WAUKESHA – March On Milwaukee: A Memoir of the Open Housing Protests, dramatically depicts a significant period in the life of its author, University of Wisconsin professor of English, Margaret Rozga, and of Milwaukee.

Performances of the original work, being directed by Mark Lococo, UW-Waukesha theater director and associate professor of Communication & Theatre Arts, are set for Fridays and Saturdays, April 13, 14, 20, and 21, at 7:30 p.m. and matinees Sunday, April 15, at 2:00 p.m. and Friday, April 20 at 1 p.m. The play is being staged in the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, located in the Fine Arts Center on the UW-Waukesha campus at 1500 N. University Dr., Waukesha. Tickets are $8 for adults, $7 for students and senior citizens, and $6 for groups of 10 or more. For ticket information, contact the box office at (262) 521-5212.

Rozga, who is the widow of Fr. James Groppi, Milwaukee’s open housing movement’s most notable leader, recalls those tumultuous days when the country and the local community were shaken by protests seeking fair treatment for all citizens. She pulls together her own memories as well as those of others who participated in re-routing history.

The characters in the play have real-life counterparts, and several of them have agreed to speak with the audiences in talkbacks scheduled for the first Friday and Saturday nights. In addition, a UW-Waukesha history professor will speak with the audience after the second Friday night performance. The talkbacks are made possible through a grant from the Wisconsin Humanities Council, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the State of Wisconsin.

Talking back on opening night will be Vel Phillips, Shirley Butler-Derge, Mary Arms, Barbara Salas, and Pamela Sargent. The same group except Vel Phillips will talk to the audience after the performance on Saturday. Tim Thering, who teaches history and specializes in American history, will speak with the audience on Friday, April 20.

Elected to the Milwaukee Common Council in 1956, Vel Phillips was the first African-American and the first woman to join that group. She introduced a fair housing ordinance in 1962, after she and husband Attorney Dale Phillips could not buy a house outside a limited area of the inner city. With only her vote, it failed – each of three times – but was passed in April 1968. She has been a judge and Wisconsin Secretary of State.

Dr. Shirley Rena Berry-Butler founded and serves as principal of Nzingha Institute of Creative Learning for Living, Inc. (Grades 9-12). The school, which is located at 600 W. Walnut St., operates with the motto, “Networking to Insure that children Love Learning.”

Mary (Childs) Arms joined the Youth Council of the Milwaukee NAACP in 1966 and, along with her brother and sister who also were active members, demonstrated against judges who belonged to the whites-only Eagles Club, in the open housing protests of 1967-68, and during the Poor People’s Campaign in Washington, D.C., in 1968. She is a member of the March On Milwaukee coordinating committee, which also is planning a series of events for fall 2007 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the open housing marches. She currently is employed at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

A student at St. Boniface Catholic School in the mid-1960’s, Pamela Sargent was at the heart of the storm. Fr. James Groppi, the parish’s associate pastor, led the open housing campaign and set up headquarters for the movement at the church. She participated in the actions of the Milwaukee NAACP Youth Council and now lives in Meridian, MS.

Barbara Salas joined the Youth Council as a suburban high school student and demonstrated for open housing and later for the grape boycott organized by Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers. She now raises sheep on a small farm and hosts an annual reunion for former members of the Milwaukee NAACP Youth Council. It was at the 2006 picnic that the idea for the play was germinated.

UW-Waukesha assistant professor of history Tim Thering is helping assemble photographs and do research for an article about the Milwaukee open housing marches to appear in the summer 2007 Wisconsin: A Magazine of History, published by the Wisconsin State Historical Society. He also is a member of the March On Milwaukee coordinating committee to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the open housing marches.

UW-Waukesha has the largest enrollment among the 13 freshman-sophomore University of Wisconsin Colleges campuses. For information about programs, admission, or financial aid, contact the Student Services office at (262) 521-5040 or visit the Web at www.waukesha.uwc.edu.

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