Although the majority of Wisconsin's African American population settled in more urban areas, others chose to live in small towns or on farms. In the 1950s, the Governor's Commission on Human Rights began surveying the state to find statistical as well as personal information about rural African Americans. The commission interviewed 486 African Americans in all and the report, released in 1959, provides biographical sketches of some of the individuals. They also interviewed white community members in an attempt to discern the tenor of racial relations in rural settings.

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"Negro families in rural Wisconsin : a study of their community life." (Madison, Wis. : Governor's Commission on Human Rights, 1959. 72 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.

Wisconsin government publications collection, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin

"Negro families in rural Wisconsin : a study of their community life." (Madison, Wis. : Governor's Commission on Human Rights, 1959); online facsimile at http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1099

Copyright 2005 by the Wisconsin Historical Society (Madison, Wisconsin)

Forms part of the Turning points collection (Wisconsin Historical Society)