PLAY ON FAIR HOUSING MARCH

Urban Anthropology Inc. produced a play called The March to Kosciuszko, based on the major fair housing march that reached the south side in August of 1967.  The play was held on November 3, 2012 at the Basilica of St. Josaphat. 

Synopsis of Play

During the turbulent year of 1967, two fictionalized families struggle with an appropriate response to the upcoming fair housing march to Milwaukee’s Kosciuszko Park.  A southside family wants to hold on to their Polish neighborhood that has recently lost housing as a result of freeway construction, but sees race becoming the operative theme in the opposition.  On the north side, a Black family that has also lost housing during freeway construction, questions whether they should risk participation in the potentially violent march.  The events are narrated by General Thaddeus Kosciuszko whose monument symbolizes the Polish presence on the south side.  As he speaks, the audience learns the historic Kosciuszko—not the one both sides conceptualize.