Italian-American Women's Club

Greenbush Day Celebration - March 21, 2007 3/30/2007

UW Welcome Center

On March 21, 2007, Madison celebrated its first annual Greenbush Day at the new UW-Madison Welcome Center on 21 North Park Street.

The 2-hour event featured a mixture of cultural dances and music by the Salaam Shalom (Greenbush Hebrew Ensemble), who performed Middle Eastern and Mediterranean/Italian music and dance; the Nueva Cancion, who performed Spanish, Portuguese and Native Indian music from Latin America; and the Bayview Hmong Dance Troupe, who performed traditional Hmong dances in traditional Hmong costumes.

A panel of former neighbors from the Greenbush Neighborhood told lively stories about growing up in the 'Old Bush.' Of particular interest was their response to questions about living in a diverse neighborhood of different races, ethnicities and religions. They characterized their relationships with each other as a tight-knit community, strong and bonding, and helping each other out whenever they could.

These beliefs are still present today in the Bayview Neighborhood, as told by present-day residents.

As part of the event, representatives from the UW Chancellor's Office and the Madison Mayor's Office greeted the audience.

For those of you not familiar with the Greenbush Neighborhood, this area of Madison was a melting pot where Italian, Jewish, African-American and other immigrants settled in an area bounded by the triangle of three streets: Regent St., Park St. and W. Washington Ave. During the 1960s, urban renewal caused the residents to scatter to other parts of Madison as their neighborhood was bulldozed. An in-depth historical perspective of the neighborhood by Randall Elementary students can be found on the website called the Greenbush Cultural Tour. Mark Wagler, 5th grade teacher at Randall who led the project, was the Master of Ceremony for the Greenbush Celebration Day.

For more information about the Greenbush Day event, please visit http://www.madison.com/communities/greenbushday. Also view the press release from 3-14-2007.

More pictures from the event can be viewed at http://picasaweb.google.com/IAWCMadison/GreenbushDayCelebration.

This celebration was made possible by the following organizations: Italian Workmen's Club, Italian-American Women's Club, Meriter Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital, University Health Services, Bayview Foundation, Inc., Neighborhood House, University of Wisconsin Welcome Center, CDA Housing, University of Wisconsin Transportation Services, UW Local Games Lab, Randall Elementary School, and the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures.