In 1976, America celebrated the Bicentennial, its 200th birthday. Patriotic imagery was everywhere, including Virginia yearbooks. What counts as patriotic imagery? Plenty of red, white, and blue (of course), alongside a myriad of eagles, stars, flags, and founding fathers.
The general motifs remain familiar even now, as we celebrate the United States at 250 years. Patriotic imagery can tell us a lot about when it was created, perhaps more than it can about the past it references. The founding fathers never could have imagined themselves as characters in the musical 1776, let alone Hamilton.
Join us on a visual tour of patriotic imagery in Virginia yearbooks in zine form.
Some things to think about while looking at these images:
- What characteristics of the Founding Fathers are idealized?
- What is the ideal “look” for a patriot?
- How have mascots and team names based on colonial (and pre-colonial) figures changed over the years?
- What have we tried to “sell,” literally and figuratively, with the images of the Founding Fathers?
- Would you consider any of the interpretations and uses of these motifs disrespectful, and if so, why?
Image Citations
Images used in Zine in order of appearance:
Page 1
Animo: United States of American Bicentenial Anniversary, Franklin County High School, 1976.
Page 2
The Rogahi, Rocky Gap High School, 1976.
Aurora, Bridgewater High School, 1943.
Page 3
The Cavalier, George Washington High School, 1947.
Haliscope, Halifax County High School, 1976.
Page 4
The Cavalier, George Washington High School, 1955.
The Bee Hive, James Blair High School, 1969.
Page 5
Surveyor, Mount Vernon High School, 1979.
The Cavalier, George Washington High School, 1955.
The Patriot, Sullivan East High School, 1983.
The Cavalier, George Washington High School, 1947.
Page 6
Surveyor, Mount Vernon High School, 1984.
Page 7
Surveyor, Mount Vernon High School, 1960.
Page 8
The Monticello, Thomas Jefferson High School, 1946.
The Monticello, Thomas Jefferson High School, 1933.
Talon, Thomas A. Edison High School, 1990.
The Monticello, Thomas Jefferson High School, 1969.
Page 9
The Monticello, Thomas Jefferson High School, 1953.
Techniques, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, 1988.
The Monticello, Thomas Jefferson High School, 1960.
The Handlian, Handley High School, 1934.
The Monticello, Thomas Jefferson High School, 1959.
The Monticello, Thomas Jefferson High School, 1946.
Jeffersonian, Volume 40, Number 2, 12 October 1951.
Jeffersonian, Volume 47, Number 5, 22 April 1955.
Jeffersonian, Volume 47, Number 5, 22 April 1955.
Learn More About “Lil’ Jeff”
Page 10
Jeffersonian, Thomas Jefferson High School, 1965.
Jeffersonian, Thomas Jefferson High School, 1965.
Jeffersonian, Thomas Jefferson High School, 1945.
Page 11
Page, Page County High School, 1988.
Page, Page County High School, 1988.
Page 12
Techniques, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, 1988.
Techniques, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, 1988.
The Monticello, Thomas Jefferson High School, 1960.
The Marshallite, John Marshall High School, 1919.
Surveyor, Mount Vernon High School, 1979.
Chattahoochee, Sydney Lanier Intermediate School, 1976.
Page 13
The Colonnade, Culpeper High School, 1976.
The Monticello, Thomas Jefferson High School, 1957.
Page 14
Montpelier, James Madison High School, 1988.
Page 15
Montpelier, James Madison High School, 1980.
Page 16
Animo: United States of American Bicentennial Anniversary, Franklin County High School, 1976.
Page 17
The Patriot, Sullivan East High School, 1982.
Page 18
The Cavalier, George Washington High School, 1955.
Odyssey, Essex High School, 1976.
Page 19
The Monticello, Thomas Jefferson High School, 1938.
The Monticello, Thomas Jefferson High School, 1960.
The Monticello, Thomas Jefferson High School, 1959.
Page, Page County High School, 1988.
Page 20
Hurricane, Marion Senior High School, 1975.
The Monticello, Thomas Jefferson High School, 1959.
The Patriot, Sullivan East High School, 1991.
The Patriot, Sullivan East High School, 1980.
Page 21
The Patriot, Sullivan East High School, 1991.
Surveyor, Mount Vernon High School, 1984.
The Patriot, East High School, 1979.
The Patriot, Sullivan East High School, 1992.
Page 22
Jeffersonian, Thomas Jefferson High School, 1965.
The Patriot, Sullivan East High School, 1982.
Page 23
The Patriot, Sullivan East High School, 1982.
The Marshallite, John Marshall High School, 1969.
Page 24
Surveyor, Mount Vernon High School, 1979.
Page 25
Surveyor, Mount Vernon High School, 1997.
Page 26
The Talon, Frank W. Cox High School, 1976.
