Weather High School Jailbreaks
Encyclopedia
Jailbreaks were demonstrations staged by members of Weatherman
during the summer and fall of 1969 in an effort to recruit high school and community college students to join their movement against the United States government and its policies.
event that took place on October 8–11, 1969, the Weatherman collective used various methods of recruiting individuals to join them in Chicago. These demonstrations were intended to recruit high school students to join the organization at the Days of Rage and convince them to join the Weatherman. The institution of school had been specifically identified in the initial Weatherman statement as an oppressor of the youth of America. Weather members felt that the curriculum taught in United States schools promoted values such as sexism and competitive capitalism.
interrupted a history class and proceeded to tell the students that what they were being taught by their educational institution was false information. Raskin declared the school a prison and called for the students to join the cause and participate in demonstrations in Chicago in order to bring the war home. A handful of students followed the women as they marched out of the school. By this time the school invasion had attracted the attention of a group of local construction workers. Verbal taunting led to physical skirmishes as the police arrived. Raskin and twenty-five others, including Cathy Wilkerson, were arrested. Charges included rioting, inciting a riot, and disorderly conduct. It was reported (and since disputed) that the women ran through the school topless.
. Nine women took over a classroom of forty to fifty students in the middle of a sociology final, blocked the door and lectured the class on imperialism and racism. The teacher's attempt to leave and contact the police was halted by the Weatherwomen who had been trained in Karate. The "Motor City Nine" were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and assault and battery.
that had marched and protested alongside Weather members before the two groups split wished to further distance themselves from Weather due to their increasingly violent and chaotic methods.
List of Weatherman actions
Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Eleanor Raskin
Weatherman (organization)
Weatherman, known colloquially as the Weathermen and later the Weather Underground Organization , was an American radical left organization. It originated in 1969 as a faction of Students for a Democratic Society composed for the most part of the national office leadership of SDS and their...
during the summer and fall of 1969 in an effort to recruit high school and community college students to join their movement against the United States government and its policies.
Purpose
Leading up to the Days of RageDays of Rage
The Days of Rage demonstrations were a series of direct actions taken over a course of three days in October 1969 in Chicago organized by the Weatherman faction of the Students for a Democratic Society...
event that took place on October 8–11, 1969, the Weatherman collective used various methods of recruiting individuals to join them in Chicago. These demonstrations were intended to recruit high school students to join the organization at the Days of Rage and convince them to join the Weatherman. The institution of school had been specifically identified in the initial Weatherman statement as an oppressor of the youth of America. Weather members felt that the curriculum taught in United States schools promoted values such as sexism and competitive capitalism.
Pittsburgh
In September 1969, a group of Weatherwomen, carrying the Vietcong flag, marched on South Hills High School in Pittsburgh. While the mostly white, working-class students were on lunch, the group arrived and distributed leaflets which advertised the Days of Rage. A small group led by Eleanor RaskinEleanor Raskin
Eleanor E. Raskin née Stein; was a member of Weatherman. She is currently an associate professor at Albany Law School, teaching transnational environmental law with a focus on catastrophic climate change.- Early life :Eleanor E...
interrupted a history class and proceeded to tell the students that what they were being taught by their educational institution was false information. Raskin declared the school a prison and called for the students to join the cause and participate in demonstrations in Chicago in order to bring the war home. A handful of students followed the women as they marched out of the school. By this time the school invasion had attracted the attention of a group of local construction workers. Verbal taunting led to physical skirmishes as the police arrived. Raskin and twenty-five others, including Cathy Wilkerson, were arrested. Charges included rioting, inciting a riot, and disorderly conduct. It was reported (and since disputed) that the women ran through the school topless.
Detroit: The "Motor City Nine"
McComb Community College in Detroit was the site of another jailbreak led by a small group of Weatherwomen that included Diana OughtonDiana Oughton
Diana Oughton was a member of the Students for a Democratic Society Michigan Chapter and later, a member of the 1960s radical group Weatherman. Oughton received her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College. After graduation, Oughton went to Guatemala with the VISA program to teach the young and older...
. Nine women took over a classroom of forty to fifty students in the middle of a sociology final, blocked the door and lectured the class on imperialism and racism. The teacher's attempt to leave and contact the police was halted by the Weatherwomen who had been trained in Karate. The "Motor City Nine" were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and assault and battery.
Outcome
Jailbreaks were only slightly effective for Weatherman recruitment and became more well-known for the resulting arrests that occurred. Members of Students for a Democratic SocietyStudents for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
that had marched and protested alongside Weather members before the two groups split wished to further distance themselves from Weather due to their increasingly violent and chaotic methods.
See also
Weather Underground (organization)Weather Underground (organization)
Weatherman, known colloquially as the Weathermen and later the Weather Underground Organization , was an American radical left organization. It originated in 1969 as a faction of Students for a Democratic Society composed for the most part of the national office leadership of SDS and their...
List of Weatherman actions
Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
Eleanor Raskin
Eleanor Raskin
Eleanor E. Raskin née Stein; was a member of Weatherman. She is currently an associate professor at Albany Law School, teaching transnational environmental law with a focus on catastrophic climate change.- Early life :Eleanor E...