The McFarland School Board voted Monday to rename Conrad Elvehjem Primary School, adopting a recommendation by the Citizens Advisory Facilities Naming Committee.
Elvehjem was born in McFarland in 1901 and went on to become a prominent biochemist and serve as the 13th president of the University of Wisconsin.
In 1931, historical records show, he supported a covenant to prohibit Black people from owning homes in the Nakoma neighborhood on Madison’s west side, where he lived at the time. Further, as UW president, he restricted the Film Board of Madison from showing “To Find a Home,” an undercover film illustrating racial discrimination in housing.
These actions were brought to the school board’s attention in 2023 by McFarland High School sophomore Ryli Brown, who learned of Elvehjem’s apparently racist background while working on a class project. Later that year, the board began the process of forming a citizen’s committee on facility naming, and Brown, along with superintendent Aaron Tanutzer and historian Ron Larson, conducted further research. The committee convened in December and made the recommendation to rename the school on March 17.
The committee did not suggest a new name, but in a press release, the district said it will “launch a renaming process that reflects the district’s values and includes opportunities for community input.”
Additionally, the district said it would develop a plan to “recognize Elvehjem’s legacy while acknowledging the harm caused by racial covenants.”
“This board’s decision is not about erasing history or condemning a person, but about recognizing the impact of past actions and ensuring that every member of our community feels welcomed and valued,” Tarnutzer said in a statement.
The Madison Metropolitan School District is also considering renaming schools named for Elvehjem and Charles Lindbergh, the famous pilot who also expressed antisemitic views and sympathies for the Nazi regime in Germany.
