WISCONSIN— Black Wisconsinites paved the way for our success today, making their mark in politics, education, business, activism, and much more. 

Dr. Eve Hall, president and CEO of Milwaukee’s Urban League, and historian Reggie Jackson of America’s Black Holocaust Museum joined us to learn more about the leaders who pushed for equality in the Badger State.

The Milwaukee Urban League has been a Wisconsin staple for more than a century, fulfilling its mission to help hundreds of minority residents advance in every area.

“When African American individuals and families came here, we were the ones to help them find decent housing; we would connect them to education, we would connect them to health access,” said Dr. Hall.

Dr. Hall says these strong connections across Wisconsin communities of color all started through Ambrose Nutt, Milwaukee Urban League’s Founder back in 1919.

“He was actually an advocate that was so strongly observed by the country that he was actually under scrutiny as someone to be watched because he had pushed so hard for equality,” said Dr. Hall.

Dr. Hall says she stands on the shoulders of great Wisconsin leaders like Nutt and Wesley Scott, a key business leader in Milwaukee who, through his industrial projects, made sure a number of Black professionals were placed in top positions.

Just a few feet away from the Urban League in the Bronzeville neighborhood stands America’s Black Holocaust Museum, another historic staple founded in 1988 by Civil Rights Activist and Historian, Dr. James Cameron.

“He opened three chapters of the NAACP in the most clan heavy state in the country, so you can imagine he got a lot of death threats and decided he was gonna leave and go to Canada and somehow he ended up in Milwaukee visiting, and fell in love with the city in 1952 and decided to make it his home,” said Jackson.

Jackson calls Dr. Cameron a "Freedom Fighter" who put his life on the line for justice. He’s also well known for surviving a lynching at just 16-years-old. Now his museum aims to examine tragic legacies of slavery, promote repair, reconciliation, and healing.