Radicals in Wisconsin: An Oral History Project

Next Oral History Volunteer Meeting

We love having new volunteers! We are still in need of interviewers, transcribers or social media maintenance.

Email to colinrgillis at gmail dot com.

What is the Radical Oral History Project?

The Oral History Project is a work in progress. We are establishing a program where volunteers interview local residents about radical histories of Madison and Wisconsin. We will be starting with interviews from the Madison Tenants Union and the Madison InfoShop, but we are open to suggestions of collecting stories from other radical movements.

The Madison InfoShop

“…InfoShop’s are just one manifestation of a much bigger social change movement” John P.  is a longtime Madison activist, community organizer and volunteer at the InfoShop. He has seen the evolution of the InfoShop since 1992, when it first opened.

“There was really a big campus and Madison community building period there where there was getting to be a lot of radicalization and a lot of mobilization on both local and global issues that just crashed after September 11” Interview with Kurt by SLIS student Sara C.

“A lot of great ideas are kind of born here, not only from our collective members but people who use the space…kind of like a radical think tank”   Interview with Tops about her past 5 years at the InfoShop

“We lost our funding from the university in a rather controversial slue of defundings...” Interview with Joh M.

Radical Rural Politics Series

Below are some recordings from each of the Radical Rural Politics series discussions (in bold).

*Note* At some points the volume fades out due to the equipment that we are using (a small digital recorder), but we hope you can enjoy the discussions.

Thurs. Jan 19^th  – Introduction and Overview (MP3)

Thurs. Feb. 2^nd  – 1890s Loggers Strike in the North Woods (MP3)

Thurs. Feb. 16th  – WWI Labor Unrest on the Iron Range (WMA file)

Thurs. March 1^st - Wisconsin Milk Strike of 1933 (MP3)

Thurs. March 15^th  – Farmworker Organizing in the Fields of WI and the Bogs of MI (MP3)

Thurs. March 29th – 1970s Powerline Revolt in Minnesota (MP3)

Thurs. April 12th – Hormel Meatpackers Strike of 1985 (MP3)

Thurs. April 26th  - Crandon Mine Fight in WI (MP3)

Here are the readings for the Crandon Mine discussion:

The Crandon Mine Saga - Douglas J. Buege, Z Magazine, Feb. 2004

Crandon Mine Victory in Wisconsin Won by Historic Alliance – Debra McNutt and Zoltan Grossman, Earth First Journal, Brigid 2004

Corporate Strategies for Overcoming Local Resistance to New Mining Projects – Al Gedicks, UW-La Crosse

Thurs. May 10th – 2011 Solidarity Tractorcade and the Cheddar Uprising

Joel Greeno, Making A Statement with Our Tractors, Other Voices, May 9, 2011
http://www.otherwords.org/articles/making_a_statement_with_our_tractors

And here is the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel coverage of the rally:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/117862214.html

Which is a bit different from that in the Wisconsin State Farmer:
http://www.wisfarmer.com/leadstories/118174699.html

Here is the speech of Tony Schultz, from YouTube:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKOvqXoWB7s

Here is a short YOuTube video interview with Joel Greeno, tractorcade organizer:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI6XXYM5kjY

Here is a link to a 30 minute video on the Tractorcade produced by Max Balhorn of Macalester College:   http://vimeo.com/22138939

Thurs. May 24^th - Wrap-up and Conclusion