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Madison: SHAFR’s Summer City of Fun
Madison: SHAFR’s Summer City of Fun
Jeremi Suri
Madison in late June proves that cold, snowy winters make for near perfect summers. The city shines in the warm glow of the sun sitting comfortably above the isthmus, the lakes, and the ubiquitous outdoor festivals that bring the community and its lucky visitors alive. Madison is, in fact, much more than a state capital, a university town, a business hub, and an artists’ enclave. It is a forward-looking community with a strikingly traditional commitment to people and place. Few other cities share the same devotion to landscape. Few other cities share the same daily sport in turning the landscape into a cause for group recreation. Madisonians love their city and they consume their city in a very spirited way.
SHAFR participants will have the easy privilege of enjoying all the glories of Madison during their visit to town. The city sits astride a narrow isthmus between two large lakes: Lake Monona (“Lake of the Rising Sun”) to the South, and Lake Mendota (“Lake of the Setting Sun”) to the North. The beautiful alabaster white Capitol dome, completed in 1917 as a near replica of the Nation’s Capitol dome, sits at the epicenter of the isthmus. All roads lead to this focal point of progressive government, or so the “Wisconsin Idea” of Robert La Follette, John R. Commons, and Richard Ely promised. The Capitol Square remains a serious place, but it is more frequently populated by visitors to the eye-catching Frank Lloyd Convention Center on Lake Monona, the Wisconsin Veterans and Historical Society Museums, and, most of all, the gargantuan Saturday farmers market. You have never seen so much cheese!
Traveling West off the Capitol Square one finds the pedestrian throughway of State Street – more than a mile of shops, restaurants, cafes, and more cafes connecting progressive government to the progressive University. On summer nights State Street, running parallel to Lake Mendota, is filled with an eclectic mix of families, students, professionals, bohemians, and even a few bums. The walk between the Capitol and the university includes the breath-taking Overture Center for the Arts, recently designed by César Pelli, the surprisingly modest Peace Park devoted to the 1960s protests, and the entrance to the Lowell Center and other conference accommodations.
The Western end of State Street opens into the University of Wisconsin campus. To understand this university you must think of three things: Frederick Jackson Turner and the frontier, Fred Harvey Harrington and the “multiversity” of the Cold War era, and Jamie Thompson and stem cells. You can feel Turner in the university’s palpable connection to a frontier landscape that hugs Lake Mendota. The stately Wisconsin Historical Society library and the monuments to creative scholarship across campus attest to the frontier individualism (and eccentricity) that continues to define cutting-edge research and teaching. The never-ending parade of hyper-modern (postmodern?) buildings, as far as the eye can see, reflects the rapid and extensive growth of the university after the Second World War – the creation of a mini-empire that receives more federal research dollars than any other university, excluding one that performs classified research. The section of campus nearest to State Street and our conference facilities focuses on our proud humanities and social sciences, but a run around the lake will show the powerful presence of “big science.” Stem cells and other major discoveries shape the financial, cultural, and topographical landscape almost as much as semi-corrupt Big Ten Athletics.
We can thank all of these elements for our fantastic state-of-the-art SHAFR meeting home. Madison is a prime time summer conference destination, and the university actively contributes to this exceptional experience. All of the SHAFR conference panels and related sessions will occur in the sleek Pyle Conference Center, near the crossroad of State Street and the campus, overlooking Lake Mendota. Everyone can walk from their accommodations and other activities to and from the conference center with ease. Hundreds of diverse food and drink options are less than five minutes away on foot. All facilities meet the highest standards for easy access.
Perhaps the greatest of all Madison treasures sits beside the conference center. The University of Wisconsin Memorial Union is the social center for people of all tastes. The rococo building includes a cozy high quality coffee shop, a lakeside dining facility, a true German Rathskeller with more beer on tap than any other American university bar, and Badger ice cream. Move over Ben and Jerry’s, our university cows are the creamiest!
Most significant, the backside of the Memorial Union building is attached to the Lakeside Terrace, a beer garden built out onto Lake Mendota. You can sit in comfortable chairs, eat brats and hamburgers, drink pitchers of beer, watch the sailors and wind-surfers, and even place your feet in the water. Don’t worry, the ducks rarely bite. When the sun goes down, each evening includes an outdoor concert with more food and drink, of course. Families, students, faculty, politicians, and visitors mingle together in this remarkable setting. Come early and enjoy the easy fun. Please do remember, however, that you should attend a few of those SHAFR panels at the Pyle Center next door…
Suggested Restaurants – good food, reasonably priced, walking distance:
Blue Marlin Fish and Seafood Restaurant — 101 North Hamilton Street (608) 255-2255
Chautara Indian-Nepalese Restaurant — 334 State Street (608) 251-3626
Fresco Restaurant (Overture Center rooftop) — 227 State Street (608) 663-7374
Frida Mexican Grill — 117 State Street (608) 256-4000
Husnu’s Turkish Restaurant — 547 State Street (608) 256-0900
Kabul Afghan Restaurant — 541 State Street (608) 256-6322
Muramoto Japanese Restaurant — 106 King Street (608) 260-2680
Tornado Steakhouse — 116 South Hamilton Street (608) 256-3570
Tutto Pasta Trattoria — 305 State Street (608) 294-1000
Suggested Bars in walking distance (most have live music on Friday and Saturday nights):
Brocach Irish Pub — 7 West Main Street (608) 255.2015
Edgewater Hotel Bar — 666 Wisconsin Avenue (608) 256-9071
The Nitty Gritty — 223 North Frances Street (608) 251-2521
Old Fashioned — 23 North Pinckney Street (608) 310-4545
Overture Center Rooftop Bar — 227 State Street (608) 663-7374
Zander’s — 118 State Street (608) 280-9999
Other Entertainment Options in walking distance:
Capitol Building Tours — 2 East Main Street (608) 266-0382
Orpheum Movie and Music Theater — 216 State Street (608) 255-8755
Overture Center for the Arts — 201 State Street(608) 258-4177
University of Wisconsin Memorial Union Theater – 800 Langdon Street (608) 265-ARTS
Wisconsin Historical Society Museum — Capitol Square (608) 264-6400
Wisconsin Historical Society Library and Archives — 816 State Street (608) 264-6400
Wisconsin Veterans Museum and Archives — 30 West Mifflin Street (608) 267-1799
Jeremi Suri is the E. Gordon Fox Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He loves Madison, all times of year.