{"id":1006,"date":"2014-01-31T05:01:22","date_gmt":"2014-01-31T05:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=1006"},"modified":"2015-01-09T15:47:57","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T20:47:57","slug":"feb-18-1969-turmoil-at-gladstone-high-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/01\/31\/feb-18-1969-turmoil-at-gladstone-high-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Turmoil at Gladstone High School"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Police <\/a>
Police gathered outside the school. (Albert Herrmann Jr.\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Angry <\/a>
Angry groups of students toss rocks and bottles at each other. (Albert Herrmann Jr.\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div>
\"One <\/a>
One student was struck by a thrown object. (Albert Herrmann Jr.\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"One <\/a>
One female student fainted during violence at Gladstone High School. (Albert Herrmann Jr\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Students <\/a>
Students walk down Hazelwood Avenue. (Albert Herrmann Jr.\/The Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The school building is now for sale. (Steve Mellon\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Students flowing into Hazelwood\u2019s Gladstone High School on a chilly Tuesday morning \u2014 Feb. 18,\u00a01969 knew this would be no normal day.<\/p>\n

On Monday, fights in the hallway had created what police called a \u201cpanic situation.\u201d Classes resumed after school officials and police calmed things down, but teachers stood before rooms of empty desks. Approximately 75 percent of students in attendance had fled the school. Uniformed police continued to roam the hallways and grounds.<\/p>\n

First period on Tuesday was relatively calm. Near its end, however, knives flashed in a stairway near the school entrance. Two teenage boys who lived a half-mile apart dueled with blades. Blood spattered on the tile floor. Both students were hauled away to local hospitals. \u00a0Overwhelmed, one female student fainted.<\/p>\n

Once again, police armed with billy clubs arrived at the school. This time, they made arrests. Students were told to stay in their classrooms. Officials hoped to prevent a mass exodus.<\/p>\n

At one point, police escorting two girls from the building were pelted with bottles and other debris hurled from a second-floor window.<\/p>\n

Outside, things were heating up. Police received calls that gangs of students were roaming Hazelwood\u2019s streets. Fights broke out. By 10:45, two groups of teens had gathered at opposite corners of the intersection at Hazelwood and Sylvan avenues. One group was white; the other black. The groups shouted racial insults and cursed at each other. \u00a0Bottles, bricks and stones were hurled in anger.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to forget how shocked and enraged we were in 1969. The previous year had been a nightmare. We\u2019d gasped at the bloody, prostrate forms of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. We watched riots rock Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and our own Hill District. The Tet Offensive shattered the optimistic lies we\u2019d been told about Vietnam. Where was the hope? The Democratic National Convention in Chicago blossomed into a bloody disaster. Republicans emerged from Miami with Richard Nixon leading the law-and-order charge.<\/p>\n

Violence erupted at a number of Pittsburgh area schools. Trouble came to Oliver and Gladstone in 1969. In 1970, racial unrest in Aliquippa moved officials to close schools. Events then moved to the streets, where sniper fire echoed through the city\u2019s streets. Fights were reported at Clairton, North Braddock, East Allegheny, Carrick and McKeesport.<\/p>\n

\u201cOutbreaks Carry Racial Overtones,\u201d blared a headline in The Pittsburgh Press.<\/p>\n

In the Post-Gazette archives, a file labeled \u201cSchool Riots, 1969-73\u201d overflows with stories of two Pittsburghs, each lurching toward a future that seemed at once frightening and bewildering and desperately in need of change. We all seemed lost, and perhaps we were.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students flowing into Hazelwood\u2019s Gladstone High School on Feb. 18, 1969 knew this would be no normal day.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesTurmoil at Gladstone High School<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[948],"tags":[962,1211,1190,1218,1041,1048],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/tumblr_n08mlgR3iZ1rr5swxo3_1280.jpg?fit=936%2C645&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8877,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2018\/06\/20\/protesting-the-7-cent-lunch-and-other-uprisings-at-gladstone\/","url_meta":{"origin":1006,"position":0},"title":"Protesting the 7 cent lunch and other uprisings at Gladstone","date":"June 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Students at the Hazelwood school have a history of speaking out.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Digs_Hazelwood1915-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C882&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":209,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/10\/01\/oliver-high-school-gets-out-of-control\/","url_meta":{"origin":1006,"position":1},"title":"Oliver High School gets out of control","date":"October 1, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Windows were broken. 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The poem, titled \u201cI Am Not\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/19971213smgammage001-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C791&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":667,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/05\/14\/mob-murder-suspect-takes-a-fall\/","url_meta":{"origin":1006,"position":4},"title":"Mob murder suspect takes a fall","date":"May 14, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"That\u2019s Frank Valenti, the detective said to himself.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_n5dqlb5qZ51rr5swxo5_1280.jpg?fit=1080%2C608&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4883,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2015\/01\/14\/hitler-invades-south-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":1006,"position":5},"title":"Hitler invades South Park","date":"January 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\"He's mean ... 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