High School Students Unite!
Book • 2025
Aaron G. Fountain Jr.'s High School Students Unite!
examines the overlooked history of high school activism in postwar America, documenting over 500 student organizations and more than 1,000 underground newspapers from across the country.
Fountain uses extensive archival research and over a thousand FOIA requests to reveal how teenagers organized around civil rights, antiwar, and school reform causes and how authorities — including the FBI — surveilled them.
The book highlights tactics ranging from underground papers to mass walkouts, and shows how adult responses often backfired, increasing student resolve and visibility.
It also explores the racial and class dynamics shaping which families enlisted law enforcement against activist teens, and notes losses in the archival record due to destroyed documents.
Fountain blends deep detective work with public history to recover a largely forgotten chapter of American democratic engagement.
examines the overlooked history of high school activism in postwar America, documenting over 500 student organizations and more than 1,000 underground newspapers from across the country.
Fountain uses extensive archival research and over a thousand FOIA requests to reveal how teenagers organized around civil rights, antiwar, and school reform causes and how authorities — including the FBI — surveilled them.
The book highlights tactics ranging from underground papers to mass walkouts, and shows how adult responses often backfired, increasing student resolve and visibility.
It also explores the racial and class dynamics shaping which families enlisted law enforcement against activist teens, and notes losses in the archival record due to destroyed documents.
Fountain blends deep detective work with public history to recover a largely forgotten chapter of American democratic engagement.
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Jennifer Berkshire
#213 The Kids are Alright
