Rick Bernstein, Executive Director Dane County Historical Society
- Patrick Miles, Dane County Board Chair and District 34 Supervisor
- Alfonso Morales, Professor, University of Wisconsin Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture
- Erica Fox Gehrig, Madison Trust for Historic Preservation and member of Dane Arts
- Bill Quackenbush, Cultural Resources Division Manager, Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin
- Tim Yanacheck, Plan Commission Chair, Town of Oregon
One seat, representing residents of an unincorporated town in Dane County, remains vacant. To submit a nomination for the vacant seat, please contact PlanningDivision@danecounty.gov.
The Commission held its first meeting on November 26th.
Dane County Historic Society Traveling Exhibit: History of Racial Covenants
Dane County Planning and Development has worked with several partners to uncover, develop, and present racially and ethnically restrictive covenants. While the full breadth of data analysis is yet to be completed, what has been verified will be presented as part of the Dane County Historical Society’s traveling exhibit about the History of Racial Covenants in Dane County and Madison.
Beginning in the early 1900’s in developing areas, racial covenants were an insidious tool for racially restricting home sales and segregating residential neighborhoods. A single well-worded sentence on the land deed could invoke government's police powers in enforcing racial segregation. In 1928, a Chicago Real Estate Board is credited with saying that restrictive covenants were "like a marvelous delicately woven chain of armor [excluding] any member of a race not Caucasian." By 1940, 40% of homes in Chicago and Los Angeles were covered by a racial covenant.
The exhibit's 14 pull-up banners and will be displayed in 12 libraries. The opening reception will be held at Monona Library at 6 p.m. on February 7, 2025, to coincide with Black History. The subsequent events are as follows:
- Verona Public Library - March, 2025
- Waunakee Public Library - April, 2025
- Cross Plains Public Library - May, 2025
- Marshall Public Library - June, 2025
- Mt. Horeb Public Library - July, 2024
- Bookmobile - August, 2025
- Belleville Public Library - September, 2025
- Sun Prairie Historical Museum and Library - November, 2025
- Oregon Public Library - December, 2025
- Middleton Public Library - January, 2026
Interested in hosting the exhibit in 2026? Contact Executive Director Rick Bernstein. Mr. Bernstein is available to make a presentation in conjunction with the exhibit or elsewhere, to provide greater context and background about the history of racial covenants locally and beyond.
The Dane County Historical Society is a 501(c)3 private non-profit established in 1961. Its mission is to preserve and promote Dane County's history. To find out more, go to www.danecountyhistory.org.
To learn more about the County-wide Mapping Prejudice Project visit here.
Image below: Status as of September 2024- Map of parcels with real estate documents with restrictive language logged 1937-1970.
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