New Books Network Aaron G. Fountain Jr., "High School Students Unite! Teen Activism, Education Reform, and FBI Surveillance in Postwar America" (UNC Press, 2025)
Dec 27, 2025
Aaron G. Fountain Jr., historian and author, discusses the pivotal role of high school activism during the 1960s and 70s. He reveals how inspired students organized protests, demanding educational reform and highlighting civil rights issues. Fountain shares fascinating stories of underground newspapers that amplified youth voices and the intense FBI surveillance on these movements. He provides insights into the racial dynamics that fueled student protests, demonstrating how these young activists shaped American education, while foreshadowing future work on teen antiwar sentiments.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Politics Fueled Teen Organizing
- High school activism was driven chiefly by civil rights and the Vietnam War.
- Teenagers developed sophisticated critiques and organized free-speech campaigns that influenced broader movements.
San Francisco Free-Speech Campaign
- San Francisco students formed the Activist Opinion and launched a free-speech campaign after a citywide ban.
- They debated constitutional rights at board meetings and inspired later high school organizing despite losing the campaign.
Underground Press Became Teen Social Media
- High school underground newspapers became a large, citywide countercultural network.
- By the late 1960s some papers reached tens of thousands of copies and functioned like a pre-digital social media for teens.