On April 22, 1936, at 11 a.m., about 500 students walk out of class at Lincoln High School in Tacoma. Chanting slogans, they march through the 38th Street business district and down Tacoma Avenue to crosstown rival Stadium High, two and a half miles away. Another 200 or so students rally at Pacific Lutheran College (now University) in a separate demonstration, while students at the College (now University) of Puget Sound meet indoors to pass resolutions in favor of peace. The Tacoma protesters are among an estimated 400,000 students demonstrating nationwide in the second year of a student movement protesting global militarization. Although the demonstrations in Tacoma are peaceful, their aftermath will include arrests, fines, and legal wrangling for some Lincoln students and their supporters.
March and Reaction
The April 1936 peace demonstrations in the United States were organized nationally by the American Student Peace Committee and carried out locally by a variety of New Deal, pacifist, socialist, and communist groups. Part of a movement that began in 1935 and dwindled by 1937, the demonstrations often featured a variant of the British "Oxford Oath" of 1933, where members of the Oxford Union, reflecting on the devastation of World War I, pledged never to "bear arms for king and country" (Alsop). Some demonstrators referred to themselves, only partly tongue in cheek, as the Veterans of Future Wars.
On reaching Stadium, some of the marchers from Lincoln headed into the building and entered the study hall, where they were booed. Others rallied in the courtyard, calling up to onlookers in Stadium's turrets. Stadium students did not walk out of class, but a number of them joined the rally during their lunch period. Whether this was solidarity or simply a study break is unclear.
Although the Lincoln marchers made up about 20 percent of that school's student body, they did not seem to capture the imagination of many other classmates. Lincoln junior Rosa Northcutt, writing to her boyfriend, Murray Morgan, at the University of Washington, described the protest as "kind of silly, don't you think?" (Northcutt, April 22, 1936).
Her colleagues on the Lincoln News, the school's weekly paper, were less charitable. In a front-page editorial two days later the staff wrote that although the News had long proclaimed the futility of war, "the majority of the demonstrators Wednesday had never before entertained a thought on the subject" and were mostly interested in cutting class and showing off -- "Fortunately," the unnamed writer went on to snipe, "none of school's real leaders were involved" ("Peace Parade Was Not ...").
The Stadium World took a similar stand, featuring a quote calling the protesters "a bunch of dummies" and praising Stadium students for sitting out the demonstrations and for booing those who entered the school ("Peace Parade Fails to ...").
A Second Demonstration
The Lincoln High School administration, under Principal W. C. P. Meddins (1877-?), banned the striking students from extracurricular activities for the rest of the year and required a letter of apology before they could return to class. This led to a second demonstration on May 4. Parents and supporters of students who had refused to apologize gathered outside Lincoln, blocking the sidewalk according to police. A contingent entered the building, hoping to meet with administration officials.
Rosa Northcutt wrote again to Murray:
Protesters' signs focused on the nature of education and the need for peace: "Education or Regimentation," "We Are Not Sheep," "Defend Your Right to Strike," "If It Is Wrong to March for Peace Now, What Will It Be When the Bands Are Playing?" ("Peace Paraders Turn ...")."School wasn't quite so monotonous today as usual. About one hundred kids stood in front of school carrying posters and signs, and passing out handbills all morning, in a pouring rain. After lunch they moved inside the halls ... There were plainclothesmen and officers in uniform in all the halls. By the end of fifth period there were more parents and grownup strikers there than students" (Northcutt, May 4, 1936).
The police focused instead on the crowded sidewalk. Eleven people were arrested for obstruction and jailed. Only two of them -- Dick Welch, 19, and Norwin Taylor, 17 -- were students. The others were Elizabeth Boyd, 34; Siebert Boyd, 53; George Currington, 40; Ed Heinricy, 40; Marie Martinson, 42; Arthur Munt, 58; Pat Murphy, 32; and Ole Roe, 56.
Picketers and supporters met that night and called for the arrest of Principal Meddins for not allowing students to exercise their rights to an education. That did not happen. Instead, Assistant Superintendent H. F. Hunt (1871-1937) released a statement saying it was "extremely regrettable that certain extreme measures seem to be necessary to ensure the peaceful operation of the public schools in this city" ("Bail Out Six ...").
The Stadium World responded on May 8 with another editorial, worrying that all of Lincoln was suffering because of the actions of a minority and warning that "It Could Happen Here!"
All those arrested were found guilty and fined $25 to $50 and court costs. Ole Roe's appeal on First and 14th Amendment grounds went all the way to the Washington State Supreme Court, which dismissed it in May 1937 with minimal discussion. That ruling was used to dismiss concurrent appeals by other demonstrators including Heinricy and Elizabeth Boyd.
