On April 27, 1938, more than half of Oxford High School’s 300 students refused to attend classes and paraded through the streets carrying banners protesting the school’s decision to drop the football program for a year for economic reasons.
Superintendent R.W. Zinn asked the students to return to class, but they refused, shouting for a contract to be offered to the football coach. Students who wanted to attend classes had to cross a picket line.
The Oxford School Board decided to invest its limited resources to keeping the high school band because its success “has made Oxford more music minded than football minded,” according to the board. However, after the protest, the board reversed course and reinstated football as long as the players’ parents agreed to release the school of liability in case of injuries.
Source: Detroit Free Press