Columbus protest photos throughout the years

Within the hundreds of thousands of archived images shot by Dispatch photographers, there is a rich collection of scenes from local protests and demonstrations.

Rallies, sit-ins, prayer marches and silent vigils have ranged from a single concerned citizen to a throng. Freedom of expression is the tie that threads them together through time.

Most are held on the Ohio Statehouse grounds. The photos capture passionate protests against war, police brutality, abortion and nuclear testing, but there is also one of a smiling Lettie Jenks, a 67-year-old grandmother who walked (about halfway) to Columbus from Cleveland in 1975 to protest electricity rate hikes.

Some other notable demonstrations:

• In 1961, an estimated 7,000 Ohio State University students famously marched from campus to the Statehouse to protest the Faculty Council action rejecting a Rose Bowl invitation.

• In 1970, senior citizens rallied to support, of all things, a proposed increase in the city’s income tax. A 20-piece orchestra from the Mcdowell Street Rec Center played for the group, who expressed concern about senior center funding.

• In 1972, hundreds of bicycle riders pedaled from the Statehouse north to Whetstone Park to advocate for more bikeways.

• In 1982, about a thousand marchers participated in the city’s first officially named Gay Pride Parade.

• In 1990, Selma Walker led a march of Native

Americans to testify on protecting graves. Their efforts were a success, as a Senate bill was revised at the last minute to exclude a provision the group opposed.

• In 2006, a fathers’ rights group protested the treatment they get in divorce proceedings.

• And in May 2020, Downtown Columbus was the site of days of unrest as people came together to express outrage over the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

Contributor Linda Deitch was a Dispatch librarian for 25 years.

ROB RHEES/DISPATCH FILE PHOTO Iranian students marched through Downtown to the Ohio State Oval in 1978 to express concern that conditions in Iran were not being truly represented in news reports. Some group members, most masked to conceal their identities, display a sign in front of Montaldo’s, a ladies’ clothing shop on South Third Street.

DISPATCH FILE PHOTO In 1970, attendees at a Women’s Liberation meeting picket to protest midi-length fashions. They were on their way to the Lazarus department store. A peace group, which identified itself as Quakers, took advantage of the situation and members read a list of Vietnam War dead.

JEFF HINCKLEY/DISPATCH FILE PHOTO Ellen Mcgovern reacts to a speaker at a pro-life rally held in 20-degree temperatures in 1983.

AMY SANCETTA/DISPATCH FILE PHOTO Even these statues at the Statehouse were protesting an income tax bill in 1983.