Academics as activists: an interview with Jeffrey W. Pickron

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By Jeffrey W Pickron

This week, we bring you an interview with activist and historian Jeffrey W. Pickron. He and three other scholars spoke about their experiences as academics and activists on a riveting panel at the recent Oral History Association Annual Meeting. In this podcast, Pickron talks to managing editor Troy Reeves about his introduction to both oral history and activism, and the risks and rewards of speaking out.

Heading image: Boeing employees protest meeting in Seattles City Hall Park, 1943 by Seattle Municipal Archives. CC-BY-2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Pickron Headshot

Jeffrey W. Pickron is a lecturer in the history department at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh specializing in United States labor and urban history. He was the oral history coordinator for the Black Thursday Oral History Project and has worked on several oral history projects focused on labor and social movement history. In addition to his scholarly work, Pickron has worked as a labor organizer and led a campaign to achieve collective bargaining rights in the UW System and organize a campus union. He was also active in efforts around Wisconsin to resist Governor Scott Walker’s bill to rescind public sector bargaining rights.