Alumni Today Spring 2022

UNEARTHED from the archives

The Road to the Distinguished Lecture Series

By James Hibbard, University Archivist

In her unmistakable voice,

SHIRLEY CHISHOLM SPOKE to a crowd of 1,500-plus at the Williams Fieldhouse during the first Distinguished Lecture Series event in 1989.

ANDY WARHOL DISAPPOINTED attendees by showing a film and speaking very little. Warhol is pictured here (at left) with his female associate and the avant-garde film director Paul Morrissey.

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Shirley Chisholm spoke to a crowd of 1,500-plus at the Williams Fieldhouse on the morning of April 4, 1989. Her theme was “social change comes only after a common knowledge of who we are” is achieved. A social justice advocate, Chisholm had been the first African American woman elected to Congress, serving her New York district in the US Congress from 1969–83.

Chisholm had gained national attention when she ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. Referencing her presidential campaign in her speech, Chisholm noted that “I did not run for president to be cute. I wrote speeches for the politicians and knew what was going on.” At the conclusion of her speech, Chisholm received a standing ovation. As one person noted, Chisholm’s speech “not only informs, but inspires.” That is exactly what the Student Activities Board, the organizers of the event, had in mind.

Chisholm’s speech marked an important milestone in UW-Platteville’s history: it was the first annual Distinguished Lecture Series event. For decades, the university had occasionally hosted speakers, among them Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant in 1868, pastor and reformer Jenkin Lloyd Jones in 1906, and decorated World War II bomber pilot Captain Darrel Brady in 1948. Then in September 1959, Massachusetts Senator and future president John F.

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4/4/22 9:03 AM