Re: Inq: high school underground (multiple posts)

sixties-l@jefferson.village.virginia.edu
Wed, 16 Apr 1997 15:53:54 -0400

(1)
From: "Ron Jacobs" <rjacobs@thyme.uvm.edu>
Organization: University of Vermont

Scott,
I would love to be help you out. I went to an American jr. high/high school
in Frankfurt, Germany from March 1970 until June 1973. We wrote and
edited two different papers during that time. I may even still have
some of the issues at my parents' house. If not, perhaps I can get
in touch with some of my classmates who might ...
> From: Scott Walter <slwalter@INDIANA.EDU>

> I'm looking for sources on this movement encompassing things from
> the high school underground press (e.g., the High School Free Press
> in NYC), anti-war protest sponsored by high schoolers (e.g., the
> High School Mobilization Committee), high school student unions
> (again, the most famous being in NYC), or anything else that may
> seem relevant (High School SDS, for example).
>
> Also, I would welcome the opportunity to talk to people (either in
> person, over the net, or via a questionnaire) who actually
> participated in any of these movements. I'd like very much to have
> some oral history inform this project.
>
> scott walter
> indiana university
>
> slwalter@indiana.edu
Ron Jacobs\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\Lost my boots in transit, babe
Bailey/Howe Library,\\\\\\\\Pile of smoking leather
University of Vermont\\\\\\\\\\Nailed a retread to my feet
Reserve desk\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\And prayed for better weather...
rjacobs@thyme.uvm.edu\\\\\\\\-Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia
Burlington,VT USA\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

(2)
From: Jeff Garcilazo <jmgarcil@benfranklin.hnet.uci.edu>

In reply to Scott Walter. Does your research interest include Chicanos?
If so, you might consult Carlos MuNoz, Jr., _Youth Identity and Power_,
which examines the origins of the Chicano youth movement in East Los
Angeles. Sal Castro, the teacher most influential at Garfield high school
is still on the job. Also, the recent PBS documentary "Chicano! the
Mexican American Civil Rights Movement" contains much useful information.

Contact me directly if you would like to discuss this further.

Jeff Garcilazo
Department of History
UC Irvine
JMGARCIL@UCI.EDU

(3)
From: tomcondit@pop.igc.org

Scott Walter asks about high school activities in the '60s.

I can't help with a lot of his inquiry. I can say that there were very few
high school SDS chapters. They tended to be at "elite" schools (e.g.,
Palisades and University High Schools in Los Angeles) and to collapse when
the one or two people who were the real moving force graduated or left town.
Indeed, the failure to build any kind of real high school movement was part
of the decline of the movement later in the 1970s, since we definitely had
not reproduced ourselves. The attempt by the Revolutionary Youth Movement
contingents to build a high school movement through the "propaganda of the
deed" (e.g., invading classrooms and denouncing teachers and the
administration) was a mega-flop.

For a different take, though, look at the situation with predominately
Chicano high schools in Los Angeles. There the fight wasn't one of "youth
rebellion", but for the rights of students to decent instruction and
respectful treatment. There's an excellent episode of the PBS series on the
Chicano Civil Rights movement dealing with this. There's a continuum to this
day through groups like MEChA. I don't know if there was any equivalent in
Black high schools.

Tom Condit