Browse Items (5 total)

Detail from Joe Szwaja's (left) campaign literature. Carmen Cruz (right), lived in Szwaja's district and was one of the people who was concerned about Arcato. Cruz worked hard with other activists to contact the US government and convince others to…

Joe Szwaja’s experience with the Madison-Arcatao Sister City Project in the 1980s has continued to have an influence on his life. For example, in Seattle, where he now lives, he helped to form a kind of grassroots sistering affiliation with Nuevo…

Joe Szwaja was elected to the City Council in a special election in 1986, and ran for reelection in April of 1987. While on the City Council, he continued his support of the Madison-Arcatao Sister City Project in new ways

Copy of the official Madison Common Council resolution, #42,209, naming Arcatao Madison's first sister city. The resolution was authored by Rosa Escamilla, our first Latinx council member and was passed on April 1, 1986. The “Whereas” section makes…

Joe Szwaja played a key role in mobilizing Madisonians in support of the Madison-Arcatao Sister City initiative. As a graduate student at UW, he became involved with Community Action in Latin America (CALA), ultimately joining as paid staff. He,…