Teachers walk for just one day, 49 years ago

In early 1971, La Crosse Education Association members walked off the job for a day, shutting down all 20 schools in the district.  The strike capped a year-long dispute with the school district, which the Tribune called “the biggest educational crisis in La Crosse history.”  The union and the school board had agreed on most parts of a contract, including a base salary of $7300.  But the talks broke down on the issue of contract renewal.   

Daniel Ellsberg was a leaker.  Ellsberg sent the Pentagon Papers to the media in ’71, when Senate Republican leader Hugh Scott said Democratic candidates for president were using the war as a “political football” for criticizing President Nixon for a war they had supported under Lyndon Johnson.  More than 20 years later, Ellsberg spoke at Main Hall on the U-W-L campus about his anti-war activism.  

Burger Chef on the Causeway had the “cheese-burgiest” cheeseburgers for just 27 cents.  Legion Post 52 in La Crosse was promoting a $1.50 fish fry on Friday nights, with $2 frog legs also on the menu.  

Wisconsin became the 34th state to approve a lower voting age of 18.  A handful of lawmakers opposed the change.  Only four more states were needed to make the 26th amendment a federal law, in 1971.  Yesterday in La Crosse.