Wanted poster for junior high principal: 1970
An original “wanted poster” of North Bethesda Junior High School Principal Ellis T. Glime posted during the night at the school in the spring of 1970.
The tongue-in-cheek poster was signed Youth International Party who were better known as the “Yippies,” a group embracing humorous protests during the Vietnam War era. The group ran a pig named Pegasus for U.S. president in 1968.
The “wanted poster” of Glime parodied the then-notorious posters of Weatherman and Black Panther fugitives while using a play on words naming him LSD Glime instead of Ellis T.
The clash between young people at the school embracing the era’s youth culture and anti-Vietnam War sentiments and the school administration began with the suspension of a student for passing out a student “bill of rights” and distributing anti-Vietnam War buttons. A picket line followed along with fighting between pro and antiwar students.
About 25 students picketed North Bethesda Junior High School March 25, 1970 over the school’s suspension of ninth grader Jeffrey Goldthorpe.
About 500 students gathered to watch the demonstration, and according to the Montgomery County Sentinel some opponents of the picketers “began taunting the picketers for their long hair and semi-hippy garb,” pushing and shoving them.
At least three fist fights broke out. At 8:25 a.m., as the school principal was leading Goldthorpe’s parents in for a conference, members of the county-wide Student Alliance, invited by the protesters, drove up and were surrounded by right-wing students who began rocking their cars and threatening them.
Glimes called the county police, who arrived about 8:40 a.m., but by the time they arrived, the fights had already ended and students were entering the school. Some protesting students had called for a student walkout at 2:00 p.m.—other protestors advised against it— and subsequent pressure by the administration led to the walkout being cancelled. Some stated their intention of form a Student Alliance II in order to press for student rights.
Goldthorpe obtained the text of the “bill of rights” and buttons from the Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, which he had been active in since the fall of 1969.
On Tuesday March 24 1970, Goldthorpe was sent to school principal Glime’s office and suspended for distributing the materials without permission.
Goldthorpe was reinstated the day after the protest and he, along with others, continued to press for student rights at school and against the Vietnam war. That spring the administration arranged dialogues with some of the protesting students, their parents, as well as students and parents together, but the school administration never altered their restrictions on political communication and activity.
A small number of activists persisted, sometimes leaving school to attend anti-war demonstrations, and calling on students to join the national student strike following the invasion of Cambodia and the killings at Kent State University.
They also organized a “jailbreak” for the last day of school, June 18th to “tell the system to Get Fucked” and “Break this Jail,” but only a handful of students walked out of school early.
While high school activism was fairly common in this time period, organized protests at junior high schools (grades 7-9) were much less frequent.
The school (no longer open) was located at 8935 Bradmoor Drive, Bethesda, Md., in the neighborhood bounded by Fernwood Drive, Greentree Drive, I-495 and Old Georgetown Road.
For a PDF of this 1-sided, 8 ½ x 11 poster, see washingtonareaspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Wanted...
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHBqjBbfn6
Original held in the Jeffrey T. Goldthorpe collection.
Wanted poster for junior high principal: 1970
An original “wanted poster” of North Bethesda Junior High School Principal Ellis T. Glime posted during the night at the school in the spring of 1970.
The tongue-in-cheek poster was signed Youth International Party who were better known as the “Yippies,” a group embracing humorous protests during the Vietnam War era. The group ran a pig named Pegasus for U.S. president in 1968.
The “wanted poster” of Glime parodied the then-notorious posters of Weatherman and Black Panther fugitives while using a play on words naming him LSD Glime instead of Ellis T.
The clash between young people at the school embracing the era’s youth culture and anti-Vietnam War sentiments and the school administration began with the suspension of a student for passing out a student “bill of rights” and distributing anti-Vietnam War buttons. A picket line followed along with fighting between pro and antiwar students.
About 25 students picketed North Bethesda Junior High School March 25, 1970 over the school’s suspension of ninth grader Jeffrey Goldthorpe.
About 500 students gathered to watch the demonstration, and according to the Montgomery County Sentinel some opponents of the picketers “began taunting the picketers for their long hair and semi-hippy garb,” pushing and shoving them.
At least three fist fights broke out. At 8:25 a.m., as the school principal was leading Goldthorpe’s parents in for a conference, members of the county-wide Student Alliance, invited by the protesters, drove up and were surrounded by right-wing students who began rocking their cars and threatening them.
Glimes called the county police, who arrived about 8:40 a.m., but by the time they arrived, the fights had already ended and students were entering the school. Some protesting students had called for a student walkout at 2:00 p.m.—other protestors advised against it— and subsequent pressure by the administration led to the walkout being cancelled. Some stated their intention of form a Student Alliance II in order to press for student rights.
Goldthorpe obtained the text of the “bill of rights” and buttons from the Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, which he had been active in since the fall of 1969.
On Tuesday March 24 1970, Goldthorpe was sent to school principal Glime’s office and suspended for distributing the materials without permission.
Goldthorpe was reinstated the day after the protest and he, along with others, continued to press for student rights at school and against the Vietnam war. That spring the administration arranged dialogues with some of the protesting students, their parents, as well as students and parents together, but the school administration never altered their restrictions on political communication and activity.
A small number of activists persisted, sometimes leaving school to attend anti-war demonstrations, and calling on students to join the national student strike following the invasion of Cambodia and the killings at Kent State University.
They also organized a “jailbreak” for the last day of school, June 18th to “tell the system to Get Fucked” and “Break this Jail,” but only a handful of students walked out of school early.
While high school activism was fairly common in this time period, organized protests at junior high schools (grades 7-9) were much less frequent.
The school (no longer open) was located at 8935 Bradmoor Drive, Bethesda, Md., in the neighborhood bounded by Fernwood Drive, Greentree Drive, I-495 and Old Georgetown Road.
For a PDF of this 1-sided, 8 ½ x 11 poster, see washingtonareaspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Wanted...
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHBqjBbfn6
Original held in the Jeffrey T. Goldthorpe collection.