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Sun Prairie's Multicultural Heritage 

It is important to capture and eduate about Sun Prairie's diversity from our community's past, present and future. Check out the information below to learn more!

Capturing Sun Prairie's Black History

City staff collaborated with the Sun Prairie Media Center, Sun Prairie Historical Library & Museum, and community members to produce “Sun Prairie, Did You Know…?”, an ongoing digital storytelling project where Black community leaders share their Sun Prairie experiences. The focus of this project is to honor the history of different Black leaders while also teaching the community about who these individuals are.

To be involved in the project and recommend other Black community leaders to be featured, please contact Jake King, Communications and Diversity Strategist, at jking@cityofsunprairie.com.  

Marilyn Ruffin 

Marilyn and her family have lived in Sun Prairie since 2009. She is a Black community leader who has made significant contributions to her community.

Did you know that Marilyn was Sun Prairie's first Black School Board Member? She was encouraged to run even though she didn't know very many people at the time. Despite this obstacle, she was able to rally community support and was elected to serve on the School Board in 2015. She would go on to serve multiple terms.

In addition to her service with the Sun Prairie Area School District, Marilyn also co-facilitates the Urban Sun: Black Voices Book Club with Donna Mackey at the Sun Prairie Public Library. This book club explores contemporary and historical works by African American authors and promotes meaningful conversations about race.

It is important for Marilyn to teach people that she is a Black woman (always capitalize the "B" in Black). She is not a POC (Person of Color), BIPOC (Black Indigenous Person of Color), or minority. She is a Black woman.

You can learn more about Marilyn and her story by checking out "Sun Prairie, Did You Know...?" 

Donna Mackey

Donna Mackey is a longtime resident of Sun Prairie and has lived here since 1989. She is a Black Community Leader who has contributed a great deal to our community.

When they first arrived, Donna and her family moved into Truax military housing (which is now the Vandenburg neighborhood). Her husband was the Inspector General for the Pentagon and was stationed in the area. Donna shared one time that she had someone refer to the Vandenberg neighborhood as the "ghetto". She used this opportunity to teach them about the historical significance of the neighborhood and how it was used to house military families. Teaching and building relationships are two things Donna loves to do.

Donna used to develop and facilitate dialogue groups in the Sun Prairie schools about cultural competency and race relations. Her participants ranged from elementary students all the way to high schoolers. She has shared that she saw this as an opportunity to prepare future leaders that would go into the world to help improve race relations. Donna has not taken her teaching cap off as she still continues to this day to educate others on similar topics. Currently, she co-facilitates the Urban Sun: Black Voice Book Club with Marilyn Ruffin hosted by the Sun Prairie Public Library. This is a book club that explores contemporary and historical works by African American authors and promotes meaningful conversations about race.

If you ever have the chance to talk with Donna, she will share that what caused her and family to stay in Sun Prairie all these years is how welcoming her neighbors were when her family first arrived. She emphasizes the importance of embracing those who are different than you and being welcoming to everybody.

To learn more about Donna and her history in Sun Prairie, check out her story here on "Sun Prairie, Did You Know...?".