{"id":209,"date":"2014-10-01T02:00:58","date_gmt":"2014-10-01T02:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=209"},"modified":"2015-01-09T16:46:57","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T21:46:57","slug":"oliver-high-school-gets-out-of-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/10\/01\/oliver-high-school-gets-out-of-control\/","title":{"rendered":"Oliver High School gets out of control"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The <\/a>
The trashed cafeteria at Oliver High School. (Pittsburgh Press photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"After <\/a>
After trouble in 1967, police walked the halls of Oliver High School. (Pittsburgh Press photo) <\/div> <\/div>
\"In <\/a>
In 1968, Oliver Principal Frank Crowley tried to persuade wary students to attend classes. (Edward Frank\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Violent <\/a>
Violent clashes erupted outside of Oliver High School in Sept. 1969. (Al Herrmann Jr.\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Police <\/a>
Police rushed to the school to quell the disturbance. (Al Herrmann Jr.\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"In <\/a>
In Sept. 1969, a few months after a massive student fight in Oliver High School\u2019s cafeteria, violence once again erupted at the school, this time spilling out onto the grounds outside. (Al Herrmann Jr.\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

In the cafeteria, where the trouble began on Feb. 13, 1969, the floor was slick with milk spilled from those small cartons ubiquitous in American schools. Windows were broken. Tables overturned. Pieces of broken glass crunched under the feet of investigators trying to figure out what happened, and how things at Oliver High School had gotten so quickly out of control.<\/p>\n

The anger that had flared in the room just a short time earlier had gone from the place and now there was mostly sadness. A 17-year-old senior named Ed sat by himself and did not look up at the mess around him. He was part of the school\u2019s Grievance Committee, which had tried to head off the clash. He admitted that his group\u2019s efforts \u201cjust turned into a big nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

His friend Greg stood nearby. \u201cI thought we were there,\u201d Greg said. \u201cI thought we were getting things fixed up pretty well between blacks and whites.\u201d<\/p>\n

Audrey Beverett agreed. In sewing class and gym class, white girls and black girls laughed and joked with each other and \u201cit really seemed like school again.\u201d<\/p>\n

But then, at noon, words were exchanged in the cafeteria. Students separated. Whites at one end, blacks at the other. Stools and trays and fists flew through the air. This went on for 15 minutes. In the end, two students were taken to Allegheny General Hospital and the cafeteria was a shambles.<\/p>\n

Oliver had experienced trouble before. In Nov. 1967, a 45-minute melee between white and black students ended only when 150 police showed up. School officials were shocked. They thought Oliver was a place of \u201cgood race relations.\u201d<\/p>\n

A year later, brawling students shattered dishes and tore out light fixtures in the cafeteria. The rukus spilled onto the streets outside, where teenagers lobbed rocks and bricks at each other. \u00a0Students were getting accustomed to seeing lines of police officers in the hallways.<\/p>\n

One parent at Oliver worried the kids were becoming \u201cmonsters.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the students, said the school\u2019s new principal, Dominic Iannotta. It\u2019s not the school.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe adults have taught these kids to hate,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery time there is a disruption at Oliver, people ask the question, \u2018What\u2019s wrong with Oliver?\u2019 Instead, they should be asking, \u2018What\u2019s wrong with the community?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Windows were broken. Tables overturned. Pieces of broken glass crunched under the feet of investigators trying to figure out what happened.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesOliver High School gets out of control<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":210,"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":[962,993,1184,1041,1048],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/tumblr_ncq61vi79R1rr5swxo6_1280.jpg?fit=1080%2C728&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":254,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/09\/15\/an-ode-to-pittsburghs-vandalized-places\/","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":0},"title":"An ode to Pittsburgh\u2019s vandalized places","date":"September 15, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Permanently or momentarily stationary objects made the best targets: schools, statues and cars.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/tumblr_nbnf4byASC1rr5swxo4_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C892&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":990,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/02\/05\/cardinal-wuerl-north-catholic-high-school-on-troy-hill\/","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":1},"title":"Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School on Troy Hill","date":"February 5, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"The Troy Hill building opened in 1939. 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