Overview:
The Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education approved renaming Conrad A. Elvehjem Elementary School after Ada Deer, the Menominee leader, tribal sovereignty advocate and first Native American woman to lead the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Deer, who died in 2023, was also a UW–Madison alumna and a key figure in the restoration of federal recognition to the Menominee Tribe. The board also approved renaming two other elementary schools.
MADISON, Wisc. — The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) approved the renaming of Conrad A. Elvehjem Elementary to Ada Deer Elementary during its Aug. 24 board meeting. It is the first renaming since 2025.
“Ada Deer was a member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, a scholar and advocate for Native Americans. She served as the first Native American woman to head the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and was a UW-Madison alumna. She died in 2023,” the board wrote in an email.
Ada Deer was an advocate for tribal sovereignty and a trailblazer for Native American women. Deer was raised on the Menominee Reservation in Keshena, Wisc. She shattered ceiling after ceiling—becoming the first Menominee to graduate from UW–Madison and the first Native American to earn a Master of Social Work from Columbia University.
Deer ran for Wisconsin secretary of state in 1978 and 1982. In 1992, she became the first Native American woman to run for U.S. Congress.
Deer’s leadership led to the reversal of the federal tribal termination policy, culminating in the Menominee Restoration Act, which officially restored federal recognition to her nation. That triumph led to her election as the first woman to chair the Menominee Tribe.
In 1993, during the Clinton administration, she became the first Native American woman to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs as Assistant Secretary of the Interior, setting policy across more than 550 tribes.
Beyond her government service, Deer nurtured future generations as a teacher and director of the American Indian Studies Program at UW–Madison and served as the inaugural Elder-in-Residence for Native students.
In 2019, Deer was inducted into the National Native American Hall of Fame. In 2023, Wisconsin Gov. Evers designated Aug. 7 as Ada Deer Day. She passed away on Aug. 15, 2023.
Deer’s name was selected following months of work by volunteer Citizens’ Naming Committees established for the school. The committees reviewed community-submitted name suggestions, considered the history and identity of each school and its surrounding community, and developed finalists for consideration by the Board.
“This was a true collective effort, and we are deeply grateful to our neighbors, families, students, staff and school-based leaders for breathing life into this process,” said Chelsey Tubbs, MMSD associate superintendent of elementary programming. “We also extend our heartfelt thanks to the naming committees, whose dedicated care and vision provided the Board with deeply inspiring choices to shape our future.”
The MMSD Board of Education also approved the renaming of two other schools. Charles Lindbergh Elementary School will be known as Jeffrey Clay Erlanger Elementary School, and César Chávez Elementary School will be known as Roberto G. Sánchez Elementary School.
