What a long, strange trip it's been on the road to today's Mifflin Street Block Party. The current melee celebrates good times and cold drinks rather than the politics of its forefathers.
Paul Soglin, Madison alder from 1968-'73 and mayor from 1973-'79 and 1989-'97, was present for the first block party in 1969.
\In the last week of April and first week of May, the weather was really nice and a couple of Mifflin Street residents put out a sign saying 'Block Party,' ... and it also said 'Off the Pig,'"" Soglin said. ""It was a political statement, but that was the extent of the organization.""
The party of more than 100 students quickly turned sour when police officers arrived in riot gear mid-morning.
""We didn't know it at the time, but ... the famous quote from [Inspector] Herman Thomas was, 'Stay behind me, we're going to go down there and crack some skulls,'"" Soglin said.
The police presence drew larger crowds to the Block Party and officers began arresting partygoers. Soglin was one of the first few targeted by police. Word got around campus and by 4 p.m., a couple thousand students had descended on Mifflin Street.
""Of course the police were outnumbered ... and it was just students throwing rocks and bottles at squad cars and everybody being teargassed,"" he said. ""After I got released, I went into a home the police had gone into chasing a guy. When I walked into the living room, the door was open [and] two women were huddled in a corner screaming and these officers were just beating the crap out of this guy in the dining room.""
The following day students resumed the party-and their battle with police. Arrests continued until community members pleaded for the city to stop.
Politics pervaded the Block Party even more in 1970 as the weekend coincided with the United States' invasion of Cambodia and the shooting of protesting students at Kent State and Jackson State.
In 1973, Soglin became mayor and a new police chief, David Couper, took over the department. The two decided to change the tone of the event and use a non-intimidating community-policing tactic.
UW-Madison alumnus David Karpe attended the festivities in the mid-1970s.
""'Miffland' was famous, so I guess I had some sort of cultural identification with it,"" he said. ""It was pretty laid back [in 1973]. The operative word was mellow. Vietnam was still going on then, so that was definitely in the air. There was definitely a radical edge to it.""
UW-Madison alumnus and former Daily Cardinal editor David Newman said the 1973 Block Party was largely a fundraiser for political, environmental and community causes, and it had gotten so well known that film star Jane Fonda attended.
Newman said although the Block Party looks little like its 1970s counterpart, students again face issues of war and political uncertainty.
""You had a sense of community because what we were about for a number of years was being opposed to the Vietnam War; you just lived with it every day, and students-or Mifflin-don't have that anymore,"" he said. ""It's interesting because, once again, we're a country at war even though we don't see it as much ... but it's kind of full-circle in that sense.""
The focus of the event shifted from politics to partying in the 80s and 90s, but riots at the Block Party in 1996 were reminiscent of the first gathering. In the 1960s, the police often asked fire departments to use their high-pressure hoses on crowds, something the Madison Fire Department refused to do.
""One of the great ironies is ... [in 1996] there were some fires started at the Block Party and the fire department came down and fire fighters were attacked,"" Soglin said. ""Rocks were thrown at them and there was almost $30,000 damage done to one of the trucks. I mean, there's a disconnect here.""
The Mifflin Street Block Party has evolved into a celebration known throughout the country, but remains a staple of Madison's culture.
""The '69 Block Party, that very first day, was something that nobody had ever seen before-it was on a scale that had not happened in this country,"" Soglin said. ""But the '73 party became the turning point ... because it signified a period of transition as to where we were going in Madison in building a community.""
