Oral Histories

Meg Campbell

   May 3, 2024

   

Organizer, Little Rock and Hot Springs, Arkansas, 1974-1975; Head Organizer, Ft. Worth, Texas, 1975-1976; Assistant Director, Arkansas Institute for Social Justice, Dallas, Texas, 1976-1977; Director, AISJ, Dallas and New Orleans, Louisiana, 1977-1979

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1. May 3, 0024 Interviewed by Steven Kest

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Meg Campbell worked for ACORN from 1974 until 1979; she started with her training in North Little Rock, then opened the Hot Springs AR office, then moved to Dallas/Ft Worth where she ran the Ft Worth operation. She then moved to AISJ, ACORN’s 501c3 training institute, first as assistant director and then director, working in Dallas and then New Orleans. In this interview, Meg talks about doing her first training drive with Wade Rathke, ACORN’s founder; her experiences running a successful statewide legislative campaign to legalize the sale of generic prescription drugs in AR; and her conflict with Wade over her interest in creating a women’s chapter of ACORN that would work on women’s health and childcare issues. She also talks about her experiences as a trainer, as part of AISJ, with a focus on teaching people how to “think like an organizer”. Meg also talks about her post-ACORN life, as an organizer and an educator, and how her ACORN experiences informed that work.