Disneyland’s Tom Sawyer Island, which was briefly occupied by Yippies in 1970
In the summer of 1970, my oldest sister’s boyfriend made an uncharacteristic suggestion. A keen Marxist, he offered to lead a trip for our family group – me, my oldest sister, and another sister – to Disneyland for the day.
Even at eleven years old, I was sure this boyfriend wasn’t interested in chatting with Minnie Mouse or singing along to “It’s a Small World.”
An anti-war, anti-establishment protest at Disneyland planned that day by members of the Yippie political movement fueled his desire. My presence, as well as that of my other sister, who was 13, would give him and my oldest sister kid-cover for admission to the park. Disney’s park police were going to be suspicious of childless Yippie-appearing twenty-somethings trying to get in.
The protest took place; there’s an excellent account of it here. I remember political tension in the crowd. My oldest sister’s boyfriend refused to stand for the national anthem during the Main Street parade, and he got into a shouting match with another man.
The problem now, 56 years later, is that my oldest sister doesn’t remember the event, the boyfriend has long vanished into the mists of time, and my other sister disputes my memories of the day. She says it was just a normal outing to Disneyland, although she remembers the shouting match at the parade.
Did it even happen as I recall it? I’m not sure. Sometimes history wants to slip away.
In Damn History you'll find, as usual, recommendations on good and popularly accessible historical reading, with tips on writing and updates on my own work.
Follow me on X at @Jack_ElHai, on Bluesky at @jackelhai.bsky.social, and on Threads at @jackelhai1.
Contact me by email at [email protected]
Personal Notes
Coffee lovers! I wrote most of my book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist in a Caribou coffeehouse; that company profiled me in its online newsletter. (Alas, the Caribou shop I frequented has since closed, and I usually make my own coffee now.)
You can pre-order my newest book The Case of the Autographed Corpse at my Bookshop kiosk. It will be published on October 6.
For my recommendations of popular-history books, search X, Bluesky, or Threads for #popularhistory.
Recent Popular History from All Over
You may find some of these articles behind a paywall if you’ve exceeded the publisher’s allowance of free views.
A brutal murder ignited racial terror in Florida in 1922.
A 218-year-old metal bolt anchored to a rock in New York City’s Central Park carries great significance.
A “mechanical miracle” destroyed Mark Twain.
Few people consider one of the most insidious aspects of Confederate monuments.
A Quaker’s self-immolation as war protest in 1965 still resonates.
For a century, teens have been on the vanguard of the labor movement.
As the summer winds down, shorts have a history of carrying the day in hot weather.
There’s a good case for making Pluto a planet again.
Resources
Documenting injustice, however ugly it may be, does not damage the historical record.
The Trump administration’s politicization of the Smithsonian continues.
How to read like a scientist, which is a good thing.
If you had to prove that your writing was not AI-generated, how would you do it?
A former newspaper books editor offers a personal guide to book publicity in the age of vanishing book reviews.
Over 800 episodes of The Rest is History podcast have made it the most popular one of its kind.
“Another damned, thick, square book! Always scribble, scribble, scribble! Eh, Mr. Gibbon?” – William Henry, Duke of Gloucester
Housekeeping
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About me: I'm a history and science writer. I've contributed hundreds of articles to such publications as Smithsonian, The Atlantic, The Washington Post Magazine, Wired, Scientific American, Discover, GQ, Longreads and many others. My books include The Case of the Autographed Corpse: A Medicine Man and a Mystery Writer in Pursuit of Justice; The Lost Brothers: A Family’s Decades-Long Search, The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness, Non-Stop: A Turbulent History of Northwest Airlines, and The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Goering, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WW2.
I frequently give talks and lead workshops on the topics of my books as well as on the craft of nonfiction writing. To book me for your event or for media inquiries, please contact Ann Aronson at [email protected].
Please feel free to get in touch.
