Wisconsin chronology
The Governor’s Council for Spanish Speaking People releases Report on State Services to the Hispanic Population of Wisconsin. After surveying state agencies, the report concludes that the state government improves historical accounts of Wisconsin’s Latino population.
The Wisconsin legislature passes the Migrant Labor Law. This legislation outlines specific requirements regarding wages, hours, contracts, and housing for migrant workers. Many Latino activists call this legislative action a milestone.
Cubans begin to settle in Wisconsin.
Milwaukee becomes a majority-minority city, largely because of the African American community and the increasing Latino including Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Cubans, and Central Americans and Asian populations.
UMOS establishes an old migrant labor camp as temporary shelter for workers in Waushara County a well-known location for migrants. UMOS’s renovated migrant-labor camp in Waushara County, purchased in 1991, expands to the Aurora Center with the use of Farmers Home Administration Funds. The site includes a Head Start (built in 1996), seasonal housing, and emergency housing.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee officials rename the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute to the Roberto Hernandez Center in honor of Hernandez (d. 1994), one of the activists involved with the takeover of the chancellor’s office in 1970.
Democrat Pedro Colon, of Puerto Rican heritage, becomes the first Latino to win a seat in the Wisconsin legislature; he represents Milwaukee.
