{"id":8877,"date":"2018-06-20T00:10:16","date_gmt":"2018-06-20T04:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=8877"},"modified":"2018-06-20T08:18:14","modified_gmt":"2018-06-20T12:18:14","slug":"protesting-the-7-cent-lunch-and-other-uprisings-at-gladstone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2018\/06\/20\/protesting-the-7-cent-lunch-and-other-uprisings-at-gladstone\/","title":{"rendered":"Protesting the 7 cent lunch and other uprisings at Gladstone"},"content":{"rendered":"

The picture taken in 1915 depicts an idyllic scene — young children holding hands and gathered in a circle, a lone teacher standing tall among them. Looming in the background is the massive brick Gladstone School, then a newly opened facility for elementary students.<\/p>\n

JaQuay Carter posted the picture a few months ago on the Facebook page he created for the Greater Hazelwood Historical Society<\/a>. One suspects the photographer\u2019s intent was to suggest a sense of order and optimism about the future of both the school and the community it served. But as years passed, the school changed. So did Hazelwood and the rest of the world. And while the scenes outside Gladstone\u2019s doors often fell short of demonstrating peaceful happiness, they consistently reflected the mood and concerns of students growing up in an often turbulent steel town.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Gladstone under construction. (Photos from the school’s 1965 yearbook, “Blazer.”)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By 1947, Gladstone had been converted to a junior high school. In March of that year, police were called to quell what The Pittsburgh Press called a \u201cnear riot.\u201d A group of students had gathered outside the school and were urging classmates to skip classes. Things got rowdy. A fight broke out. \u201cCertain hoodlums were to blame,\u201d the Press said.<\/p>\n

One reporter approached the students in a futile effort to see what all the fuss was about. \u201cEfforts to talk to the group around the school this morning were shouted down with jeers and catcalls,\u201d the reporter wrote.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
This picture from the Greater Hazelwood Historical Society is captioned, “Myra ‘Sug’ Bradley and Roslyn White of Glen Hazel at Gladstone in April 1958.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Newspapers the next day called it a \u201cstrike\u201d involving about two-thirds of the school\u2019s 700 students. Not all were willing participants. Groups of boys standing at school entrances threatened those heading to class, the PG reported. Some fearful parents kept their children at home.<\/p>\n

The demands? The PG listed three:<\/p>\n

— More boys clubs. \u201cGirls are getting all the breaks in extracurricular activity,\u201d is how the newspaper characterized the complaint.<\/p>\n

— Wednesday morning \u201cmoving pictures.\u201d<\/p>\n

— Cheaper lunches. The current price was 7 cents.<\/p>\n

By Friday, the strike was over. Five ringleaders were arrested and released into their parents\u2019 custody, pending a juvenile court investigation. Principal Fred Glaser told the group to take their complaints to the student council.<\/p>\n

The school was calm for several months. Then, in October of 1949, children of steelworkers who were themselves on strike staged their own walkout. Boys agitated for an additional instructor for large gym classes. Girls protested bans on the wearing of \u201cbobby-sox outfits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Gladstone's <\/a>
Gladstone’s band, from the school’s 1965 yearbook, “Blazer.” <\/div> <\/div>
\"Seventh <\/a>
Seventh graders, from the school’s 1965 yearbook, “Blazer.” <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Undated <\/a>
Undated historic picture, from the school’s 1965 yearbook, “Blazer.” <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

The effort flopped. Students milled around the school\u2019s doorways for a while in the morning, then returned to their classes.<\/p>\n

Then, of course, came the turbulence of 1969, a story we told in an earlier Digs post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Students at Gladstone Middle School on Sept. 2, 1980. (Post-Gazette photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And what about the school\u2019s normal days? We found those depicted in Gladstone yearbooks published in 1964 and \u201865 — students grouped according to home room and posing for the school photographer, band members clutching their instruments and standing on concrete steps at the school\u2019s entrance on a sunny day.<\/p>\n

One picture from the PG archive shows middle school students sitting at desks the first day of class on Sept. 2, 1980. In the front row, one student wears a shirt reading \u201cRoller Disco,\u201d despite the fact that Donna Summer and the Bee Gees had already fallen out of favor. Disco, like Pittsburgh\u2019s steel industry, was on the wane. Soon the dancing would end. But in the students\u2019 faces you can see expressions of anticipation and optimism. The year was young.<\/p>\n

Gladstone closed in 2001.<\/p>\n

— Steve Mellon<\/strong><\/p>\n

Join us at the community event, \u201cBig Steel, Gladstone and Amazon: 150 years of Hazelwood stories,\u201d at Propel Hazelwood Charter School, 7-9 p.m. on Friday, June 29.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students at the Hazelwood school have a history of speaking out.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesProtesting the 7 cent lunch and other uprisings at Gladstone<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1368],"tags":[960,980,1413,1414],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Digs_Hazelwood1915-1.jpg?fit=2720%2C2000&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1006,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/01\/31\/feb-18-1969-turmoil-at-gladstone-high-school\/","url_meta":{"origin":8877,"position":0},"title":"Turmoil at Gladstone High School","date":"January 31, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Students flowing into Hazelwood\u2019s Gladstone High School on Feb. 18, 1969 knew this would be no normal day.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/tumblr_n08mlgR3iZ1rr5swxo3_1280.jpg?fit=936%2C645&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":202,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/10\/03\/hazelwood-residents-battle-for-glenwood-bridge\/","url_meta":{"origin":8877,"position":1},"title":"Hazelwood residents\u2019 battle for Glenwood Bridge","date":"October 3, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Construction of a new Glenwood Bridge had begun in 1960 but was moving at a glacial pace.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/tumblr_nctxgfQcPC1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=1179%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6803,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2016\/06\/02\/when-tornadoes-tormented-the-pittsburgh-region\/","url_meta":{"origin":8877,"position":2},"title":"When tornadoes tormented the Pittsburgh region","date":"June 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\"It was eerie and evil and awful.\" That's how Dana Barker of William Street in Mount Washington described the sound of the tornado that tormented her neighborhood on June 2, 1998. 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