<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=05VsW4_1Gu8FW5U00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=05VsW4_1Gu8FW5U00" width="900" height="900" ><figcaption>University of Wisconsin Press</figcaption></figure>The Cap Times is an independent newsroom. Sign up for the Opinion Roundup newsletter for weekly Madison and Wisconsin viewpoints.It was five years in the making, but Stuart Levitan's new book, "Madison — the Illustrated History, 1932-1979," was well worth the wait.This is Levitan's second volume chronicling the history of Madison. The first, published in late 2006, covered the city's early years from 1856 to the start of the Great Depression in 1931.After years of intense research, which included combing the archives of Madison's two daily newspapers for a stretch of 47 years, the author has put together a book that examines Madison as never before.He pulls no punches in detailing his adopted city's warts while celebrating its accomplishments and national reputation for being one of America's best places to live.What makes this book so fun to read is its emphasis on the personalities, the heroes, and in some cases the villains, who played outsized roles in Madison's evolution.And while the prose is plentiful and fun to read, it's highlighted by creative pullouts that serve to amplify the discussions, the arguments, the tidbits that say so much about the fabric of the city.Levitan does a masterful job of taking readers through some of Madison's most tumultuous times: the Great Depression, World War II, the chaos of the 1960s and Vietnam War riots that divided the city, the decades-long debate over Monona Terrace, the destruction of the Bush, the surprising election of Paul Soglin and all that occurred in between.But as striking as the narrative and the typographical devices to enhance the stories are, the incredible collection of illustrations is as stunning.As Levitan has noted, some of the photos and maps have never been published before. They serve to show how Madison has physically changed since the 1930s, how and where it grew, the addition of the Beltline, the widening of city thoroughfares. He uncovers aborted plans to run an expressway through the isthmus.Many of the photos of downtown and several neighborhoods are expertly labeled to depict how the skyline has changed and where once historic buildings were located. It's easy to spend hours with them.Madison's history is primarily a positive one. Despite all the divisiveness and endless debates, it's still regarded as one of the country's most progressive cities. But Levitan doesn't shy away from documenting its troubled racial history that many attest exists to this very day.He tells of the Capitol Square barber who charged a Black visitor $3 for a 75-cent haircut so that Negroes wouldn't return to his shop. Or the restauranteur who reluctantly served a Black conventioneer and then smashed the plates the man ate from.He describes the neighborhood covenants that kept people of color from purchasing homes and the difficulty Blacks faced in renting apartments, a practice that continued through the '70s and beyond.Madison's NAACP was organized in 1943, and Levitan quotes one of its founders, renowned labor leader Hilton Hanna: "I do not think Madison is any worse (on race relations) than most places in the nation, but it certainly isn't as good as some people pretend it is."How often do we still hear that in 2026?Levitan, who credits me for bringing him to Madison back in 1977 to work at The Capital Times, has had an eclectic career in the years since, involved in politics, the media and the law.It's that deep involvement that he believes disqualifies him to write a Volume 3, the '80s to the present. It's somebody else's turn, he says. We're blessed, though, with his taking us this far.</div></body>

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The Cap Times is an independent newsroom. Sign up for the Opinion Roundup newsletter for weekly Madison and Wisconsin viewpoints. It was five years in the making, but Stuart Levitan's new book, "Madison — the Illustrated History, 1932-1979," was well worth the wait. This is Levitan's second volume chronicling...

Opinion | Madison's dogged historian does it again

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The Cap Times is an independent newsroom. Sign up for the Opinion Roundup newsletter for weekly Madison and Wisconsin viewpoints. It was five years in the 

Opinion | Madison's dogged historian does it again

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