116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Mary Beth Tinker, of landmark Supreme Court case, visits Eastern Iowa
CEDAR RAPIDS — In 1965, Mary Beth Tinker was just 13 when she and four other students wore black armbands to school as a symbol of protest against the Vietnam War. Their actions would become symbols of free speech for decades to come.
The students were suspended for their protest, and they challenged the school district's actions in court. Their case went all the way to the Supreme Court, and in 1969, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District was decided in their favor.
The 'Tinker Test' has been legally cited thousands of times in defense of students' free speech rights, Tinker told a group of Prairie High School students Wednesday in Cedar Rapids.
More than 50 years after her initial protest, Tinker is on the road, speaking with students and the public across the country about the need to protect First Amendment rights. She planned to visit eight schools in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty and West Branch this week.
She will give a public lecture, 'Youth Voices for Mighty Times,' at the Iowa City Public Library Thursday, hosted by the University of Iowa Public Policy Center and the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library. The Hoover library also sponsored her Corridor school visits, part of Tinker's larger 'Tinker Tour USA' in support of youth voices, free speech and a free press.
Tinker, a pediatric nurse who now lives in Washington, D.C., started touring and speaking at schools in 2013.
'I've been working as a nurse for young people for many years, and I started to see how too often they're not getting a fair break,' she said. 'They're more likely to live in poverty, to not have a voice in budget cuts in their schools. It's good for kids' health to have a voice and feel respected and effective.'
Free speech and protest have made America's social advancements possible, and young people always have been at the forefronts of those protests, she told about 450 Prairie 10th- and 11th-graders.
'I want to encourage you to use your rights and express all your wonderful qualities,' she said. 'Young people have always been there to move us forward, away from injustice, away from inequality.'
After the talk, junior Alyssa Grady, 18, waited to talk with Tinker and get her autograph.
'Meeting people who are placed in history, it's great. I find them to be really inspiring,' she said.
If you go
- What: Mary Beth Tinker lecture
- When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday
- Where: Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City
- Cost: Free
Mary Beth Tinker speaks to a group of students at Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Tinker was at the center of a landmark freedom of speech case decided by the Supreme Court in 1969, Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which held that Tinker and other students should be allowed to wear black armbands protesting the Vietnam War while in school as an expression of symbolic speech, which is protected by the First Amendment. The 'Tinker Test' still is used by courts to determine whether an action violates a student's First Amendment rights. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
Mary Beth Tinker speaks to a group of students at Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Tinker was at the center of a landmark freedom of speech case decided by the Supreme Court in 1969, Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which held that Tinker and other students should be allowed to wear black armbands protesting the Vietnam War while in school as an expression of symbolic speech, which is protected by the First Amendment. The 'Tinker Test' still is used by courts to determine whether an action violates a student's First Amendment rights. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
Mary Beth Tinker speaks to a group of students at Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Tinker was at the center of a landmark freedom of speech case decided by the Supreme Court in 1969, Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which held that Tinker and other students should be allowed to wear black armbands protesting the Vietnam War while in school as an expression of symbolic speech, which is protected by the First Amendment. The 'Tinker Test' still is used by courts to determine whether an action violates a student's First Amendment rights. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
Mary Beth Tinker speaks to a group of students at Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Tinker was at the center of a landmark freedom of speech case decided by the Supreme Court in 1969, Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which held that Tinker and other students should be allowed to wear black armbands protesting the Vietnam War while in school as an expression of symbolic speech, which is protected by the First Amendment. The 'Tinker Test' still is used by courts to determine whether an action violates a student's First Amendment rights. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
Mary Beth Tinker and her brother, John F. Tinker, display their armbands in a photo during a slideshow shown to a group of students at Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. The Tinkers were at the center of a landmark freedom of speech case decided by the Supreme Court in 1969, Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which held that students should be allowed to wear black armbands protesting the Vietnam War while in school as an expression of symbolic speech, which is protected by the First Amendment. The 'Tinker Test' still is used by courts to determine whether an action violates a student's First Amendment rights. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
The 1969 New York Times article announcing the Tinker decision is displayed in a slideshow shown to a group of students at Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Tinker was at the center of a landmark freedom of speech case decided by the Supreme Court in 1969, Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which held that Tinker and other students should be allowed to wear black armbands protesting the Vietnam War while in school as an expression of symbolic speech, which is protected by the First Amendment. The 'Tinker Test' still is used by courts to determine whether an action violates a student's First Amendment rights. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
Mary Beth Tinker speaks to Alyssa Grady, 18, a junior at Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Tinker was at the center of a landmark freedom of speech case decided by the Supreme Court in 1969, Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which held that Tinker and other students should be allowed to wear black armbands protesting the Vietnam War while in school as an expression of symbolic speech, which is protected by the First Amendment. The 'Tinker Test' still is used by courts to determine whether an action violates a student's First Amendment rights. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
Mary Beth Tinker displays a letter she received following the Supreme Court's decision while visiting Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Tinker was at the center of a landmark freedom of speech case decided by the Supreme Court in 1969, Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which held that Tinker and other students should be allowed to wear black armbands protesting the Vietnam War while in school as an expression of symbolic speech, which is protected by the First Amendment. The 'Tinker Test' still is used by courts to determine whether an action violates a student's First Amendment rights. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
Mary Beth Tinker displays the hall pass she got after being called to the principal's office for wearing a black armband at her school in Des Moines in 1965 at Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Tinker was at the center of a landmark freedom of speech case decided by the Supreme Court in 1969, Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which held that Tinker and other students should be allowed to wear black armbands protesting the Vietnam War while in school as an expression of symbolic speech, which is protected by the First Amendment. The 'Tinker Test' still is used by courts to determine whether an action violates a student's First Amendment rights. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
Mary Beth Tinker displays a petition while giving a talk to a group of students at Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Tinker was at the center of a landmark freedom of speech case decided by the Supreme Court in 1969, Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which held that Tinker and other students should be allowed to wear black armbands protesting the Vietnam War while in school as an expression of symbolic speech, which is protected by the First Amendment. The 'Tinker Test' still is used by courts to determine whether an action violates a student's First Amendment rights. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
Mary Beth Tinker displays a letter she received following the Supreme Court's decision while visiting Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Tinker was at the center of a landmark freedom of speech case decided by the Supreme Court in 1969, Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which held that Tinker and other students should be allowed to wear black armbands protesting the Vietnam War while in school as an expression of symbolic speech, which is protected by the First Amendment. The 'Tinker Test' still is used by courts to determine whether an action violates a student's First Amendment rights. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
Mary Beth Tinker displays her school suspension notice to a group of students at Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Tinker was at the center of a landmark freedom of speech case decided by the Supreme Court in 1969, Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which held that Tinker and other students should be allowed to wear black armbands protesting the Vietnam War while in school as an expression of symbolic speech, which is protected by the First Amendment. The 'Tinker Test' still is used by courts to determine whether an action violates a student's First Amendment rights. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
Mary Beth Tinker spoke to a group of students at Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Tinker was at the center of a landmark freedom of speech case decided by the Supreme Court in 1969, Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which held that Tinker and other students should be allowed to wear black armbands protesting the Vietnam War while in school as an expression of symbolic speech, which is protected by the First Amendment. The 'Tinker Test' still is used by courts to determine whether an action violates a student's First Amendment rights. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
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