A look back: The 1970s Loudoun County High School flag controversy

Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017 by Andrew Jelonek, Special to the Times-Mirror

In light of the local and national debate surrounding Confederate statues and symbolism, we take a look back at the heated, 1970s controversy over the mascot at Loudoun County High School. The following was written by Andrew Jelonek, a Loudoun County alumnus who interned with the school system in 2011 and 2012.

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Probably the most talked about and heated controversy at Loudoun County High School was the 1970s flag controversy. But, to get there, first we have to set the stage:

In 1954, out of a choice of four mascots, The Raider was chosen as county's mascot. To be more specific, the historic Mosby's Raiders, a famous Confederate Civil War battalion that traveled throughout the area. They were known for their lightning strike attacks against Union soldiers, then eluding capture. They never surrendered, and only disbanded when the Civil War ended. To locals, they were known as heroes. ... In 1960, the school had a contest to draw the school emblem. Bernie Abbott drew the winning image and "won praise from the faculty, as well as from students, for her impressive drawing of a 'Loudoun Raider'." Her image accurately depicted the Raider carrying a Confederate flag.

Virginia was considered to be part of the South. With the influx of newcomers to the area, northern Virginia and Loudoun's population demographics have changed quite a lot since then, but back in the 60s, Loudoun was still firmly in the South. Many people of Loudoun saw the Confederate flag as part of their southern heritage. No one paid the emblem any mind. The school had been segregated when the emblem was chosen, but no issue was raised when the school became integrated. It would be another decade before anyone would.

On Wednesday, Jan. 4, 1978, a young Becky Hough Ott was sitting in her algebra class when she saw a man out the window on the front lawn. "[He] showed up one afternoon ... and he started chopping at the school sign with an axe!" ... That man was Gene Ashton. His foster son, Blue Oliver, was the star center of county's basketball team. Blue had recently been dismissed from the team, due to a rule that if you had two unexcused absences from practice, you were cut from the team. Blue missed three practices for a three-day detention he got for a fight, and so his coach followed the rules and cut him from the team.
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Lord Loudoun in 1964 with the Raider emblem on the cover.
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Excerpted from LCPSHistory.Blogspot.com.