Recording booth will capture memories of Sterling Hall bombing

For those who were in Madison on Aug. 24, 1970, memories of the bombing of Sterling Hall — the sounds that woke them in the middle of the night, the images of the aftermath — are indelible.

And with the 40th anniversary of the bombing approaching on Tuesday, University of Wisconsin–Madison historians want to hear from them.

The bombing of Sterling Hall, which housed the Army Math Research Center, killed Robert Fassnacht, a 33-year-old physics researcher who was working in the building at the time.

Starting Aug. 23, the Wisconsin Story Project will install the Wisconsin Storybooth in Memorial Library on the UW–Madison campus to collect personal recollections of the bombing from those who were in Madison at the time.

A joint project of Wisconsin Story Project and the UW–Madison Oral History Program — a part of the UW–Madison Libraries — the booth will be a chance to collect short recollections of those who experienced life in Madison that day for inclusion in the UW–Madison Archives, a UW–Madison member library.

It will also serve as research for the Wisconsin Story Project’s next documentary theater project, which will be based on the Sterling Hall event and the era of protest in Madison that preceded it.

The booth will be located in the Memorial Library, 728 State St., from Monday, Aug. 23-Sunday, Aug. 29, and is open to the public. Representatives of both the UW–Madison Oral History Program and Wisconsin Story Project will be on hand to assist community members with sharing and recording their stories.

Participants may record their memories from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. during the week and from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. during the weekend.